Public hearings are not always thought of as spaces of imagination.
They are often associated with budgets, presentations, and formal processes. Yet every year, when BCYF gathers community members to discuss our Annual Plan, I am reminded that these spaces can also be places where people collectively imagine what is possible for young people in Baltimore.
That is what happened at this year’s FY27 Annual Plan Public Hearing.
Community members, grantees, partners, youth advocates, and residents joined us to reflect on our progress, review our priorities for the year ahead, and share feedback before the plan is finalized. While we presented updates on our work and outlined our vision for FY27, the most important part of the evening was not the presentation itself. It was the conversation.
As I listened throughout the hearing, I found myself reflecting on the promise at the heart of BCYF.
Long before there was an annual plan, there was a public vote.
Baltimore residents made a collective decision to create stable, protected funding for children and youth because they understood something fundamental: young people need consistency to thrive. They need opportunities that are not subject to shifting priorities or changing political winds. They need communities and organizations that can plan for the future rather than simply react to uncertainty.
That decision continues to shape everything we do.
Our Vote. Our Fund. Our Youth.
Those words capture both the origin and the responsibility of BCYF. We are not simply distributing grants. We are stewarding a public commitment made by Baltimore voters to the next generation.
The FY27 Annual Plan reflects that commitment. It outlines how we will continue investing in youth-serving organizations, organizational capacity, community engagement, and long-term initiatives like the Baltimore Youth Master Plan. It is a roadmap for how we intend to support the people, programs, and partnerships that help young people thrive across our city.
But for me, one of the most important aspects of the Annual Plan is not the document itself. It is the process.
Every year, we host a public hearing because we believe equity is not only about where resources go. It is also about who gets to influence decisions before they are made.
Too often, communities are asked to react to finalized plans. At BCYF, we invite residents, grantees, and partners into the conversation while the plan is still being shaped. Public feedback becomes part of the decision-making process rather than an afterthought.
That is what shared power looks like in practice.
Throughout the evening, participants affirmed the importance of stable funding while also challenging us to think bigger about what young people need to thrive.
One of the strongest themes was workforce development. Community members spoke about the need for opportunities that extend beyond summer employment and create meaningful pathways for young people throughout the year. Participants emphasized the importance of helping organizations engage and retain youth over time, while also creating systems that better capture long-term outcomes and growth.
Another theme that resonated deeply with me was the recognition that young people do not thrive in isolation.
They thrive when the organizations around them are healthy, stable, and equipped to meet community needs.
Participants spoke about infrastructure, technical assistance, fiscal sponsorship, collaboration, and sustainable growth. Those conversations reinforced something BCYF has believed from the beginning: investing in youth means investing in the organizations, leaders, and relationships that surround them. Strong neighborhood organizations create the conditions for lasting impact, and strengthening those organizations remains central to our work.
We also heard important reflections about the challenges facing Latino-serving organizations in Baltimore. Participants spoke about language barriers, limited organizational infrastructure, and the need to create stronger pathways for organizations that may not yet have the capacity to access funding opportunities. These conversations reminded us that equity requires more than opening a door. Sometimes it requires investing in the conditions that allow more people to walk through it.
What encouraged me most was the spirit of collective responsibility that ran through the conversation. Participants expressed interest in deeper collaboration, stronger connections across organizations, and greater opportunities to learn from one another. They recognized that creating meaningful opportunities for young people is not the work of any single organization. It requires an ecosystem of leaders, institutions, and communities working together toward a shared vision.
The hearing also reminded me that accountability is about more than reporting on what has already happened.
It is also about creating opportunities for people to shape what happens next.
BCYF is accountable and public by design. Our plans, reports, governance practices, and public meetings exist because stewardship requires transparency. The Annual Plan Public Hearing extends that commitment by ensuring community members have a voice before decisions are finalized. Public resources deserve public accountability, and public accountability is strongest when it includes meaningful participation.
What stays with me after this year’s hearing is not a specific slide, budget figure, or presentation.
It is the reminder that Baltimore continues to show up for its young people.
In every question, recommendation, challenge, and affirmation, I saw evidence of a city that believes young people deserve opportunity, stability, and possibility. I saw people thinking not only about today’s needs, but about the kind of city we hope to become.
Democracy did not end when Baltimore voters created BCYF. In many ways, that was the beginning.
Every annual plan, every public hearing, and every community conversation is another opportunity to participate in the ongoing work of shaping a city where young people can flourish.
That is the promise we inherited.
That is the responsibility we share.
And that is why we continue to gather, listen, learn, and build together.
