JANUARY 2020
Young People Are Rising Up:
Leaders in the Movement for Justice
Climate-fueled wildfires engulf Australia. Trump pushes recklessly for a war with Iran. Anti-Semitic and white nationalist violence never ceases to inflict harm. Authoritarian regimes assert their power across the globe.

You know this, and you also know that there is a global wave of resistance, courageous revolutionary protest movements, led largely by young people. From Hong Kong and India to Santiago, London and Beirut, young people are leading popular uprisings for democracy, peace and justice and in opposition to authoritarianism and austerity.

In the United States, the youth-led Sunrise Movement has pushed the Green New Deal to the center of political discourse. Anti-war, pro-peace movements are intersectional with climate justice, immigration and economic justice organizing.
The Peace Development Fund has long recognized the pivotal role young people play, often driving efforts for systemic social change. Our Community Organizing Grants regularly fund youth-led organizations. The Sustainability Project, which provides three years of capacity-building training for former grantees, has supported a number of youth-led organizations such as Assata's Daughters , BAY-Peace: Better Alternatives for Youth , LOUD: New Orleans Queer Youth Theater, and Youth Rise Texas.
Youth Rise Texas:

Building Power to Resist Mass Incarceration and Deportation
Youth Rise Texas is based in Austin, where they develop the leadership of young people directly impacted by mass incarceration, criminalization and deportations. They aim to cultivate compassionate communities, win local campaigns to make Texas a safer place for all families, and envision a world without prisons, family separation, or deportations.

Now in the third year of PDF’s Sustainability Project, Youth Rise Texas reports, “PDF helped our organization grow from a fiscal sponsor to non-profit status and made us more financially sustainable and strategic. The knowledge we’ve gained informs the backbone of our organizational infrastructure.”

PDF is more than a grantmaker. We work with groups like Youth Rise Texas as partners in social justice struggles to support youth-led organizations to be sustainable and effective change-makers for years to come.
Reflecting on their 2017 Community Organizing Grant, Youth Rise Texas told this story, “Due to the support from the Peace Development Fund, we have successfully met our fundraising goals via a combination of grassroots fundraising and grant requests, and PDF's support has strengthened our ability to attain other funding because we are undergoing training through the Sustainability Project.”
API Equality - Northern California:
Young People of Color Working for Social Justice
API Equality Northern California (APIENC) organizes queer and transgender, Asian and Pacific Islander people and communities. PDF’s 2019 Community Organizing Grant will support their programmatic work, which ranges from leadership development and movement building, to transgender and environmental justice, to an inter-generational oral history project for queer and trans Asian and Pacific Islanders.

APIENC is building solutions and creating alternative structures that center self-determination, promote healing and restoration for the land and the people. PDF is inspired by their leadership in cultivating peace, healing and equity in their communities.
The Pioneer Valley Community Advised Fund:
Participatory Grantmaking for Local Organizing
The Pioneer Valley Community Advised Fund supports grassroots efforts of communities working towards social justice in the Valley (Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties). Special attention is given to organizations led by people of color and those that are seeking to work in greater collaboration with other local groups.

Donors to the Pioneer Valley Community Advised Fund can participate in the grantmaking process, helping to screen applications, learn about local organizing and ultimately be a part of the strategic decision-making about how grant money will be distributed. Students from the five colleges work alongside longtime community members to form the core advisors who make these valuable and insightful decisions.

If you would like more information about the PVCAF email Delia Kovac (delia@peacefund.org).

Do you want to have a more active role in philanthropy but live outside the Pioneer Valley? Click here to read about our Donor Advised Funds program. 
Mark Your Calendars:

2020 Grassroots Fundraising Week
April 27th - May 1st 2020
Grassroots Fundraising Week is your chance to be a grant-maker. PDF will use our online presence to highlight the work, stories and missions of organizations we support and ask for your help in resourcing these grassroots groups.

PDF Webinar: Volunteer Recruitment
March 10th, 2020 at 2pm EST
Join PDF staff member Emily Serafy Cox for a webinar about effective volunteer recruitment strategies for your organization. RSVP here.
Thank you for your support.