GMA Funder Community launches the 17/25 Fund for Young Adults
Purpose: Unlocking economic self-sufficiency for 17-to-25-year-olds
The 17/25 Fund for Young Adults will dig into innovative and effective strategies to support young adults in Greater Boston and Gateway Cities through their transitional years. This age group has received proportionately little philanthropic investment and is experiencing a crisis of untapped potential.
Much of philanthropy is dedicated to the younger years, positioning children and youth for later success as adults, usually through a college or career pathway. Despite significant progress, that pathway is not working for all, particularly not for young adults with inadequate support systems. In 2021 only 52 percent of Boston Public School graduates enrolled in college; just over half of enrollees finished a degree within six years. The percentage of youth neither working nor in school rose sharply during the pandemic, after decades of decline.
The Fund will center on direct interventions that empower people to thrive, starting with guaranteed income. We expect to explore other direct aid, such as guaranteed housing or work, in the Fund’s future years. Considerable innovation is underway in all three areas, so there is opportunity for creative investment.
In 2023, the 17/25 Fund will explore how guaranteed income programs can empower young adults to succeed. Read the 2023 GMA Funder Community Participant Guide for more detail.
UPDATE
This round of the 17/25 Fund for Young Adults has concluded. The final session was truly a celebration of four remarkable organizations working in different ways to support young adults on their paths to achieving self-sufficiency.
Following four presentations and funder discussion, participants voted to recognize The Haven Project and The Wily Network. Each program will receive $80,600 to provide 28 young adults with $150 per month in direct cash, no strings attached, for 18 months – plus $5,000 towards administrative costs. Read more in the grant announcement.
2023-24 participants in the 17/25 Fund for Young Adults
Paul & Edith Babson Foundation, The Fuller Foundation, The Lynch Foundation, James S. McDonnell Foundation, Mabel Louise Riley Foundation, the Schrafft Charitable Trust, and independent family donors
The experts who guided the Fund’s learning
We are grateful particularly to: Matt Aronson, a consultant and key leader in BAY-CASH Direct Cash Transfer Program; Matt Morton, Executive Director of the Constellation Lab (CoLab) and former Chapin Hall researcher ; Jeff Fuhrer, economist and fellow with the Brookings Institution and the Eastern Bank Foundation; Turahn (Rahn) Dorsey, Chief Impact Officer at Eastern Bank Foundation; Jessica Ridge, UpTogether’s Partnership Director for the Northeast; Geeta Pradhan, President, Cambridge Community Foundation; Sumbul Siddiqui, formerly Mayor of Cambridge MA and creator of Rise Up Cambridge.
Fund Participation
GMA’s six-month pooled giving and comprehensive learning experience was launched for donors eager to identify and fund community-driven solutions to a large-scale problem affecting young adults across the country.
The Fund is a project under the fiscal sponsorship of Philanthropy Massachusetts. Participation is open to private foundations, corporate giving programs, donor-advised fund accounts, and individual donors. It is a funder-directed initiative that does not accept unsolicited applications.
Contact CEO Susan Barry by email sbarry@gmafoundations.com to learn more about the GMA Funder Community.