A foundation in Brooklyn that funds not-for-profits is giving some of the city’s youth the power to decide how it donates its money.

The Brooklyn Community Foundation says it’s the only foundation in the country to implement this participatory grant making process. The foundation did this to help advance racial justice.

Sixteen Youth Advisory Council members, ranging in age from 16 to 22, helped select the dozens of nonprofits that received a share of $2.5 million in grants from the foundation. The not-for-profits serve young people in Brooklyn, and most of them are led by people of color. These are groups that promote youth leadership and youth justice and help immigrant families in neighborhoods like Bushwick, East New York and Flatbush.

The process gives a greater voice and power to the young people who have lived the issues that these not-for-profits are trying to address. Brayan Paguada, one of the youth advisers working with the Brooklyn Community Foundation, joined NY1 to discuss.