Who are we?

Equitable education is truly dependent on transforming how school systems, educators, families and the greater community come together and work as one. To accelerate this transformation, we created a youth-centered initiative: Youth Forward MKE.

Youth Forward MKE was a city-wide call to action to all stakeholders and systems leaders to end educational inequity by building authentic relationships throughout the community, creating space for lived experiences and shifting power to those directly impacted.

While our coalition work has now come to a close, we still believe the future is Youth Forward.

  • Build Authentic Partnerships

    Throughout the years, we’ve built stronger networks to ensure our youth receive the supports they need. Through strategic partnerships, we increased resources designated to mental health, youth leadership and workforce development.

  • Create Space

    We created spaces that centered the lived experiences of youth, ensuring they were heard and valued. This work includes the Autonomous Youth Council, which aimed to empower our youth with the knowledge and skills needed to actively shape the decisions that impact their lives.

  • Shift Power

    We’ve shifting traditional power structures to ensure that youth are driving decision-making. Our Youth-led Grantmaking Project put funding decisions directly in the hands of Milwaukee youth, while our ongoing partnership with the city is adding youth voice to local policy discussions.

Our Strategies

  • Local Partnership

    We strove to authentically engage youth, learning from their experiences and ensuring their voices are heard. That’s why we built a thriving youth-adult coalition, Youth Forward MKE. Together, we worked to identify and meet the needs of youth across Milwaukee.

  • Equitable Governance

    We worked to increase access to equitable community governance structures for youth, giving them a place where they could be heard and people who are willing to listen.

  • Mental Health

    Again and again, our youth called out mental health as a key challenge. Through various initiatives, we worked to increase access to mental health supports and preventative care, providing them with the space, time and strategies they needed to succeed.

  • Advocating for Change

    Deep and lasting change can only happen when we work together to change the systems. That’s why we continue to advocate for state and local policies that will create a more equitable and inclusive education environment.

Our Achievements

 

Design Your Future

Launched in 2021, the Design Your Future Fellowship was a paid program that gave 58 young people the opportunity to create plans on how to improve the high school experience for our city’s for Black male youth.

Each of the 6 teams produced a proposal on what they would like to see changed in Milwaukee schools. All 6 proposals identified mental health support and resources as a critical area of focus. In 2022, their ideas were consolidated their ideas into three proposals - which informed the direction and priorities of our coalition.

Check out the Impact

The Autonomous Youth Council

Milwaukee’s young people are ready to lead – and the Autonomous Youth Council gave them the chance.

Following an in-depth training academy, youth stepped into year-long placements on boards, advisory councils and leadership tables across the city. Through these placements, our council members brought fresh ideas to the table, advocating for what they needed and influencing the future of our city. This is youth leadership in action!

Discover the AYC

The Youth-Led Grantmaking Project

The Youth-Led Grantmaking Project, launched in March of 2026, gave young people ages 14–24 the opportunity to direct funding toward youth-serving projects that mattered most to them. Five teams were ultimately awarded $4,000 each to put their ideas into action.

All five projects boasted a clear community benefit and aligned with at least one of our priority areas: youth leadership, mental health, data and research, and systems change.

Explore the Project