Passion & Purpose: Spring 2025
Annual conference inspires young philanthropists
Thanks largely to economic realities, national entertainment and the flattening effect of social media, it can be easy to forget what makes a place special — especially if you're a teenager in a small, rural community. The desire of so many high school students is to make something of themselves somewhere, maybe anywhere, else. This phenomenon and limited employment opportunities have created brain-drain in our rural areas.
So when students from Springfield and five rural communities throughout the Ozarks convened for the Youth Empowerment Project Conference in February, they were invited into a conversation about place-making. "I want to challenge the notion that you are future leaders — you are leaders right now, if you want to be," said Dr. Marcos Silva in the keynote address at the Youth Empowerment Project Conference.
Dr. Marcos Silva delivered the opening keynote. He serves as executive director of RGV LEAD, an organization based in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas that builds pathways and collaboration between employers and students as a way to both strengthen economic development and motivate young people to become invested in their community.
His message was one of intentional empowerment and knowing your strengths. "There's a pathway between being bored and being bold, and sometimes young people don't know how to get there."
“I want to challenge the notion that you are future leaders — you are leaders right now, if you want to be,” said Dr. Marcos Silva in the keynote address at the Youth Empowerment Project Conference.
To get students to consider place-making in their own communities, Addison Jones and Laura King of Better Block activity of reimagining a place in their communities. Groups of seven or eight students convened to recreate a place in their towns with the hope of drawing people to those places, of serving as a 'third place' — a space between work and home in which people can socialize and have fun without needing to spend money to do it. SGF posed a question to them: "What makes a place great?" Like Dr. Silva, Jones and King illustrated to the students that they hold power: "The community is the expert when it comes to understanding what the community needs."
Especially in small towns, third places are sorely lacking. Hailey Lewelyn, a junior at Gainesville High, shared that "there's really only a gas station in town where people hang out after class - it was fun to share ideas and imagine something different."
For two rural YEP chapters in attendance, place-making is nothing new. The St. James chapter has long operated the Firehouse Coffee Shop to raise funds for its grantmaking, and the Aurora chapter has recently led the painting of large murals in several locations.
Giving young people permission and power to imagine is a foundational goal of YEP, which has nine active chapters throughout the Ozarks. By supporting youth with the tools to dream and create, YEP empowers them to shape the future of their communities. Founded by the CFO in 2001, YEP engages high school students in education, service, grantmaking and fundraising - helping them turn big ideas into real impact.
"It really feels like I'm helping," Kickapoo senior Kassidy Moore said of her time in the Springfield chapter. "It feels like I'm making a difference."
By Matthew Stewart • This essay is featured in the spring 2025 edition of Passion & Purpose.
