Started in 2001, Rose Youth Foundation (RYF) is an initiative of Rose Community Foundation that engages Jewish high school students in collaborative grantmaking. The program is youth-led, empowering teens to use the tools of strategic philanthropy to make a difference. Members work together to discuss what it means to give in a Jewish way, explore community issues, determine a funding priority, meet with nonprofit leaders and ultimately determine how to grant $60,000 to improve their community. 

Becoming a Member

The 2023-2024 application is closed. Please contact Gillian Nyland if you are interested in applying for the 2024-2025 cohort.

Support Rose Youth Foundation Endowment

In 2010, the Rose Youth Foundation Endowment was created to ensure that future generations of Jewish teens have the opportunity to serve as community leaders. We appreciate the 220+ community members who have made a contribution to support the future of this work.

“This program takes teens who show some leadership abilities and helps them workshop those abilities on multiple levels. That’s why I chose to support the Endowment. I hope Rose Youth Foundation continues to not only be a part of the philanthropic landscape, but also continues to develop teen leadership for years to come.”

 – Gail Sigman, parent of RYF participant

If you are interested in passing the gift of Rose Youth Foundation forward, join us in helping to reach our $2 million goal.

2023 Grantmaking

In 2023 the Rose Youth Foundation chose to focus their grantmaking on supporting the mental health of teens struggling with substance abuse and misuse. They issued the following grants:

  • $10,000 to Soul Stories to support their student-centered storytelling workshop that facilitates personal healing, human connection and social change, so that communities have the tools to build healthy relationships in order to support their mental and emotional well-being.
  • $20,000 to Girls Inc. of Metro Denver to support their work that inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold, and its vision to create a world in which every girl values her whole self, discovers her inner strengths, and achieves her goals.
  • $30,000 to Tigray Ethiopian Community Association in Colorado to support their youth mental health programming to 1) build resiliency as they work through their emotions and traumas, 2) build stronger relationships with themselves, their families and their community, and 3) gain healthy coping mechanisms and community resources.