By Michelle Johnson | Development Associate
Through our Young Women’s Initiative, we launched the Rock Star Fund to elevate the leadership of cisgender, gender-expansive youth, and transgender young women of color between the ages of 12 and 24 in DC. The Rock Star Fund provides a one-time award of up to $2,000 to invest in the learning, leadership, ideas, and community projects of cisgender, gender-expansive youth, and transgender young women of color living in DC. It goes beyond traditional grantmaking, it allows Young Women's Advisory Council fellows the opportunity to review applications and decide awardees. This strategy engages young women of color as agents of change in their communities on both ends of the grantmaking process. On one end, young women decide which projects to invest in, on the other, young women receive an award to make those projects happen.
The Rock Star Fund affords young women and girls the opportunity to engage in innovative problem-solving to address some of the most pressing issues affecting them including poverty, homelessness, education and workforce development, healthcare, violence, mentorship, and documentation and residency. It connects women of color mentors with awardees to provide them with the support and connections they need to advance their own development and/or community projects.
We’ve awarded 4 young women of color during this cycle. Their transformative projects are working to shift narratives and cultivate belonging; provide gender-responsive, culturally competent, trauma-informed youth-friendly services; lift up the lived experiences of young women of color; tap into the leadership of young women of color by engaging them in decision-making processes; and provide guidance and mentorship.
A culture of participatory grantmaking is important to advance gender and racial equity, center the experiences of young women of color, and to allow more funding at the grassroots level.
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