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Empowering Gen Z to Serve
and Improve Communities
The Allstate Foundation is empowering a new generation of community service leaders through one of the largest investments in youth empowerment this century
Championing the Power of Youth Service
Discovering you can make a difference is like discovering a superpower. For many people this happens in college, where they’re presented with new opportunities to participate in community service and to realize its impact. When equipped with adequate resources, this newfound mindset can be life-changing both for the young people who develop personally and professionally through their service work as well as for the local communities that benefit from their service.
Despite the obvious benefits, many young people face barriers that hinder their access to service, including limited resources, unavailable or limited transportation, and overall lack of service opportunities. These are all barriers that The Allstate Foundation is working to change by creating and leading a comprehensive national strategy to increase youth-led service.
As a part of their strategy, they are reimagining service for rising generations by creating The Allstate Foundation College Service Grants program. This national grant program provides $10,000 grants to colleges and universities to increase youth-led service on their campuses, including putting funds directly into the hands of young people.
“We are providing funds and resources to these institutions to drive toward a shared vision — empowering youth to serve — by entrusting them to use those funds in whatever way they feel best supports and achieves that vision,” says Greg Weatherford II, director of The Allstate Foundation, who oversees the Foundation’s social impact programs. “We hope that others, particularly funders, will look at this as a model for developing funding programs that are accessible and less restrictive.”
“This is one of the largest mass investments in youth development in a generation,” said Dr. John Dugan, chief research and development officer at the Center for Expanding Leadership & Opportunity (CELO). “Not since investments by the Eisenhower and Kellogg Foundations 30 years ago has there been such a focus on advancing the work of youth leadership and service.”
A Movement Years in the Making
Weatherford was 12 years old when he moved to a small town near Dallas. Realizing that there were few service opportunities that resonated with him and his peers, he decided to launch his own nonprofit to give youth the autonomy to create and lead their own service projects. “My parents are my service role models,” he says. “Without ever saying a word, their example showed me that service came in all shapes and sizes, and it begins with the small, everyday actions we take to help those around us.”
Weatherford’s early experiences shaped his career. By the time he graduated high school, his nonprofit had empowered more than 7,500 youth across the country. Over the next 15 years, he continued to create meaningful development opportunities throughout his career as an executive and entrepreneur working in youth sports, education, and philanthropy.
In 2022, Weatherford joined The Allstate Foundation to lead their youth empowerment pillar. He led the Foundation in shifting the focus of the work toward empowering youth to serve and improve communities. After a robust learning journey, which included talking to thousands of youth and adult stakeholders, he developed a multi-pronged strategy to engage youth to serve, equip them with resources to do that service work, and prepare adults to support youth service.
As a part of this strategy, The Allstate Foundation College Service Grants program was piloted a year later with a mission to increase access to service, deepen the quality of service experiences, and put dollars behind young people’s ideas about how to strengthen their communities. “We see this program as a catalyst for changing how colleges view and invest in youth-led service. From our learnings, we hope to help institutions create new and unique opportunities for increasing and fostering youth service,” says Weatherford.
Redefining Service to Meet the Moment
Today’s young people don’t define service the same as older generations — something that The Allstate Foundation understands and prioritizes. “The new definition is more expansive,” says Dr. Kristan Cilente Skendall, chief operating officer at CELO, citing a variety of experiences that fall under the service banner, from performing everyday acts of kindness to pursuing systemic change.
Young people are also aware of the wider benefits that service affords. Insights drawn from research conducted by The Allstate Foundation and CELO revealed that 77 percent of Gen Z respondents believe that engaging in community service has boosted their leadership skills and 70 percent say that it prepares them for future careers. For others, participating in community service increases their sense of belonging, and a significant majority state that it enhances their abilities to engage in teamwork.
As then-student body president at Irvine Valley College, a community college in Irvine, Calif., Diego Victoria, 20, was involved in multiple projects to improve student life. After securing one of the program’s microgrants, he was able to expand access to public transportation so that more students could access service opportunities. He also listened to the voices of students on campus and led referendums that helped the administration understand how to better represent students through his work in student government. This supported the campus facilities’ plan of making student housing a possibility in the coming years for future Irvine Valley College students.
The experience reinforced his commitment to pursuing positive change in the future. “I would always encourage students and young people to engage in philanthropic work and public service because the rewards are so much bigger than any award,” says Victoria.
Victoria, who is continuing his undergraduate studies at Yale University, now plans to pursue a career in public service and show others that even the smallest acts of service can have a notable impact. The people “that contribute to major philanthropic work often go unnoticed,” he says. “But grants such as those through The Allstate Foundation are changing this narrative. It will open more doors for students to be changemakers in their communities.”
Enabling Youth-Led, Youth-Driven Service
Now in its second year, the grant program drew hundreds of applications for 50 available spots. Participating institutions have described the immense impact these funds have had — on their campus, on students, and in their communities, inspiring more individuals to get involved and drive a new era of youth-driven service. “Contrary to many narratives about youth apathy, we have seen firsthand through our research and programs that youth are more enthusiastic than ever about giving back to their communities,” says Weatherford.
However, there remains a widening gap between how youth perceive service today and the resources available to support it. This is why the program grants funds directly to young people instead of having adults control it, empowering the next generation to solve the problems they see and giving them the resources to improve the lives of those around them.
“The reality is that many grassroots and nonprofit initiatives in Chicago’s communities are cash-strapped and reliant on larger institutions and donors,” says grant recipient Maggie Rivera, a student at the University of Chicago. “The microgrants program was an incredibly accessible way to leverage my position as a student to help bring money from my university to an ongoing community-based project.”
Rivera worked heavily with the Woodlawn community, in the South Side of Chicago, and with Wadsworth shelter residents. The work included planning community banquets and creating spaces for open conversation — all part of her drive to create “a world where even people with the quietest voices feel heard, and where there is an abundance of spaces for open dialogue, cross-cultural exchanges, and collaborative planning,” she says.
Leaning Into Trust-Based Philanthropy
When developing this program, The Allstate Foundation leaned into the tenets of trust-based philanthropy — a philosophy they apply across all their programs — by ensuring the application process was streamlined and accessible. This supports the program’s aim to reach beyond highly-resourced colleges. “Any time we can get philanthropic investments into the hands of those most proximate to issues, we increase the likelihood of solutions with demonstrable impact,” says Dr. Armineh Dereghishian, assistant dean of students at Irvine Valley College. “Students today are highly motivated by causes they care about, and programs like this align with their desire to engage in meaningful, hands-on work.”
To help grantees succeed in their projects, the program provides professional development and networking opportunities to share best practices and build a strong support network. “The days of treating service as solely a requirement to be met or a means to pad one’s resume are gone,” says Skendall, describing it as an antidote to feelings of isolation and as a chance to develop new relationships. Students increasingly appreciate the reciprocal benefits, recognizing that service not only helps others, but enriches their own lives, too.
As The Allstate Foundation and CELO look to the 2025 - 2026 school year for the third year of the College Service Grants program, they’ll be accepting applications from colleges and universities between March 1 and April 15, 2025. Look for the application and more information here.
This content was paid for and created by The Allstate Foundation. The editorial staff at The Chronicle had no role in its preparation. Find out more about paid content.
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