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Interact for Health Names Youth Organizing Cohort

Six local organizations receive funding to empower youth leaders for community change 

Interact for Health has announced the six members of their 2026 Youth Organizing Cohort. The goal of this grant is to build youth organizing capacity in Greater Cincinnati by supporting nonprofits in creating sustainable, youth-led programs that empower young leaders to advocate for community change on issues that matter to them.  

The six selected organizations will receive 12-month, $50,000 capacity-building grants to support their participation in a cohort learning experience as part of the grant. Interact for Health has engaged The Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions, a national leader in youth leadership, to facilitate and provide technical assistance for grantee development.   

“Through the Youth Organizing Cohort, we’re investing directly in youth’s leadership, ideas, and ability to strengthen our community,” said Kate Schroder, President and CEO of Interact for Health. “When young people have the resources and support to organize, they don’t just imagine a better future, they build it.” 

The six organizations to receive funding are: 

• Elementz: Creating Safe Space: Empowering young artists to co-create a safer Cincinnati  
  Shift the narrative of youth being the users of systems to youth shaping culture, progress, and opportunity in their communities. 
• Girl Scouts of Kentucky’s Wilderness Road: Her Voice, Her Power 
  Increase youth leadership for sustainable solutions in their communities, expanding mentorship, resources, and connections. 
• Adventure Crew: Nature, Voice, and Power: Advancing Youth-Led Systems Change 
  Elevate youth as leaders in their communities to advocate for change, along with changing mindsets toward equity and community power. 
• Youth at the Center: Young People Reclaiming Space 
  Shift policies and practices through youth-led research with photovoice and platforming youth voices and vision. 
• WordPlay Cincy: Amplify and Sustain Cincy’s Youth Voices 
  Establish a youth-centered framework to address youth mental health concerns and build youth leaders and organizers. 
  
• Forever Kings Inc.: Building Strong Men: Voices for Change 
  Equip young men to overcome obstacles, shape their world, and advocate for themselves. 
  

Interact for Health will continue to share updates from the Youth Organizing Cohort as these leaders co-create a vision for the program and the future of youth-led organizing efforts in our region.  

About Interact for Health     
Interact for Health works to ensure that people in our region have a just opportunity to live their healthiest lives, regardless of who they are or where they live. We advance health justice through grantmaking, collaboration, learning, convening, and engagement. Interact for Health is an independent foundation that works in 20 counties in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. More information is available at www.interactforhealth.org.   

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