Youthroots

Make change Take Root

aka YouthRoots   |   Englewood, CO   |  www.youthroots.org

Mission

Unleashing the power of youth to change the world.

Ruling year info

2010

Executive Director

Lauren Czajka

Main address

2700 S Broadway #200

Englewood, CO 80113 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

27-1325457

NTEE code info

Other Philanthropy, Voluntarism, and Grantmaking Foundations N.E.C. (T99)

Other Youth Development N.E.C. (O99)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

89% of teens want to be involved in their communities, but only 26% actually are. That's an untapped resource of over half our nation's teens! Teens identify their voice not being valued as the major reason for disconnecting. YouthRoots is all about youth voice and youth impacting their communities in the issues they choose. Secondarily, YouthRoots helps fund local nonprofit that serve their communities.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

YouthBoard

Our program is designed to do what the root of the word philanthropy means: to love humankind while realizing your full human potential. The program is designed as two overlapping parts: youth (or personal) development and philanthropy. The Youth Board will complete various assessments to learn about themselves as well as learn about leadership, board room dynamics and governance. On the philanthropy side of things, they will conduct a needs assessment of their community to determine the top three funding priorities. Once they finish fundraising for the three areas, the youth will get the chance to practice their new found skills. They will have to lead, problem-solve, engage the team and decide where the money raised should go.

Population(s) Served

YouthCharge is a program where groups of 8-12 students from anywhere virtually tackle an issue they care about. The program is 100% youth-led and youth-directed. Participants work collaboratively to complete a community needs assessment to determine the biggest issues facing youth, raise awareness and funding for those issues, and make grants to organizations they think best meet the needs of the community.

Population(s) Served
Adolescents
Adolescents

Where we work

Videos

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

YouthRoots' goal is to create a network of individuals who understand the needs of their community, empathize with people of diverse backgrounds, and take initiative to make positive change.

Each YouthBoard attends 16 meetings throughout the school year. Our boards are managed by a Facilitator, trained in youth empowerment, facilitation, and leadership. Each meeting emphasizes experiential learning on top of an academic understanding of leadership, self-awareness, community needs, governance, strengths, and passions.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we added a new program, YouthCharge, so that students can become community leaders and make change virtually.

YouthRoots has developed an impactful youth philanthropy curriculum to engage youth in their communities and provide genuine leadership opportunities. We've been in operation since 2010, and nearly 600 YouthRoots participants have raised and granted over $245,000 for nonprofits serving at-risk youth.

Over the past 10 years, YouthRoots has grown from serving 1 YouthBoard of 15 students to 9 YouthBoards of over 100. Our 594 alumni have raised and granted over $245,000 for nonprofits, ultimately benefiting over 184,000 at-risk youth. YouthRoots was recently awarded the "Outstanding Foundation" Award by National Philanthropy Day in Colorado.

Financials

Youthroots
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Youthroots

Board of directors
as of 12/15/2020
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Katie Payer

Katie Payer

Katie Payer Consulting

Katie Peterson

Accenture

Adam Sands

FirstBank

Lacey Books

YouthRoots Founder

Kevin Graff

Oakwood Real Estate Partners, LLC

Brian Gonzales

University of Denver

Miguel In Suk Lovato

The Colorado Health Foundation

K.C Matthews

Colorado Dept. of Transportation

Lisa Rucker

Gates Family Foundation

Steven Szymanski

Vv Battula

Youth Representative

Andrea Leyva

Youth Representative

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 12/14/2020

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 12/15/2020

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.