Youth Empowerment Grantmaking Program
| Our Priorities
The Youth Empowerment Fund prioritizes non-profits working in the area of youth empowerment.
ACF Seeks to support organizations providing equitable access to youth empowerment opportunities, specifically:
- Opportunities that support physical, social-emotional, and mental health needs in a culturally responsive and youth-centered way.
- Opportunities for youth to learn, explore, and discover new interests and activities outside the classroom setting, and those that intentionally serve disengaged youth.
| Our Process
Each organization seeking funding should first review our grantmaking guidelines and determine whether its proposal meets the criteria and priorities of ACF. Â
Download the 2025 Youth Empowerment grant guidelines.Â
Download the Spanish translation of these guidelines.
April 28, 2025
Application is Open
May 29, 2025
Application Closes
June - August 2025
Staff Review
September 2025
ACF Board Approves Grant Awards
September - October 2025
Award Notification & Grant Agreements Sent
October 2025
Checks Mailed
If the organization meets the guidelines, begin the application process by navigating to the grant application platform. All applicants will need to create an account in ACF’s grant management system.
| Our Criteria
We seek out grant applicants who can showcase:Â
- Alignment with one of ACF’s Youth Empowerment impact areas.
- Commitment to serving disengaged and under-resourced youth in the Aspen to Parachute region.
- Programs reflect youth voice and leadership.
- Programs demonstrate meaningful depth and duration and are culturally responsive.
- Programs/services are aligned with clearly articulated metrics and demonstrate impact upon youth.
- Demonstration of operational and financial health of organization, including efficiency, solvency and sustainability, leadership strength, and capacity.
ACF’s youth empowerment grantmaking program is a competitive process and not all requests will be funded. Past funding from ACF or the Youth Empowerment Alliance does not guarantee funding via this process. Each application is assessed on its own merit against the scoring criteria.
| Virtual Office Hours
Virtual Office Hours are on offer to learn more about the Early Childhood and Youth Empowerment grant processes and to ask questions of the ACF Community Impact team.
Virtual Office Hours sessions are intended to be optional and duplicative. We recommend attending promptly at 10:00 AM to hear our presentation before it opens to Q&A.
Tuesday, April 14th
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Spanish interpretation is scheduled for this session
Scott Kenner
Program Officer
| Questions?
Email Scott, ACF’s Program Officer, or call 970-279-5592 (direct) or 970-925-9300 (office)