Partners for Youth Foundation Inc

At Partners for Youth, our mission is “to promote positive youth development and to prevent juvenile delinquency through collaboration and capacity building.” We live out this mission in a variety of ways.

Whether it’s providing grant support through our Grassroots Allocation Program, distributing educational scholarships and empowerment through our Partners for Youth Scholarship and Neighborhood Youth Council Programs, or developing a career readiness through our Summer Youth Job Training Program, we are dedicated to improving the lives of our young people. It’s through these efforts and more that we build relationships and make a difference.

Partners for Youth was established in 1995 by former Mayor Pam Miller during a time of extreme racial tension in Lexington. Mayor Miller recognized immediately that the unrest call

attention to the need for programs that could truly address the needs of young people and ensure that the resources in our community were available to every segment of our population.

30 years later our programs & partnerships have grown to include:

• The Grassroots Grant Allocations Program raises and allocates local funds to grassroots programs that provide opportunities for young people. Since 1995, PFY has supported 530 youth programs through over $2,000,000 of grant funding.
• The “I DO” Initiative focuses on Identifying opportunities, Developing relationships, Organizing partnerships. Under this initiative we operate our Adopt A Park program, Festival of Neighbors events, and Community Partner Tables.
• Neighborhood Youth Council empowers youth to take leadership and service roles in their community. We partner with community officers and city government for program efforts. 
• Through the PFY Scholarship Program, participants in Neighborhood Youth Councils, programs funded by the Grassroots Allocations Program, and/or Summer Youth Job Training Program are eligible for scholarships that can be used for any post-secondary education.
• Digital Scholars is an AT&T sponsored digital literacy program aimed to train youth on all things cyber, while giving them the opportunity to earn community service hours through teach-back sessions to peers and community members. 
• Spotlight on Youth brings together young people and families for an evening of celebration and resource sharing.
• MetroC.A.T.S introduces middle school students to S.T.E.M, focusing on technology and engineering. This program partners with UK College of Engineering’s National Society of Black Engineers. 
• The Summer Youth Job Training Program offers rising Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors workforce training opportunities, available through partnerships with local organizations and businesses to 300 Lexington youth for 6 weeks in the summer.