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Plinth

· Public charity

Youth Speaks Inc

Youth speaks creates safe spaces to empower the next generation of leaders, self-defined artists, and visionary activists through written and oral literacies.

$1.0M
Granted FY2017
20
Grants FY2017
13
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your fieldRead
01What you fund
01FY2017 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 20 grants below total $773,000 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $1,008,127 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $235,127 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

By grant size · FY2017

  • Under $10k2 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $266k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $493k
$30,000
Median grant
13
States reached
$6.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Urban Word NYC$100,000
Young Chicago Authors$100,000
Words Beats and Life Inc$75,000
Sacramento Area Youth Speaks$60,000
Inside Out Literary Arts Project$55,000
Writers in the Schools$52,500
Southern Word Inc$50,000
Get Lit - Words Unite$40,000
First Peoples Fund$37,500
MassLEAP Collective$30,000
Philadelphia Youth Poetry$25,000
Kuumba Lynx$25,000
Forward Arts Inc$25,000
Campo Santo$24,000
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts$24,000
02The need
02

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–17) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 86% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Southwest Institute for Learning Inc: $8k → 15%MassLEAP Collective: $30k → 8%Philadelphia Youth Poetry: $25k → 22%Movimento de Arte y Cultura Latino: $15k → 8%Ryse Inc: $8k → 9%Campo Santo: $24k → 10%With Our Words Inc: $10k → 12%Get Lit - Words Unite: $40k → 14%Sacramento Area Youth Speaks: $60k → 16%Urban Word NYC: $100k → 17%Writers in the Schools: $53k → 16%Words Beats and Life Inc: $75k → 14%Inside Out Literary Arts Project: $55k → 21%Southern Word Inc: $50k → 14%Kuumba Lynx: $25k → 14%Teens With a Purpose: $10k → 9%First Peoples Fund: $38k → 14%Forward Arts Inc: $25k → 19%Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: $24k → 10%Young Chicago Authors: $100k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

IL
MI
NY
MA
SD
PA
CA
VA
AZ
TN
DC
LA
TX

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
The Black Literacy and Arts Collaborative Project
—
2
Youth Speaks Inc

Youth speaks creates safe spaces to empower the next generation of leaders, self-defined artists, and visionary activists through written and oral literacies. we challenge youth to find, develop, publicly present, and apply their voices as…

Youth Development
3
Literary Freedom Project Inc

The Literary Freedom Project creates free, open spaces for communities to engage with books through weekly discussions and presentations. Our programs promote literacy, celebrate the diverse cultures of the Bronx and NYC, and foster…

Arts & Culture
4
Juxtaposition Arts Inc

Juxtaposition arts (jxta) is a visual art and design organization, rooted in north minneapolis for over 30 years. we expand access to creative education and career pathways by engaging emerging artisits in rigorous traning, mentorship and…

Youth Development
5
Understory Arts

Understory arts was created to equip storytellers from all walks of life, especially from diverse backgrounds, with the tools, training, and resources they need to tell powerful and important stories.

Arts & Culture
6
The Diatribe Inc

The diatribe uses restorative art to disrupt historical systems of oppression by reimagining education, holistically honoring the community by creating an unapologetic vision for liberation that is accessible to all.

Arts & Culture
7
Connecting Through the Arts and Edu
—
8
World Collaborative for Transformative Community Wctc

WCTC work to help solve the problems of the 21st Century for the benefit of local communities utilizing transformative network methods. We work with educational writing and poetry programs, as well as BIPOC and people of color initiatives.

Community Improvement
9
United Artist Collaborative
Arts & Culture
10
Young Audiences of Northern California

Young audiences creates art experiences that inspire young people, expand learning, and enliven communities.

Arts & Culture
11
Seattle Arts and Lectures

Seattle arts and lectures cultivates transformative experiences through story and language with readers and writers of all generations.

Arts & Culture
12
Young Playwrights Theater

Young Playwrights Theater (YPT) is committed to using theater & writing to foster dialogue, arts education, literacy & conflict resolution in communities.

Arts & Culture

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Urban Word Nyc Inc and the most unlike its peers is Urban Affairs Coalition. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

03the grantee network

17 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 17 of the 20 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/17
Grantees still filing
11/17
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

YOUNG CHICAGO AUTHORS — $100,000 · Arts & CultureYOUNG CHICAGO AUTHORSWords Beats and Life Inc — $75,000 · Arts & CultureWords Beats and Life IncINSIDEOUT LITERARY ARTS PROJECT — $55,000 · Arts & CultureINSIDEOUT LITERARY ARTS PROJECTGET LIT - WORDS IGNITE INC — $40,000 · Arts & CultureGET LIT - WORDS IGNITE INCFIRST PEOPLES FUND — $37,500 · Arts & CultureFIRST PEOPLES FUNDMASSPOETRY INC — $30,000 · Arts & CultureMASSPOETRY INCKUUMBA LYNX — $25,000 · Arts & CultureKUUMBA LYNXYERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS — $24,000 · Arts & CultureYERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTSIntersection for the Arts — $24,000 · Arts & CultureIntersection for the ArtsMOVIMIENTO DE ARTE Y CULTURA LATINO AMERICANA DE SAN JOSE INCORPORATED — $15,000 · Arts & CultureURBAN WORD NYC INC — $100,000 · EducationURBAN WORD NYC INCWriters in the Schools — $52,500 · EducationWriters in the SchoolsUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS — $60,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALI…URBAN AFFAIRS COALITION — $25,000 · OtherURBAN AFFAIRS COAL…Forward Arts Inc — $25,000 · OtherForward Arts IncWITH OUR WORDS — $10,000 · OtherWITH OUR WORDSSouthwest Institute for Learning Inc — $7,500 · OtherSouthwest Institut…SOUTHERN WORD INC — $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentSOUTHERN …TWP-THE YOUTH MOVEMENT — $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentTWP-THE Y…RYSE INC — $7,500 · Youth DevelopmentRYSE INC
Arts & Culture$425,500Education$152,500Other$127,500Youth Development$67,500

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetYOUNG CHICAGO AUTHORS — $100,000 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetURBAN WORD NYC INC — $100,000 over 1y, 9.5% of budgetWords Beats and Life Inc — $75,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetINSIDEOUT LITERARY ARTS PROJECT — $55,000 over 1y, 7.1% of budgetWriters in the Schools — $52,500 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetSOUTHERN WORD INC — $50,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetGET LIT - WORDS IGNITE INC — $40,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetFIRST PEOPLES FUND — $37,500 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetMASSPOETRY INC — $30,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetURBAN AFFAIRS COALITION — $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetForward Arts Inc — $25,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetYERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS — $24,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetIntersection for the Arts — $24,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetMOVIMIENTO DE ARTE Y CULTURA LATINO AMERICANA DE SAN JOSE INCORPORATED — $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTWP-THE YOUTH MOVEMENT — $10,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetRYSE INC — $7,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Poetry FoundationThe Academy of Americ…Surdna Foundation IncThe Ford FoundationTides FoundationNational Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Vanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
The Poetry FoundationIL21.9× affinity8 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Poetry Foundation · The Academy of American Poets Inc · Surdna Foundation Inc · The Ford Foundation · Tides Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Youth Speaks Inc funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25

    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending — grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12–24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 20 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2017, released 2017. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2017, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home
    State money flows
    the interactive map of money crossing state lines