Youth Council Microsite Content (Programs Tab) 

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Our Mission

Founded on March 18, 2021, The Giving Spirit Youth Council is composed of Greater Los Angeles youth leaders who are committed to service, invested in the alleviation of poverty in Los Angeles and devoted to the mission of The Giving Spirit to play a role in this City’s greatest humanitarian crisis. Our young leaders represent a community of Angelenos – their neighborhoods, their families, their respective schools, and their peer groups – that have a genuine passion for service and embody principles that transcends the boundaries of LA.

We lead in educating our peers on why homelessness is a symptom of the macro societal issues that challenge every community in our City and County. We focus, address and confront the factors attached to the unhoused. We believe that these issues play a key role in unpacking and unveiling the systemic inequalities that are the tragic pillars of poverty and homelessness. 

We believe that taking responsibility within our own communities for inequitable conditions is crucial, as one of our core values is empathy — empathy for all of our neighbors, empathy for those whose voices are not heard, and lives forgotten or devalued – which need to be understood as much or more than being lifted up.

We must collectively understand what it means to take responsibility for the welfare of ALL of our neighbors. #theyareus

The Youth Council is a powerful testament to The Giving Spirit’s commitment to engage, integrate, learn from and “lead with our future”. The organization looks to our youth leaders to offer perspective on strategy, policy, initiatives, narrative, positioning and problem solving.

Our Impact

Each Youth Council cohort chooses a Giving Spirit program pillar and builds an annual impact event to address individual material needs and educate their peers and communities on the underlying causes that force those same individuals to the streets.

Since ’21 our Council has served and produced programming around unhoused young girls, homeless students and, the just completed cohort of ’23-24, unhoused abused women fleeing life-threatening situations – supporting The Giving Spirit’s Women+Girls initiative. The council has partnered with Alexandria House, a transitional shelter and support center for homeless women in Los Angeles and served 120 women with curated Health+Personal Care kits. Each of the 12 members of the Council hosted on campus and in-community educational programming to replace stereotypes and hurtful rhetoric with truth-based discussions and presentations.

Each Youth Council member undertakes creative, strategic initiatives to raise funding for their project and awareness for the unique lives and journeys of the recipients of their aid. These young leaders are responsible for the planning and execution of their project, and with the support of The Giving Spirit’s 25-year-old brand and expertise, stand at the forefront of activism amongst their peers and communities.

Our Work and Intrinsic Value

 Each academic year begins with each council member students choosing an assignment in alignment with the immersive semester of their curriculum resulting in their self-led research presentations.

Council members are encouraged to choose a topic relevant to homelessness that genuinely interests them. It has represented a diverse range of subjects ranging in scope from their neighborhoods in Los Angeles to cities across the globe. Topics may also relate to a student’s professional aspirations or a conversation they’ve had with someone with lived experience.

 As exceptional students, they push past the surface-level data and create heartfelt narratives to paint a bigger picture of the impact homelessness has on all stakeholders. They combine both their research and personal analysis to present to the group and inspire deep dialogue amongst their peers.

 Their individual presentations and powerful research are then stitched together and then presented to Giving Spirit leadership as a product of their collective knowledge and experiential journeys.

 The Youth Council has represented the following Greater Los Angeles High Schools:

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The graduates of the three previous cohorts are/will be attending the following colleges, universities and academies:

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