International Youth Foundation

History

Before founding IYF, Richard Little spent 2 years consulting with business, philanthropy, education, government, and youth leaders around the world about what was missing in current efforts to meet the needs of millions of the world's youth. These conversations confirmed that while great progress had been made in keeping more children alive, an even greater proportion were growing up with little education, job training, or productive employment. Little also identified [Page 608]a wide range of innovative approaches and practices that had been developed in communities around the world to meet these urgent needs. As a result of these consultations, and with the generous support of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, which awarded the foundation its largest single grant in its history, IYF was established “to improve the conditions and prospects for young people where they live, learn, work, and play.”

Focus

At the time IYF was established, the majority of philanthropic resources for children and youth were directed at children under the age of 5 or those in higher education. IYF seeks to bridge that gap—by addressing the needs and aspirations of underserved children and youth ages 5–25. With so much international grant making focused on relief and emergency efforts, IYF is committed to implementing long-term development initiatives for children and youth. And while traditional philanthropic funding has often gone to experimental start-ups, IYF invests in programs that are already proven to be effective and takes them to scale.

What IYF does

IYF seeks to bring new support to the many effective local efforts that are having a positive and sustained impact on youth in every corner of the globe. IYF first identifies programs that work and then connects them to the resources and expertise of global corporations, multilateral institutions, and other donors. By drawing on the local expertise of a worldwide network of affiliated foundations, and by developing strong multisector partnerships in support of their efforts, IYF works to magnify the scale of best practice programs and extend their benefits to far greater numbers of young people. IYF places a significant emphasis on promoting the effectiveness, scale, and sustainability of its youth programs.

Acknowledging the daunting range of challenges facing children and youth today, IYF has chosen to focus its efforts in five programmatic areas: education, employability, leadership and engagement, health education and awareness, and worker/workplace development. These five centers of activity, around which all IYF programs are organized, reinforce IYF's philosophy of positive youth development that recognizes and builds on young people's assets and talents. IYF supports programs that are designed to help youth develop the skills, values, and attitudes they need to succeed today, not just tomorrow. Over the years, IYF has sought to change the image of young people from passive beneficiaries of programs and services to active players who can—and do—contribute their energy, idealism, and insights to society's growth and progress.

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