Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

This paper examines the outcomes of African American-led nonprofit organizations in improving the lives of the youth they serve. While it is quite common for community-based organizations to focus on helping youth, very little research directly examines the role of well-established African American-led nonprofit organizations in serving the youth in their communities. McGinnis (2011) explains that there is a “common perception that nonprofit organizations are and should be representative of the constituents they serve” (p. 871). Although definitive data is not available, one study estimated that 84 percent of nonprofit executives are white, while only 10 percent are African American, and 4 percent are Hispanic or Latino (Teegarden, 2004). Using the framework of representative bureaucracy, this study suggests that demographic similarity among nonprofit leadership and nonprofit clients may increasing positive youth outcomes. Based on survey data from 727 youth, enhanced by qualitative interviews and focus groups, this research examines youth outcomes across African American-led nonprofits and compares them with demographically similar youth in their communities. These outcomes are compared among three groups: those who participated for at least one year in an African American-led nonprofit program; those who participated for at least one year in another program or extracurricular activity; and those who did not participate in any program. Youth outcomes are analyzed in the areas of academic performance, deviant behavior, family and social support, and self-esteem and resiliency. The findings suggest youth who participate in African American-led nonprofit organizations outperform their peers in the areas of academic performance and self-esteem. These outcomes are important because African American-led nonprofit organizations disproportionately serve African American youth who may not otherwise be served by other extracurricular programming. Such organizations represent an important resource for positive youth development within largely African American communities.