Collaborating for Impact: The Nonprofit Youth Advocacy Coalition in Phoenix
August 15, 2024
In the summer of 2023, a group of 13 youth-serving Phoenix nonprofit leaders banded together to create the Nonprofit Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC). Our goal was simple: we know our voices are amplified when we work together. While each of our organizations had particular target audiences and program focuses, collectively we serve more than 150,000 young people in our community. We face the same challenges in our state, which ranks 39th for children’s well-being with increasing rates of mental health problems, declining math and reading scores, chronic absenteeism, and generational poverty. Together, the afterschool, mentoring, and workforce programs each of our nonprofits provide offer solutions to these state-wide concerns.
Our collaboration was based on the relationships and trust we had built over time. Through conversations, zoom calls, and happy hours, each of the 13 leaders agreed to work together to create the coalition. We embrace the need to be nonpartisan in our approach and to focus on facts and examples. We shared data and details about our organization, and then we put together a “one-pager” to share with local legislators. Our initial goal was to schedule meetings with legislative leaders of each party so that we can offer our expertise to any issues involving children and youth. In early 2024, we met with three different elected officials to introduce our coalition and offer our collective experience and knowledge. We outlined specific topics where we could provide further data: the impact of afterschool programs, examples of the teen mental health crisis, the importance of mentoring, the value of workforce initiatives, and the research on literacy.
When the legislative season began, we were hopeful that the legislators would reach out to us to take advantage of our expertise. Unfortunately, the highly partisan nature of our state led to “messaging” bills being introduced by both sides of the aisle. The looming budget crisis made any funding requests nonstarters. The Republican majority legislators and the Democratic governor led to little effective problem solving and a record number of vetoes. While we did issue one statement of support for a bill supporting free and reduced lunches, we decided not to weigh in on other matters that were being debated.
Our first foray into collective advocacy saw small successes: building a coalition of leaders, establishing our purpose, and introducing ourselves to the legislature. Our takeaways from this experience are that we need to create a more robust legislative agenda for the coming year. We have several key issues to focus on: advocating for our qualifying charitable tax credit program; advancing a proposal for increased funding for our organizations; agreeing on ways to support the youth that we serve.
My advice to other nonprofit leaders is to invest in the work of building a coalition of other youth-serving organizations in your community. Reach out to these organizations as collaborators, and not competitors. Define areas of agreement and opportunities to advocate with your elected officials. Awareness is the first hurdle—and you will gain more support if you work together.