3 Coalition Projects in Progress
Youth Forward MKE’s Strategic Priority Workgroup has embarked on three bold projects that aim to expand opportunities, amplify youth voices and create lasting impact across Milwaukee.
“Milwaukee Succeeds has been thinking about how to actively teach youth how to make change in society by giving them the opportunity to actually do so,” explained Franz Meyer, Teach for America’s director of community programming and an active member of the Strategic Priority Workgroup.
Enter the Youth-Led Grantmaking Pilot. This exciting initiative will put real power in the hands of young people, giving them the opportunity to make meaningful decisions about where resources go in their community. Beginning next year, teams of youth representing local organizations will learn about grant writing and evaluation, develop proposals and – if funded – see their projects come to life. The program team has been busy connecting with local organizations, studying youth grantmaking models and planning the conference that will kick off the process next spring.
Taking youth empowerment in another direction, the Post-Secondary Pathways Project is opening doors to a wide range of career and education opportunities after high school. Through this initiative, young people will gain insight into trade programs, apprenticeships, technical colleges, higher education and service pathways – equipping them with the tools they need to find the path that’s right for them. The team is currently building partnerships and compiling a comprehensive guidebook to ensure that all youth, regardless of their background, have a clear pathway to post-secondary success.
Finally, the Community Voice Toolkit aims to help organizations harness youth and community input to guide meaningful change. Set to launch in 2026, the toolkit will provide schools, youth organizations and community groups with practical resources – like templates, planning guides and facilitation tools – to make listening sessions more effective and actionable. By studying existing tools, observing local listening sessions and gathering feedback from attendees, the team is discovering what authentic engagement looks like and what it takes to put this partnership into practice.