What Are the Youth in Action Grants?
Youth in Action is a program of the Youth Leadership Exchange (which is a program of Leadership Oklahoma City) in which local high school students

identify community needs,
solicit proposals from organizations working in the identified need area for funding,
select proposals to fund,
raise matching funds for the projects, and
make the grants to the selected agencies.

The purpose of Youth in Action is to teach the participants about community service by having them act as a mini-foundation to fund community improvement. The students learn meeting management and fund-raising skills, among others, and are better prepared to volunteer in their communities in substantive way.

In order to make the processes the class uses and decisions they reach “real,” actual grants are given by the class to local organizations. Up to $7500 is donated to one or more agencies by the Youth in Action class. Leadership Oklahoma City seeds the program with $2500 towards the funding, and the youth raise about another $5000 from the business community, allowing them to fund a total of $7500 in community efforts.

The 2007-2008 Mission

The mission of YLX Youth in Action Class VIII is to provide funding for initiatives in the areas of childhood hunger and/or gang violence, thereby helping to establish a more positive and secure community.

Deadline for Submission and Timeline

Proposals are due on January 7, 2008. The YIA students will review the written proposals and narrow the potential recipients to three or four. Those organizations will be asked to host a brief site visit to present to the class more fully on February 21, 2008. The class will then decide which project or projects they will fund and begin their fund-raising training. The grant or grants will be made in late May 2008.

Past Recipients

Past Recipients of YIA Grants include Deaconess Adoption and Pregnancy Center (new furniture for waiting room and materials for classes), City Rescue Mission (musical instruments for the teen center), the Oklahoma County Juvenile Center (funding for a life skills program), The Children’s Center (a handheld computer for communication by non-verbal children), Boys and Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County (funding for the Smart Moves drug resistance program), The Care Center (money to refurbish the playground and to fund non-critical medical exams), Positive Tomorrows (computer work stations).

Mailing List:
Community agencies in the central Oklahoma region that would like to be added to the mailing list YIA will use to distribute its RFP forms should contact: