The New Mexico Funders Collaborative, a network of statewide funders committed to pooling time, energy and resources for the betterment of New Mexico communities, awarded $55,000 to two organizations in 2022. Recipients of the previous year’s grants were asked to nominate groups they either worked closely with or whose services they were familiar with. The two organizations chosen for the 2022 grants focus on nontraditional internship opportunities for students that allow them to earn an income while gaining the skills and knowledge to start their careers.
Enlace Comunitario $42,000
Enlace Comunitario’s Youth Leaders program engages teenagers (13-17 years old) building and bolstering their leadership and networking skills while promoting healthy, gender-affirming relationships among their peers. In doing so, they mitigate the prevalence of domestic violence-affiliated behaviors, such as teen dating violence. The majority of Youth Leaders for each year’s 10-student cohort are former child witnesses or survivors of domestic violence who received Enlace’s intervention services. Enlace’s current Youth Leader cohort has reached more than 1,000 individuals through its outreach activities, school presentations and public events. The training and compensated outreach position these young people for greater success in their educational and employment endeavors.
Keshet Dance Company $13,000
Keshet Dance Company’s IDEAs internship (Inquiry and Discovery through Education and the Arts) is a 16-week paid internship open to ages 17-24 within the counties of Bernalillo, Sandoval, Valencia and Torrance. The internship is designed and built for systems-impacted youth and young adults, with a specific focus on youth transitioning out of incarceration. IDEAs internships are structured intentionally to provide a soft landing place from which to gain important life and professional development skills. Participants learn about a wide variety of higher education options, career tracks and community resources, and access support and resources related to continuing education, career-specific apprenticeships and/or job placements.