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Partnering With Community Experts

Living Our Values

Since its inception in 2019, our Community Experts Team brings together young adults from Western New York and Eastern Massachusetts. Team members share their lived expertise with our four focus areas (intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health challenges, and substance use disorders) to design a grantmaking initiative that reflects what they feel their communities need most. The entire process, including ultimate grant award decisions, is driven by the team members.

It’s participatory grantmaking because the people with lived experience are also the decisionmakers.”
– Aidan Kotoski, returning team member

By putting decision-making power in the hands of young adults, the Community Experts Team ensures that funded programs serve the youth who need them most and advances our goal of making a difference in the lives of young people.

In 2024, the Community Experts Team awarded funds to 11 organizations that promote youth voice and leadership development.

Read about the 2024 grant selection process.

This process has been amazing at giving team members a voice…When you get asked for your feedback, you feel heard.”
– Sage Golisano, supporter and team member

Watch the Community Experts Team in action and hear about their work in the video below…