What's the purpose of EDGABY?

EDGABY is a grant program that allows a board of youth stakeholders to grant local youth with financial support to conduct community projects. EDGABY exists to empower youth by equipping them with the skills, knowledge and opportunities necessary to prepare them for a future as community leaders. Through EDGABY grants, the youth board works together to provide funding and assistance projects that address local issues.

There are two sides to the EDGABY program:

• A board of 12 board youth and 5 youth program officers who meet regularly to award EDGABY grants.
• The EDGABY grants are written and led by youth in the community, whose ages range from 10 to 19 years old.

Who supports the EDGABY program?

EDGABY is a program of the El Dorado Community Foundation and El Dorado County 4-H Youth Development Program. EDGABY is made possible through funding from the El Dorado Community Foundation, Sacramento Regional Community Foundation and the Sierra Health Foundation.

What's the history of EDGABY?

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors established the El Dorado County Youth Commission (EDYC) in 2004 to bring a youth voice to local government. Youth Commissioners, who are local teens in the community, work together to address youth issues. The Youth Commission's success is made in part from commissioners writing and receiving youth-led grants from the Sacramento Grants Advisory Board for Youth (GABY).

In 2007, community partners from the Sacramento GABY program, the Youth Commission (4-H program), the El Dorado Community Foundation, and New Morning Youth & Family services teamed-up to form a youth grant board in El Dorado County.

For the 2007-08 grant cycle, EDGABY consisted of 12 youth board members, received 11 youth grant proposals, and awarded 9 grants.

For the 2008-09 grant cycle, 10 grants were awarded to youth grant teams across the county, including South Lake Tahoe, Placerville, Georgetown and El Dorado Hills.

How does the youth board make funding decisions on the youth-led grants?

EDGABY is an education program that offers youth a unique opportunity to gain hands-on leadership skills through working with the Youth & Adult Partnership (YAP). The twelve youth EDGABY board members work as group decision makers to learn about the grant process while gaining research-based problem solving, budget management, and public speaking skills.

Through the guidance and leadership of the adult coordinator and program officers, the youth board members promote grant making in the community through direct presentations, reviewing and awarding grants, and mentoring youth-led projects. After all the grants have been reviewed and presented, the youth board will come to a consensus on funding decisions for each grant. Youth board members then continue to provide support for the youth grantees through site visits and regular communication. The EDGABY Program Officers work to help facilitate meetings and organize EDGABY main events, such as Grantor's meeting, Grant Decision Day, Awards Night, grant teams' Youth & Adult Partnership Workshop, and the Community Celebration.