Minnesota Statewide
Website: https://youthprise.org/

What is Youthprise?
Youthprise is a resource to youth-serving organizations and systems throughout Minnesota. Our mission is to reduce disparities with and for Minnesota youth. We work toward this mission by mobilizing resources, advancing knowledge, and advocating for change. Our three priority areas for youth are: learning and leadership, economic opportunity, and health and safety.

Why did Youthprise decide to collaborate with Venn on MAA?
Youthprise has a history of tapping into underused resources that can be better mobilized to help young people throughout our state.  When we learned that the Minnesota K-12 Education Tax Credit, which is now over 20 years old, is only being used to 5% of its capacity each year, we saw it as a perfect opportunity to drive more money to low-income families to help them pay for out-of-school time activities all across Minnesota.  But Youthprise did not have the infrastructure in place to effectively manage the loan pool needed to unleash the potential of this tax credit.  Venn Foundation turned out to be the perfect partner for this aspect of the model, and Minnesota Afterschool Advance was born! 

How has Youthprise committed to ensuring MAA’s growth in 2020 and beyond?
While we’re excited about the program’s progress over the first year, we’ve also learned that to achieve the maximum statewide impact we envision, we are going to have to reform some of the laws and regulations governing this tax credit.  This type of systems changing work takes time, especially when legislation is involved.  As a result, beginning in 2020, Youthprise has agreed to commit some of its own financial resources to cover the salary of the MAA Director and other operating expenses.  This commitment ensures MAA has the runway necessary to pursue these systems changes that could unleash millions of new dollars going to help families and young people every year across Minnesota.