Agenda

Young People Can Change the World — With the Right Partners

What does it actually take for young people to create meaningful, lasting change? The answer, more often than not, is not a young person working alone — it is a young person in genuine partnership with the adults, institutions, and communities around them. This session draws on more than two decades of lived experience— from youth advisory boards to founding civic initiatives to serving on a public school board —to make the case that intergenerational partnership is one of the most powerful and underutilized tools in youth philanthropy. When young people are trusted as co-creators rather than recipients, and when adults show up as partners rather than directors, something different becomes possible. Through three concrete examples, participants will see what this looks like in practice.

Powered by YOUth: Perspectives on Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

This interactive panel session will feature a diverse group of youth philanthropists connected to Riley Children’s Foundation Youth Philanthropy Programs, including current program participants, recent program graduates, and college students who began fundraising in high school and continue their involvement through college. Together, they will reflect on their lived experiences with personal peer‑to‑peer fundraising and how their approaches have evolved over time. Panelists will share: How they engage their personal networks, including peers, family members, mentors, and community members, How they build and maintain relationships beyond a single fundraising ask, Ways they overcome discomfort and gain confidence asking for financial support. Best practices for making fundraising personal, authentic, and values‑driven Lessons learned from strategies that worked and those that did not How digital tools and social media support—but do not replace—relationship‑based Fundraising.

Youth as the Connective Force Between Urgent Needs and Long-Term Community Resilience

Communities are often forced to choose between responding to urgent needs and investing in long-term solutions. This lightning talk explores how intentionally designed, youth-centered, community-based philanthropy can collapse that false choice and allow communities to address immediate priorities while simultaneously developing the next generation of civic and social sector leaders. Drawing on real-world practice from the Three Pillars Initiative and multi-year outcome data conducted by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the session highlights why youth philanthropy produces meaningful impact and community resiliency, but only when young people are given real responsibility, decision-making authority, and structured support rather than just any seat at the table.

Why Can’t We Just Spend It All?

Experience the experience of youth participants in robust youth philanthropy programs. This interactive session immerses participants in a grantmaking and endowment management simulation modeled directly on an exercise used with youth participants at the beginning of their time in TPI youth philanthropy programs. Rather than discussing the experience of young people learning about philanthropy or discussing youth engagement conceptually, attendees in this workshop will experience firsthand the introduction youth receive to grant management work.

Decoding the Digital Divide: 5 Essential Tips for Working with Young People Today

Working with, and mentoring, young people can be a gratifying and rewarding experience for professionals who volunteer their time with youth philanthropy programs in their community. However, it can also be intimidating! The world in which young people are growing up is so different from any other time in history and this can make it feel difficult to connect. Add in the myriad of social media platforms and the often-foreign on-line world in which Gen Z communicate and seem to spend so much time, working with digital natives can make you feel unsure of yourself and make you question if you are even making an impact. This session will take a deep dive into five tips that you can have at your fingertips to help navigate working with young people today. From how to most effectively communicate and stay connected with the youth that you serve, to the more social-emotional side of working with young people, you will leave this session empowered to share your own knowledge and experiences in a confident way.

Mission, Money, Management, and Measurement

To have an impactful and mission driven community organization, one has to have commitment and compassion but it is important to think like a business leader. The session will walk through do’s and don’ts to run a successful fundraising campaign or grant application.