The Youth Legacy Foundation is located in Minnesota and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that started in November 2011.

Contact information:
Please send correspondence to our executive director: Bridget Siljander bridget@youthlegacyfoundation.org & 612-293-7008.

Partnerships:

• Wayzata Public Schools
• Minneapolis Public Schools
• The Wisconsin Youth Leadership Forum
• Arc Greater Twin Cities
• Partnership Resources, Inc.
• Miracle League Network
• Impact Initiative
• People First Minnesota
• Believers of Self-Advocacy

Memberships:

• Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
• Minnesota Social Service Association

Collaborative Relationships:

• The Minneapolis Foundation
• Minneapolis Community Transition Interagency Committee (MCTIC)
• MAP for Nonprofits
• Live Your Passion (YLF uses the LYP process in our programming and gives a copy of the book “Live Your Passion” to youth participants.)
• Collaborating Inclusion, LLC
• K.I.P. Financial Services
• Hennepin County Medical Center
• Disability Viewpoints
• Metropolitan Center for Independent Living
• Family Voices of Minnesota
• Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare
• A Fun Day

Our mission is to engage youth in humanitarian, charitable, and service activities to empower them to lead exemplary lives and create their legacies in the community while making a difference and changing the world. Our vision is that youth who identify as experiencing disability are actively participating in the community and building their legacies. We engage youth with disabilities in community volunteer activities, to grow in confidence and experience while making a difference.

With an emphasis on legacy building, which is what makes us unique, we facilitate their personal and professional development, and using their strengths and talents to contribute to the community. So often, people with disabilities are expected to be on the receiving end of services and assistance. At The Youth Legacy Foundation, we empower youth to be on the giving end of help, and to shape and influence their communities as leaders, solving shared community problems.

We are a single point of entry for community engagement. It can be challenging to navigate the community to find appropriate opportunities for our youth, to help them to find their passion and purpose, and reach their potential. We utilize and leverage existing resources and opportunities across communities, serving as a coordination hub. We share information and help make connections, so youth are actively engaged and participating in the mainstream community as much as possible, where they can make connections and build experiences to gain greater access to additional opportunities. For more information on program benefits, visit our Program Listing in our Portfolio section by clicking here…
We work with them using a process we created to help increase self-awareness, and identify areas of strength, interest, and passion, and then connect them with a volunteer or leadership opportunity that would be a good fit. We support them in all of their education, training, and civic engagement, as well as receiving reasonable accommodations when necessary, in order to navigate community barriers and promote success and confidence.

We facilitate their personal and professional growth through four program components: volunteer service, leadership, mentoring, and peer mentoring.

Youth may participate individually, as well as in groups, and we offer to provide connections to appropriate mentors, who can nurture their personal and professional growth. Youth need role models to look up to and currently, people with disabilities are underrepresented in higher education and employment. We hope to help change that by promoting the success of youth and engaging positive role models with and without disabilities, whether they are business professionals, artists, teachers, or community leaders, to name a few.