Global Works Community Fund develops youth who want to define their own life.
We remove barriers to access and help diverse youth find their voice in activism and community engagement.
We are a youth-leadership organization that nurtures diverse young leaders through art, community engagement, travel, and nature-based projects to make lasting community impact.
Our programs offer multidimensional leadership opportunities through unique, hands-on experiences with arts, environmental and global advocacy projects.
Our Student Fellows learn and collaborate with dynamic leaders at home and abroad, engaging in three programs from March to October:
Unity Through Arts
Our Naturehood
Global Leadership
Making Moves: Mural Partnership with Expression Against Oppression
In 2020 we engaged locally with youth and artists and our youth helped concept and paint a mural in downtown Portland.
Our Work
Students from BIPOC* communities often have less access to leadership development opportunities due to continuing inequity in resource distribution across systems - including school districts and neighborhoods. Global Works Community Fund seeks to dismantle this pattern through mentoring, global travel experiences, leadership opportunities, career development opportunities, and college-prep. Our students are brilliant, motivated changemakers and we recognize that where we come from is a part of our strength. Investing in our fellows’ future allows us to enhance the power of our communities.
At home and abroad, we work with passionate community partners who open their homes and hearts to our youth fellows. Working side by side on projects in service of the community, everyone benefits from cultural exchange, skill-sharing, and learning through stories.
These are our youth. This is our community.
* BIPOC is an acronym that stands for Black, Indigenous, People of Color. Expanding the term POC, the specificity of this term recognizes that Black and Indigenous people endured the brunt of the violence that founded this country in the form of stolen labor and land and that these communities are still unequally affected by the ongoing consequences and disenfranchisment that persists today.
Our Impact
Since 2015, we have grown each year. We started our program with two fellows and one mentor. We now annually mentor a cohort of ten youth fellows who we support through fully funded scholarships .
Who We Serve
Growth
Founded: 2015
Students Served: 33
Projects Completed in Countries Visited:
Panama: 19
Costa Rica: 15
Puerto Rico: 6
Portland + Denver Metro: 25
Average Community Service Hours: 33
Inclusion
Our fellows comes from diverse racial backgrounds including African-American, Cuban, of European Descent, Jamaican-American, Latinx, Mexican, Native American, Polynesian, Somalian, and White American. We are proud to work with students from historically underserved communities to do our part in leveling the playing field.
Tenacity
Free and Reduced Lunch: 100%
High School Graduation Rate: 100%
College Acceptance Rate: 100%
Areas of Impact
Our civic engagement projects focus on creating impact in these essential changemaking spaces.
Our Naturehood
A relationship with the natural world and access to clean air, clean water and green spaces is essential for all communities. These community projects range from habitat restoration, to park clean ups and community gardening.
Unity Through Arts
Art is a way of expressing the times, needs of community, and voices of individuals. Through public art projects with community members, our fellows share power and perspectives through what they create . Projects in this sector can include developing murals, podcast creation, digital magazine publication, community art exhibits and documentary film.
Global Leadership
We are all connected. A global perspective provides a new sense of possibility and shed light on new strengths. Our youth move out of their comfort zone to learn from, and build with, local leaders abroad. Projects in this sector include education, infrastructure development, and conservation work.
In tandem with Global Works Travel, our youth participate in community projects in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Panama. Once they return home, they take inspiration from the areas these projects address and how they are accomplished and initiate projects in their local community.
The Journal
Hear from student fellows about their experiences and check out our newsletters.
Who We Are
Our community is made up of incredible individuals dedicated to the work of building strong healthy communities through a youth-first approach.
Learn more about our story, our staff and our board.