Youth Leadership Minigrants
Try This WV Youth Empowerment Project: a partnership between Try This WV and the WV Prevention Research Center's Youth Advisory Board
Try This WV is excited to announce our new Youth Empowerment Project, a long-term effort to identify and grow young leaders in our grassroots healthy-community network. Our goal is to support and train these young leaders, fund youth-designed and youth-led projects, and offer space and opportunities to young folks across West Virginia to network, collaborate, and build a healthier future for our state, both amongst themselves and with other individuals and organizations.
Try This is partnering on this project with the WV Prevention Research Center’s Youth Advisory Board (YAB) - part of WVU’s School of Public Health - to offer additional support and opportunities The Youth Advisory Board is a youth-led space within the WVPRC focused on positive youth development, including leadership development and other capacity-building skills relevant to research and social science careers. Members practice these skills through advising the WVPRC and its partners on projects and programs as well as determining their own activities and projects. Try This will be consulting with the young folks on the YAB to review our Youth Leadership Minigrant process, develop youth resources, support the design of our 2023 Youth Summit to be held the day before our 2023 Try This Conference, and more.
While Try This has always prioritized projects that support, serve, and empower youth, this new project will help ensure Try This can do this on a larger scale and in the most effective and equitable way. This means creating safe spaces and listening to their needs, ensuring youth are making decisions at all levels, and supporting their personal and professional growth. To learn more about how to empower youth in your own organization, download the Youth Engagement Best Practices Guide the YAB developed and visit the YAB’s Linktree and Instagram.
Youth Leadership Minigrant Details
Youth Leadership Minigrants follow all of the timelines and guidelines of our standard minigrants. This means eligible project teams can get up to $3,000 to increase access to physical activity and/or healthy food in their communities, as well as support and training from Try This WV throughout the year. However, Youth Leadership Minigrant projects are designed and led by youth. For these projects, the team should be made up primarily of young West Virginians ages 13-22. Each team must also have one member identified as Experienced Support who is at least 18 years of age and who has some experience with project management to offer advice when needed. However, all decisions and project activities should be directed by the youth members. The Experienced Support team member is there to assist and help youth grow, not to lead and make guiding decisions.
Youth Leadership Minigrant projects are currently only available in the Boone, Cabell, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo, western Putnam and Wayne counties and are due Thursday February 16 at 11:59pm. More minigrants will be offered in other areas of the state in 2023. Visit our Minigrants page to learn what a Try This minigrant looks like and check out our How to Apply page to get started on the process - the application for both standard and Youth Leadership Minigrants are the same. Check out the table below to see what additional support will be provided for our pilot Youth Leadership Minigrants and schedule a consultation at the bottom of the page to start the process.
Since our Youth Leadership Minigrants are in the pilot phase, only a small number will be chosen. However, any project can still be considered for our standard minigrant process. Youth Leadership Minigrant applicants will be offered the chance to have their project considered for a standard minigrant if not selected as a Youth Leadership Minigrant. More opportunities will be offered later in June 2023 and beyond.
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Schedule a consultation to start the conversation!