Youth learn about philanthropy at annual conference | News, Sports, Jobs

Fifty young Iowans and eight adults visited the event held on Thursday on the Marshalltown Community College campus.

“It’s way more of a trendy thing now,” said Iowa Council of Foundations President Kari Boutell. “I think there are a lot of young people who are engaged in things they care about and are finding their voice in terms of how they want to speak up and make sure people understand their needs and priorities. Youth Philanthropy is a great outlet for that.”

During the day-long event, attendees focused on how to get involved with or improve their philanthropy, which is a desire to promote welfare in others through the donation of resources, talent or time.

Boutell said the conference is used to help interested people network with one another and generate new ideas about how to help their communities. Some of the topics included advocacy, the grant process, skill building, fundraising, how to generate resources and how to connect with nonprofits in their communities.

Youth separate into discussion groups at the Iowa Council Foundation Youth Philanthropy Conference. The event was held Thursday at Marshalltown Community College.

Recently, Boutell said issues youth have greater interest in is helping low-income households, investing in young people and youth mental health.

“That empathy between peers is something I always see come through at the Youth Philanthropy group,” she said.

Two of the conference attendees — Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont High School seniors Nevaya Vandello and Abby Jager — led a breakout session about youth mental health. For a few years, they have seen increasing mental health issues amongst their peers, and wanted to do something about it through advocating for more resources.

In fact, the teenagers advocated at the Iowa Legislature this past year. Jager and Vandello, plus 38 other youth, had to make their message memorable as there were hundreds of adults also advocating for different causes. As a result, Vandello said it was extremely competitive.

Jager said she believed many of the adults advocated professionally, but her group was there as volunteers. The fact they were youth and volunteers helped them stand out.

Navaya Vandello shows pictures from time advocating at the Iowa Legislature this past year. She was one of the presenters focused on advocacy at Thursday’s Iowa Council Foundation Youth Philanthropy Conference.

“Because we were youth, I felt Sen. [Cherilynn] Westrich really listened to us more and understood what we were saying,” Vandello said. “We shared our story, shared what we want. She said afterward the fact you guys are youth and you’re coming here, taking time out of your day to talk to me about this says something. It’s very important you guys are willing to advocate for your needs.”

One tip Jager gave the group was to pick precise, impactful words when filling out the small ballot, which only contains one line.

“How do you fit it into five words,” she asked. “You have to be extremely concise and pick good wording in order to get a spot with your legislator because it is so competitive.”

Jager urged attendees to advocate with passion and speed both, which have a big impact on the legislators. She added they initially only had 20 seconds to get their point across.

“And we did,” Vandello said.

Jager encouraged everyone in the room to speak out, make their voices heard and pursue advocacy opportunities. She said it was difficult and scary, but ultimately paid off.

Boutell said this was the sixth year it has been held in Marshalltown. Groups from Marshall County, the Des Moines metro area, Cedar Falls, Waterloo, Dubuque, the Quad Cities, Muscatine, Union County and Ottumwa were present.

——

Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.