January 19, 2023
Contact: Judith Cebula
317.916.7327 | cebulaj@lei.org

Initiative Seeks to Strengthen Indiana Youth Organizations

Indianapolis – Lilly Endowment Inc. is launching a new initiative to help youth-serving organizations in Indiana strengthen their efforts to promote the academic, physical and social wellbeing of young people, ages five through 18.

Through the initiative, Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana (SYPI), the Endowment is making available up to $45 million in grants to help organizations expand and enhance their programs and services dedicated to youth in communities across the state. This is an open and competitive initiative, and eligible organizations can apply for grants ranging from $60,000 to up to $1 million. Learn more about the initiative here.

SYPI reflects the Endowment’s longstanding interest in helping foster the development of Indiana youth by supporting community-based organizations that complement what young people learn and experience in school and at home. Through SYPI, the Endowment is offering grant funding on a competitive basis to youth-serving organizations whose programs address one or more of the following priorities of this initiative:

• Enhancing the welfare and safety of youth.
• Identifying and addressing the social and emotional needs of youth.
• Delivering educational experiences that supplement classroom learning.
• Developing positive character traits and leadership skills in youth.
• Providing safe and enriching out-of-school learning environments for youth.

Although the Endowment expects to support organizations that serve a wide variety of young people, the initiative has a special focus on youth who are in low-income households; who are members of communities of color; who are from immigrant families; who lack sufficient adult supervision or protection; and who are or have been exposed to trauma or other adverse childhood experiences.

“Indiana’s youth-serving organizations are crucial to the healthy development of children and youth in communities across the state,” said Ted Maple, the Endowment’s vice president for education. “We recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic and other recent societal challenges have made their work more difficult. We hope this grant opportunity will help organizations meet the increased challenges they face so they can serve Indiana youth even more effectively for years to come.”

Eligible organizations can apply for funds to add new or strengthen existing programs, to support capital projects that will improve their ability to serve youth, and/or to strengthen organizational capacity to serve youth. The SYPI initiative builds on work the Endowment supported in 2022 through grants made to nine national youth-serving organizations that have affiliates or chapters in Indiana. Learn more about those grants here.

About Lilly Endowment
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. Although the Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, it maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.