PROGRAMS / OVERVIEW
One model, two generations.
Our adult and youth tracks run in the same neighborhoods on purpose — so the leaders we build today become the mentors for the leaders we build next.
BOLT School for Grassroots Leadership
Who it’s for: Adults 18+ who live and do community work in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods, with 2+ years of commitment and a block-by-block mentality.
BOLT Youth Leaders Fellowship
Who it’s for: Students at Philadelphia public high schools — with a strong preference for neighborhood catchment schools — who want to explore how change actually gets made.
WHERE THE TRACKS MEET
Program convergence.
Graduates of the School for Grassroots Leadership are embedded in the youth fellowship as mentors, guides, and advisors — matched to fellows by neighborhood.
FOR ADULT LEADERS
A pipeline of young people to work with.
Leaders meet the next generation of organizers in the neighborhoods where they're already building.
FOR YOUTH LEADERS
Proof that it's possible, close to home.
Seeing adults from their own blocks make real change is what moves youth from interested to active.
FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Doors that were already open, finally visible.
Fellows get connected to adult-led change-making spaces they didn't know existed — and can now join.