Momentum Episode 36:
Building a Smarter, More Equitable Future for Youth Funding

What if every minute spent on paperwork was a minute taken away from helping a young person thrive? On today's episode, we talked to Alysia Lee, CEO and president of the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund, who faced that exact challenge balancing transparency, accountability, and equity while getting millions of dollars in grants to grassroots organizations.

By adopting Jotform Enterprise, Alysia and her team automated approvals, simplified reporting, and gave grantees more time to focus on youth instead of bureaucracy. Welcome to Momentum, a podcast by Jotform, where we talk about technology, productivity tips, insights, and best practices that help us move forward in business and in life.

Hi, Alysia. So nice to have you on the show. I'm excited to talk to you. I've heard all about your amazing cause and read your case study, and I'm so excited to hear it straight from the source.

Awesome. Well, I'm glad to be here to represent Baltimore and to talk about tools that we use to make our work pop every day.

Why don't we start from the beginning and have you introduce yourself and talk about what Baltimore Children and Youth Fund is all about?

I am the president and CEO of the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund, which is a really unique voter-approved youth fund. The city of Baltimore voted, 80% of the city, to create a fund using tax dollars to support youth development in our city.

That was a crown jewel moment for our city where 80% of us came together and said young people matter, and we're going to put our money where our mouth is to make sure young people have access to opportunities, resources, and spaces that can be transformative.

When I was a kid, at 13, I was called a youth leader by a neighborhood person and recommended to join a program called Youth as Resources, a nonprofit of young people who disperse grant funds. To be doing that 40 years later, providing grant funds to programs throughout the city, reminds me of the power of spaces that amplify what young people are capable of and how that can change their life trajectory.

We disperse those funds and support those organizations. We also provide a dual approach to grant making, giving out between nine and 14 million dollars a year in grant funds, and dedicating about 20% of our budget to professional learning to help organizations plan for a sustainable future.

I'm proud to be part of the legacy that created the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund.

Did you grow up in Baltimore? I did. I'm a Baltimore girl. There are many youth programs I participated in as a kid that gave me an inkling of what's possible.

I became an artist by trade. As a young person, I was in a choir that traveled throughout the city. I’ve been inside every church in Baltimore City because we traveled and sang all across the city. That was powerful and meaningful because young people were making decisions about what music to learn and sometimes conducting.

Giving young people opportunities to lead gives them a glimpse into what they could be or what they don’t want to be. For example, I was on a softball team for two weeks and realized it wasn’t for me. Kids need opportunities to explore and learn about who they are and aren’t.

The programs we work with provide irresistible youth programming that meets young people where they are and takes them where they want to go.

You have to try things earnestly and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. Failing forward is how we learn and grow.

What exactly is the core mission of Baltimore Children and Youth Fund and how does that mission show up in the lives of Baltimore people?

We support and nurture the youth development ecosystem of our city. It takes a network of concentrated and diverse folks to help a child traverse from 0 to 24 safely and thrive to meet their greatest potential.

Schools, families, young people themselves, after school clubs, recreation centers, bus drivers, and others who engage with young people are part of that network. We convene those folks and support the people who support young people.

We don’t have youth programming ourselves but support organizations that supply to young people with grant dollars and by building a professional learning community where people can connect and ask questions.

Many programs are small grassroots organizations with budgets under $750,000, often with only one or two employees working in isolation. They need connection and places to ask questions.

We build a learning community committed to improving practice, from nonprofit infrastructure to recruiting kids to health and CPR certifications, so young people have safe, viable, long-lasting spaces to connect and have opportunities.

Kids want opportunities beyond everyday things; they want access to the best opportunities. One partner is Baltimore Urban Baseball Association with top-of-the-line equipment where kids from all over the city reserve time to practice.

We want kids to have the best equipment, facilitators, and programs because they deserve access to the best to reach their top potential.

We partner with people working on the ground doing unimaginable work with young people and it’s an honor to support them.

You don’t have your own youth programs but work with amazing people who do. Our job is to support organizations and leaders, sometimes young people themselves, like Youth as Resources, which is youth-led.

I attended one of their staff meetings and there was only one adult present. We support those leading the work so they can focus their energies and feel confident to build sustainable programs.

Entrepreneurs have ideas and need capital to make them happen. Sometimes people have only 15% of the resources they need but do amazing things. Imagine if they had 50% or more.

We miss impact when we don’t resource grant partners fully. We’re missing out on the next generation of leaders.

You have awarded over $40 million since 2020. Is there one story that stuck with you about the impact?

The Marching Elite is a marching band program that brings kids from all across the city. Funding supports supplies, staffing, instruments, and materials. This year they traveled and won a national honor for excellence.

Ballet After Dark is a Baltimore favorite that represented Baltimore on America’s Got Talent. The founder does incredible work around movement and ballet for victims of trauma but had never been funded before. Their first grant came from Baltimore Children and Youth Fund, allowing the founder to collect a paycheck for the work.

Small programs often lack accessible resources and must be larger to access national and regional funding. We are proud local heroes who connect to these resources and bring more support to themselves as leaders.

If we don’t ensure these folks have what they need, they can’t sustain their careers. People like Ty Courtney, who runs Ballet After Dark, make transformation visible on national stages. We must support them so programs remain available for young people.

We have overlooked many small organizations assuming trickle-down effects will provide resources, but we must invest directly in them because they have the most potent solutions and comprehensive understanding of problems.

Baltimore Children and Youth Fund and the community created a vision to support grassroots approaches that never got funded before. While love drove past efforts, it’s time to create sustainable pathways to support young people.

I hope Baltimore becomes a place where innovative ideas to help young people find a resource hub of financial resources, capital, relationships, and knowledge, so people don’t feel isolated but can learn from each other.

In philanthropy, organizations often feel like competitors, but like Burger King and McDonald’s, they can work together by locating near where people are hungry, becoming stronger by proximity.

Change is happening in the ecosystem. People now have colleagues and friends to call with questions. Research shows our learning programs are effective and help people grow.

People who once worked in isolation now connect with others to ask questions and share solutions, which has been transformative for grantees.

When I ran a nonprofit, I would have loved to know other leaders and have a welcoming space. Building that takes time but also can be facilitated by local networks.

Often in nonprofits, people are so selfless they won’t accept funds, but that can push them out because they lack ways to sustain themselves.

Teachers are like that too, giving endlessly. We must ensure those who take care of us are taken care of.

Managing all this must be a huge challenge. What tools did you use before Jotform and how did you discover it?

Before Jotform, we used too many tools: Google Forms, Word documents, a grant management system with poor accessibility, Eventbrite for event registration, and Survey Monkey for feedback. This made data management difficult and fragmented.

We discovered Jotform as one of many tools we were using. We realized we could do everything in one place, streamlining registration, feedback, and data collection.

Jotform became the tool to ask questions, collect information, and compile responses. It can handle simple forms for non-tech users and complex workflows with conditional logic for advanced users.

Our board uses Jotform for compliance forms, replacing stacks of PDFs with a single link to fill out and sign everything digitally, making document management easier and audit-ready.

We built a purchase request process in Jotform with conditional components routing requests for approvals, replacing email threads and ensuring audit trails and internal controls are maintained.

Automating busy work with Jotform simplifies routing, approvals, and notifications, reducing email chains and making processes more efficient.

Can you walk us through a process you automated, like reimbursements?

Reimbursements are fraught because they often result in rejection, especially from external stakeholders. Our grants manager, Maria, created a Jotform with a resubmit option allowing users to revise submissions instead of starting over.

The form includes accounting codes in dropdowns, mileage calculations updated annually, receipt uploads, and layered accounting codes to reduce confusion and train users.

If an expense isn’t permissible, we leave a note for correction instead of outright rejection, allowing soft no’s and amendments without restarting the process.

The form routes through finance, program teams, and executive leadership for approvals, with full context and history visible, making the process transparent and efficient.

Once done, documents are packaged and downloaded as a zip for our financial management system, ensuring audit-ready records with all necessary information in one place.

The resubmit feature lets users edit original submissions rather than starting from scratch, reducing frustration and improving user experience.

Is Baltimore Children and Youth Fund publicly funded and how do you ensure accountability?

We are publicly funded, with over 99% of our budget from real estate tax dollars. Our records are public and must be audit-ready and reliable, with grant applications and compliance records accessible to the public.

We share our budget with the public before board votes and maintain fidelity through reimbursement and purchase request processes, documenting every dollar reviewed before spending.

We ran our grant cycle on Jotform for three years before selecting a comprehensive grants management system, using Jotform as a backup and for community grant reviews due to its ease of use and fun features.

We created a Mad Lib style section for mission, vision, and values in applications, which was popular and helped transition to the new system.

How does Jotform help with communications like logs and photos from grantees?

Site visit reporting happens in Jotform, which also captures photo release forms. We send links or QR codes to program directors to collect releases from parents easily.

We use Jotform for staff feedback during meetings, quickly collecting and sharing survey results to clarify tool use and improve processes.

Even with an HR information system, we use Jotform for evaluation submissions because it’s familiar and easy to use, speeding up personnel file management.

Doing more with less is important. Jotform replaced at least six other subscriptions, freeing financial resources.

We switched to Jotform Enterprise about a year and a half ago, starting with the grant application and expanding to other teams to consolidate tools and data in one place.

Jotform has grown with us, allowing us to add new uses and streamline workflows across the organization.

Can you share how you customized the youth advisory board application?

We researched other states and required one-third of our board to be young people aged 14 to 24. We added equity components allowing applicants to choose how to submit responses: written, audio, video, or by phone appointment.

Using conditional logic, applicants are directed to the appropriate submission method. We had a lot of young people apply using all options, which was great.

Reviewers still use text summaries, which we generate using AI tools from submissions, making the review process manageable and equitable.

Applicants could submit in their preferred format without bias. The process was clear and accessible, with technical questions focused on programmatic content, not technology use.

All submission methods were utilized, showing the value of investing in creative and accessible options to include all young people.

How does technology translate into better outcomes for young people and the community?

When I joined BCF in 2022, we had only 4% of the infrastructure needed. Processes took a lot of time due to many systems.

Every minute spent reviewing reimbursement forms is a minute not spent on strategic work. We have a double bottom line of doing good and being efficient.

Jotform takes the thinking out of processes so we can focus on information and make better decisions, speeding up disbursements and meeting deadlines.

Technology is a conduit to efficiency. We put thought into processes so we don’t have to rethink them every time, saving taxpayer dollars and freeing us to focus on meaningful work.

The biggest transformation is that people who were hesitant about technology have gained confidence using Jotform, seeing it as better for their needs and imagining new uses.

Jotform is a gateway to data literacy and technology tools, helping people learn workflows and conditional logic in a user-friendly, visual way.

People now talk confidently about workflows and processes, which is a big change from when we started drafting standard operating procedures.

Some youth board members have their first touchpoint with technology like Jotform during orientation, using it multiple times in a few hours, which is exciting.

Low-code solutions like Jotform are cost-effective, flexible, and grow with the organization, allowing us to maintain high-quality processes with integrity.

Our vision for the next few years is to create Baltimore’s first strategic plan for young people, a roadmap for investing in the youth development ecosystem, written by young people.

From January to August 2026, we plan to meet at least 2,500 young people across the city to collect feedback on their priorities, hopes, and dreams, using Jotform to gather and manage this information.

We want to collect creative responses like art, songs, and drawings, not just surveys, and Jotform can handle all formats to produce a comprehensive report for the city.

The final plan will be a graphic novel with quarterly reports to make the information accessible and engaging for everyone, not just the nerds.

Thank you for having me on the show. I look forward to sharing our journey and staying in touch.