Graduation Time:
Setting Up the Next Generation with Maximum Impact
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”
-old Greek proverb
So many of you wrote in last time, sharing how hopeful you found the topic of planting seeds for renewal. (Thank you so much for those lovely notes!) As we drift closer to summertime and into the month of May, I find few things as genuinely inspiring as the many young people preparing to graduate from high schools and colleges across Southern Arizona.
Every generation makes an impact on and shapes what happens to those that follow. A community foundation like CFSA is uniquely positioned in a generational capacity to be able to support that future we want to build, and more critically, the young people across our region who need the resources to grow into their own talents and abilities, lead, and eventually support the next generation.
As the kids say these days, “We’ve got the receipts,” and coming fresh off of our 2026 CORE & Comunidad grantmaking, CFSA supports a galaxy of great recent nonprofit grant recipients who are focused on serving children, teens, and youth education from a variety of angles, all of which are worth supporting, amplifying, and celebrating.
If you care about creating a Southern Arizona that readily supports the next generation, consider these action items:
1. Find your nonprofit youth champion to support. We’re not kidding when we say there’s an entire ecosystem of great nonprofits who could use your time, experience, and donations in support of Southern Arizona’s youth.
A short list of this year’s related CORE & Comunidad Grant recipients includes the Amphi Foundation, Boys to Men Tucson, Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Southern Arizona, Community Montessori School of Bisbee, FLORECER Yuma, Flowers & Bullets, JobPath, Junior Achievement of Arizona, Lapan College and Career Club, Lead Guitar, Patagonia Creative Arts Associations, Santa Cruz Valley Historical Society, SARSEF, STEP: Student Expedition Program, Sunnyside Foundation, and Tooth BUDDS. (Click the links in the first line for a full list of those recipients!)
2. Passionate about the environment? Consider supporting a youth-service oriented nonprofit that is also a recipient of our Nonprofit Solar Project Grants. Nothing says ‘future facing’ like a Southern Arizona nonprofit that is equipped to harness the sun, saving on energy costs, reducing their carbon footprint, and reallocating those resources towards programming that serves our youth! Recent recipients include Child and Family Resources, Children’s Museum Tucson, and Literacy Connects.
3. Align yourself with CFSA’s ongoing efforts to support youth and education. In addition to our grantmaking efforts, our CORE Donor Collaborators, fund holders, and our related CFSA Impact Funds (Children & Youth, Economic Equity, and Environmental Sustainability) all support nonprofits engaged on this front. Learn more about other ways to give here.
As always, a list like this is by no means comprehensive, but simply intended to serve as a starting point for those of you looking for a new way to get involved and support Southern Arizona’s youth. Thanks again as always for your time. Steady on!
PS- One more thing! You can find a couple of the notable nonprofits listed above, along with other youth-serving organizations, present at our May 13th BoardConnect event right here at CF Campus looking for new volunteers and board members.
Don’t miss it!
Jenny Flynn
President & CEO
Community Foundation for Southern Arizona