The Charles Hayden Foundation offers grants specifically targeted at institutions serving youth and young adults in New York City, Boston, and in certain cases, Newark, New Jersey. The Foundation's primary focus is on high school through post-secondary success, emphasizing education and career development. To be eligible, organizations must demonstrate impactful youth development and education programs with measurable outcomes and clear goals. The Foundation particularly supports initiatives that enable youth to gain knowledge and access to academic and career options, fostering confidence and informed decision-making for future success. For school programs, including charter, public district, independent, and parochial schools (with tuition under $12,000/year), there are additional operational time requirements and expectations for student development and parental engagement. Application requirements include a program description, demographic information of the youth served, budget details, contingency plans for partial funding, a recent audited financial report, IRS tax-exempt status proof, and expected program outcomes with preferred evaluation criteria. The Foundation reviews grant applications on a rolling basis during its fiscal year (July 1 - June 30), and currently, it does not accept multi-year funding requests. Preliminary reviews of written applications may lead to interviews or site visits. This grant opportunity is ideal for non-profits focused on youth development in the specified regions, seeking to make a tangible impact in education and career readiness.

Attributes that the Foundation Seeks in Funded Programs
For youth development programs:
Relationships between youth and youth agency staff that are caring, consistent, and continue throughout the course of the youth’s long-term development.
Engaging, enriching and safe activities during the non-school hours.
Activities and counseling that help youth prepare for post-secondary education.
For school programs (including (1) charter schools, (2) public district schools, and (3) independent and parochial schools that charge a maximum of $12,000/year for tuition):
Schools must have been in operation for the following amount of time:
Grades 6-8: until the entering 6th grade cohort has completed the 8th grade and there is 8th grade state test data and high school placement data.
Grades 9-12: until there is at a minimum one year of graduation and college matriculation data.
High expectations for student’s mental development, reflected in a challenging course of study that emphasizes reading, writing, mathematics and other core skill and content areas.
Active engagement of parents in their children’s education at home and in schools.
Collaboration with other organizations and programs that can contribute to student’s learning.
Activities and counseling that help youth prepare for post-secondary education.
Track record of increased student academic achievement.