Youth Organizing Institute

Founding and History

The Youth Organizing Institute was founded in 2021 as a project of the New York Civic Engagement Table, which is itself a project of the Public Policy and Education Fund. ² The main product of the institute is its fellows program which trains activists who then work with the New York Civic Engagement Table’s partner organizations to promote left-of-center policies and get-out-the vote efforts. As of the end of 2022, nine fellows had completed trainings. ^{1 3 4}

Finances

The Youth Organizing Institute is not an independent nonprofit and therefore does not have public tax filings. However, its parent organization, the New York Civic Engagement Table, states in its 2021 annual report that the organization spent $200,000 on the program that year. ⁵

The New York Civic Engagement Table is itself a project of the Public Policy and Education Fund, which is funded by a variety of left-of-center donors, including Tides; the MacArthur Foundation; the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which has provided $135,00 in grants since 2016; and Open Philanthropy, which provided 15,000 in 2020 to support criminal justice activism. ^{6 7 8 9}

Fellowship Program

The Youth Organizing Institute administers a fellowship program that seeks to train youth in the New York City area to engage in left-of-center activism and get-out-the-vote efforts. The 10-week program provides a biweekly stipend to fellows and is divided into three phases. The first phase covers a left-of-center worldview that emphasizes social justice, as well as data and current technological methods for effective activism. The second stage involves professional development exercises and workshops. This then leads to the third phase, in which fellows are placed in a partner organization that is a member of the New York Civic Engagement Table and work there for roughly a month. ^{10 1 11}

As of the end of 2022, nine fellows had completed the program. On the relevant webpages, all fellows are listed with pronouns in their biography. ^{3 4}

Leadership

Melody Lopez is the director of the New York Civic Engagement Table, the parent organization of the Youth Organizing Institute. She began this role in 2015. Prior to joining Youth Organizing Institute, Lopez had worked for the New York City Department of Education and the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California. From 2006 to 2010 she worked as an organizer for the left-of-center Working Families Party, which is generally supports the left wing of the Democratic Party, and was also a staffer in the New York State Senate. ^{12 13}