Young Detroiters are passionate about creating change in their community. They are visionary, resilient, and driven. However, they often lack access to the resources and guidance necessary to turn their charitable objectives into reality.

That is why the Catholic Foundation of Michigan, The Children’s Foundation, and The Pulte Family Foundation, have partnered to create the Detroit Philanthropic Youth Council (DPYC).

The DPYC is a comprehensive program that aims to empower Detroit high school students as young philanthropists. The inaugural class of the DPYC consists of a bright and passionate group of high school juniors from Detroit Cristo Rey High School, Loyola High School, and Jalen Rose Leadership Academy. The program will span the 2022-2023 academic year; the first session took place on Wednesday, September 21.

Throughout nine months of programming, students learn about philanthropy and the role of youth in philanthropy, fundraising, grantmaking, metrics, and data, assessing community needs, inviting grantees, reviewing grant applications, and making decisions and reporting. Various notable community leaders in philanthropy will serve as guest speakers for monthly DPYC sessions.

The cohort will have the opportunity to identify a community need, review grant applications from community initiatives that work to meet that need, and eventually decide which organization(s) will be awarded a total of $50,000 in grant funding from the DPYC. Grant funds are provided by The Children’s Foundation and the Catholic Foundation of Michigan.