YCore, a nonprofit organization seeking to reinvent volunteering for the millennial generation, hosted its launch party on Tuesday in which sponsors, partners and non-profit leaders came together to share their vision for YCore.

The event opened with a welcome by Kim Meredith, executive director of Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS), who detailed the social and economical importance of volunteering for the millennial generation.

“These millennials are participating [in volunteering] in ways higher than just about anyone,” Meredith said. “They are not waiting till they are 50 or along in their journey — they’re starting early, and asking questions about impact, and ‘how can I make a difference?’”

Olivia Bryant ’15, co-founder of YCore, presented a brief overview of the values and purpose behind YCore. According to Bryant, YCore’s mission is to create a network of young philanthropists interested in making lasting change in their community.

“For many of us, upon graduation we face a dilemma,” Bryant said, “which is whether we want to go into the social sector or into the private sector, and many of us choose the private sector. Still, we have this grand aspiration to continue volunteering alongside our jobs.”

YCore’s aim is to make non-profit work accessible and appealing for young individuals who do not want to forfeit volunteering in favor of their jobs.

“We’re giving volunteering a facelift,” Bryant said.

Along with Vivian Shen ’14, co-founder of YCore, Bryant has created a program that matches millennials with non-profit organizations according to their skills. Sixteen partners are chosen for each six-month program and work closely with these organizations to form their own projects.

“We just really took off running this quarter,” said Baffour Kyetematen ’15, one of the partners working for the Ableworks project. “So far it’s been a great experience, working with people who are likeminded to contribute to something so much greater than yourself, and you leave with this feeling of satisfaction everyday.”

Members of each non-profit were present at the event and spoke out about their goals and reasons for teaming up with YCore. The current non-profit partners are: The Art of Yoga, a nonprofit working to rehabilitate girls in the juvenile system through art and yoga; Ableworks, an organization looking to provide financial literacy and life skills to in-need populations; Suja Elements, a juice company donating a share of its profits to non-profit organizations and WePack, a non-profit creating sustainable solutions for pressing social issues.

Approximately 40 people were at the event.

 

Contact Stephanie Zhang at szhang3 ‘at’ stanford.edu.