Sarah Shoemaker

Sarah Shoemaker—2014 Fellow

Year: Class of 2016
Major: Political Science
Organization: Sundance Family Foundation

My Chuck Green Fellowship was inspired by youth empowerment and social entrepreneurship. I partnered with the Sundance Family Foundation to work with their Youth Social Entrepreneurship collaborative. Made up of Sundance grant recipients, the YSE collaborative shares best practices and networks to strengthen the field of youth social entrepreneurship in the Twin Cities. Led by Cookie Cart in North Minneapolis, the collaborative also includes great organizations like Youth Express, Appetites for Change, MN Landscape Arboretum, Urban Roots, and Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarf.

In working with Sundance I had the opportunity to crisscross between funder and fundees, learning a great deal about how foundations and nonprofits work together to move a field forward. My main projects were planning a Youth Summit for the collaborative members in late June and conducting interviews with youth about their perceptions of YSE in July. The best part of my fellowship was the opportunity to work with people who have made social change the mission of their professional lives, not to mention, getting to know the Twin Cities in a whole new way.