The Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s first Parent Leadership Grant funding has been awarded to eight local nonprofits that have committed to including parent voices in their decision-making. A total of $58,000 has been awarded. The Parent Leadership Grant is a new opportunity offered by the Community Foundation, made possible because of a generous donor, that supports the foundation’s longstanding commitment to 2Gen (or Two-Generational) approaches to family empowerment. A tenet of 2Gen approaches is inviting people with lived experience to help develop support systems for families that rely on nonprofit programs and services. This approach ensures parent and caregiver perspective informs program design, resting on the belief that those most aware of and proximate to challenges can best advise on effective strategies for helping families and championing systems change in human services. The Parent Leadership Grant helps nonprofit organizations develop parent advisory councils or otherwise invite family feedback in developing worthwhile programs, ensuring access to families of all types, and providing supports that help propel families forward. Funding will be used to support parent involvement by treating their experience as a skill that, like other skills, warrants investment. Parents will be paid for their time, and barriers to participation, such as childcare, will also be covered. Based on the idea that parent and child well-being are inextricably linked, 2Gen strategies disrupt intergenerational cycles of poverty through supporting both children and their parents or caretaking adults in their lives simultaneously and intentionally. The 2Gen philosophy has girded many of the Community Foundation’s initiatives since 2012, from parent scholarships for higher education to literacy support for youngsters. While focusing on whole families is not a new notion, the approach has been formalized through work of Ascend at the Aspen Institute, which convenes leaders from around the globe to innovate ideas that support multigenerational success. The Parent Leadership Grant bridges the gap between those who determine and execute systems and those for whom the systems are designed. For this grant cycle, the Community Foundation’s Parent Advisory Council—parents who have benefited from 2Gen support and inform the Community Foundation’s approaches to family empowerment—served on the review committee. As a partner to more than 700 nonprofit organizations serving the region, a primary function of the Community Foundation is to support strategies that empower nonprofits to be inclusive and intentional in developing programs and services. To learn more about available grant opportunities, visit www.cfsarasota.org/nonprofits/grants.