NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A group of 17 different foundations wants to get more young people involved in helping northern New Mexico communities. They are doing it by letting its youngest members help decide who gets the grant money.       Story continues below Crime: Video - Stolen veh icle driver totals APD vehicle in crash with officer NM Film: ‘Rust’ trailer released more than three years after fatal on-set shooting Sports: Rio Rancho fires boys basketball coach after 16 years It's a way to get youth involved in decision-making. “We want to see young people that understand who they are, what their future holds, and then drive that and claim it,” said Roger Montoya Seventeen different foundations have partnered together to create a youth fund for the northern New Mexico pathways to opportunity strategy table. It's offering over $1 million in grants distributed to different organizations supporting education, work training, and youth leadership across northern New Mexico. It's youngest members are taking the helm in deciding who gets the funds. “The youth are the future leaders, and they're going to be taking over one day, so they need to learn the ropes so that they can be good leaders when it's their time,” said one youth leader from Ohkay Owingeh, Veronica Rameriez. These young leaders gain the skills and experience by reviewing applications and divvying up the grants. They also gain an understanding of their influence on the community by relying on their own lived experience and how it might differ from an older generation. These young leaders are working with the Los Alamos National Labs (LANL) Foundation, Moving Arts Espanola, the Semilla Project, and other stakeholders to hone those skills. “We want to make sure that every young person, especially the young people who are not being served as well by our systems, including native youth, young parents, youth who are not working or who are not in school, we want to make sure nobody falls through the cracks,” said Alvin Warren. The stakeholders say this is a great way for the youth of northern New Mexico to have more opportunities in the future. “We have a lot of youth who sort of move out of state for education, for career opportunities, and we want them to be involved in decision making,” said youth leader from Mora, Joaquin Romero. For the youth members themselves, they echo the sentiment and also feel they can help the communities they love. “There's many ways to get involved, but it's important to recognize that you have agency and that you can make a difference even just with your voice,” said Romero. For more information on the partnership and grant program, click this link. ...read more read less