Austin, TX (AUGUST 7, 2025)  –We recently had the honor of celebrating a major milestone for YMCA Texas Youth and Government (YG), thanks to a $250,000 capacity-building grant from the FirstDay Foundation.

FirstDay Foundation leaders Marilu Reyna and Connie B. (Belciug) – pictured with Texas YG State Director Missy Garcia, Greater Austin YMCA President & CEO Kathy Kuras, COO Shaquan Brown and CDO Sara Sendelbach Harwood – visited Texas YG to learn first-hand how the gift will strengthen the infrastructure behind this transformative program. Investing in staff, systems, and operations will make it possible for thousands of students across Texas to engage in hands-on civic education.

We’re so grateful to FirstDay Foundation for believing in the power of youth leadership and the importance of building sustainable, mission-driven programs. Your partnership fuels our future.

About YMCA Texas Youth and Government
YMCA Texas Youth & Government (TXYG) is part of a nationwide, youth led, civic engagement and academic enrichment program for high school and middle school students. YMCA Texas Youth and Government program was organized in 1946. The program provides middle school and high school youth training in democracy and our three branches of government.

About FristDay Foundation 

FirstDay Foundation was established to “light the way,” elevating and helping non-profit organizations fulfill their missions.

FirstDay Foundation, by design, operates differently than most other grant-making foundations. FirstDay Foundation utilizes its own specific means to identify entities it wishes to invite to apply for funding consideration. This “Secret Santa” approach identifies organizations doing good and important work that FirstDay Foundation feels can make an even greater impact. FirstDay Foundation intends to strictly follow this proactive investor philosophy of altruism by extending an application invitation only to organizations it has selected and vetted. Organizations that attempt to circumvent the application process by soliciting persons affiliated with FirstDay Foundation will lose eligibility to apply for an extended period of at least 1-year.

FirstDay Foundation values efficiency and best practices. On occasion, FirstDay Foundation may impose requirements for grant recipients to improve efficiency and practices to ensure effective use of FirstDay Foundation funds. These requirements may include access to, and/or use of shared administrative and governance services offered by FirstDay Foundation or other proven management tools and resources identified by FirstDay Foundation.

Austin, TX (APRIL 12, 2024)  – YMCA Texas Youth and Government is pleased to announce the launch of a $900,000 multi-year statewide partnership with the Bezos Family Foundation. This partnership will support increasing access to YMCA Youth and Government® programs in Texas, offering more students, schools and local Ys the opportunity to participate. The partnership is part of a $2.9 million investment with YMCA of the USA, that will also support youth civic engagement in Florida and Kentucky.

This partnership will help close the youth civic engagement gap and connect students – particularly those whose access has been limited, non-existent or have felt excluded from the democratic process – to take an active role in the civic process, learning to advance their ideas through networking and civil discourse. Over a three-year period, this partnership will help broaden, sustain and expand access to Youth and Government, with a long-term goal of scaling and applying these practices to all Youth and Government programs nationwide.

In Texas, where more than 2,000 middle- and high-school students participate in YMCA Youth and Government, the program aims to improve the state’s national standing in voter registration (44^th) and voter turnout (47^th), as measured by the University of Texas Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life. But given the state’s size, the need for community support is ongoing to address funding gaps and drive expansion.

“YMCA Texas Youth and Government transcends civics education, empowering youth to discover the impact of their voices. The generous support of the Bezos Family Foundation will help us expand our program’s reach to more communities in our state. When we invest in teens, together we are cultivating a stronger Texas for all.” said Missy Garcia, State Director of the YMCA Texas Youth and Government.

This new partnership with the Bezos Family Foundation complements longstanding statewide supporters such as the Irving, Texas-based Sumners Foundation, which has contributed nearly $5 million to support student access and program expansion.

“We’ve supported YMCA Texas Youth and Government for nearly 30 years because we see the program’s importance in training our next generation of public servants and leaders,” said Lon Williams, Chair of The Sumners Foundation Board of Trustees. “We are honored that the Bezos Foundation has chosen to join our efforts in promoting democracy and democratic institutions and expand Youth and Government’s reach to thousands more Texas youth.”

About YMCA Texas Youth and Government
YMCA Texas Youth & Government (TXYG) is part of a nationwide, youth led, civic engagement and academic enrichment program for high school and middle school students. YMCA Texas Youth and Government program was organized in 1946. The program provides middle school and high school youth training in democracy and our three branches of government.

About Bezos Family Foundation 
The Bezos Family Foundation is an independent, nonprofit private Foundation founded by Mike and Jackie Bezos, who along with their family serve as the Foundation’s directors. Since 2001, the Foundation has partnered with remarkable organizations and individuals to transform how we prepare young people from prenatal through young adulthood to pursue their own path for success and meaningfully contribute to society. In addition to grantmaking, the Foundation runs three in-house programs: Bezos Scholars Program, Students Rebuild and Vroom. Learn more at bezosfamilyfoundation.org.