About 10 years ago, someone asked me what was on my “bucket list.” I began to think about great tasks, divine mandates, that remain unfinished: ending hunger, healing the sick. The Andrew J. Young Foundation is not about keeping my name alive; it is about changing the world. As you can see from the programs described here, we are doing it. Thank you for supporting our work to share the blessings we have received and to bless the world with the work of our hearts, heads, and hands.

— Ambassador Andrew J. Young

 

Community Engagement

 

Lead Young

Leadership is a calling. So is the continual process of passing the torch to others who are prepared to accept that call and lead where there is a need. At a time when young people are energetically seeking ways to overcome persistent injustices, the Andrew J. Young Foundation is making Lead Young a principal focus of its work.

 

Lead Young focuses on the development of emergent leaders by connecting them with other generations of change-makers through training, mentorship and personal support. As a leadership incubator, Lead Young will seek out social entrepreneurs with solution-oriented ideas and help them launch programs to feed the hungry, create economic opportunity, and develop local economies in urban and rural communities.

In the summer of 2017, Lead Young will launch a social media recruitment campaign. Selected innovators will be invited to attend a summit at the University of Cambridge in October 2017. Those selected will receive multi-year training and administrative support in communications, human resources, organizational and program management, and resource development. They will be paired with mentors whose expertise matches their needs. Lead Young will support programs for three years while they develop the ability to operate independently.

Our goal is to build successful, sustainable poverty reduction programs that can be replicated regionally, nationally, or internationally.

 

The Andrew Young Leadership Series

In partnership with the Andrew young center for global Leadership and the Leadership Studies Program at Morehouse College, the foundation hosts a series of forums and talks focused on current social issues related to the mission of the foundation. The events, which are similar to TED talks, are moderated by journalists and feature presentations by a diverse and intergenerational group of leaders. the series is live-streamed and archived for historical preservation