Our Youth Advisory Council (YAC) has a team of eager young grantmakers leading the way as the 2021-22 YAC Executive Committee.
These six teens come from five different high schools, the result of intentional selection and voting by YAC members.
“When selecting executive committee members, we made sure there was representation amongst the schools that are in St. Clair County to assure that any decisions we may make can positively impact as many people as possible,” said YAC Member-at-Large Lily Zink.
That representation will be important as this year’s group of youth philanthropists tackle the challenge of surveying local youth to create new YAC Strategic Priorities. They will be gathering feedback on the issues most affecting their peers and opportunities for impact to help guide them in their grantmaking over the coming three years.
With almost 20 years of combined experience, the executive team is prepared to lead the group of 30+ YACers in that mission.
“I am most looking forward to seeing how everyone contributes to the conversation, what they have to say about certain topics in our community, and hearing input based on their different backgrounds and experiences, and simply just meeting new faces,” said YAC Vice President Alexis Rumptz.
YAC Executive Committee 2021-2022
Avery Allen
President
Port Huron High Senior
"This year as a member of the YAC executive committee, I feel like I have taken on a new sense of responsibility and leadership in ways that I never thought were possible for my age and in my community. Being on the YAC executive committee is certainly a privilege and honor that I am so grateful for and I cannot wait to see where this granting year takes us! Being a YAC executive committee member, we develop strong leadership, responsibility, problem-solving, and conversation skills that I will personally carry with me into my future endeavors and value forever."
Alexis Rumptz
Vice President
Port Huron Northern Junior
Emma Lomasney
Treasurer
Port Huron Northern Junior"I’m so excited to be serving this year as an executive committee member of YAC. I feel that I have more power to really make an important impact on my community and this year I look forward to exploring new ways to do so. I feel that being on the YAC executive committee this year has really opened my eyes to how complicated philanthropy really is. Joining YAC alone gave me a head start to philanthropy, but being an executive committee member takes it to a new level of experience that I aim to utilize and carry with me in my future as a philanthropist."
Tara Vanbuskirk
Secretary
Marine City JuniorDerek Distelrath
Member-at-Large
St. Clair Senior"I'm excited to be on the executive committee again this year. I believe that being a YAC member will have a very positive impact on me going forward in life because I have gotten exposed to many different people throughout my time on YAC. This has allowed me to see many different life situations as well as what the serious issues are in our community/world that need to be addressed. Also, as an executive, I am continuing to develop myself as a leader and someone who is comfortable speaking in front of both adults and my peers, which I think will prove to be a vital skill moving forward in life."
"As an executive committee member this year, I am excited to experience new opportunities we weren’t able to last year. During Covid, we weren’t able to get together for meetings or attend any events, so it will be exciting to experience these new opportunities in person. I’m also looking forward to meeting new people and making new connections within the community. I believe being a YAC executive committee member will teach me more ways to create change and impact my community in as many ways as possible. By assuming this role, I am learning new leadership and teamwork techniques that will aid in my future endeavors."