About John Burton Advocates for Youth
John Burton Advocates for Youth improves the quality of life for youth in California who have been in foster care or homeless by advocating for better laws, training communities to strengthen local practices and conducting research to inform policy solutions.
Focus Areas
Foster youth supportsYouth homelessnessCollege access and financial aidSupportive housingReproductive and sexual healthStudent mental healthEconomic securityPolicy advocacy
Who They Fund
youth with foster care experience / transition-age foster youthpeople experiencing or at risk of homelessness (including Homekey participants)low-income taxpayers / low-income households
About John Burton Advocates for Youth
John Burton Advocates for Youth centers California youth who have been in foster care or are homeless, and its grantmaking reflects that policy-and-service mission. The largest recent award in the data is an $80,000 grant to The Community College Foundation in Los Angeles for VITA tax work, showing how the foundation connects financial support with concrete basic-needs services. Other substantial grants point in the same direction: RYSE Center in Richmond received $75,000 for a YHDP housing project, and Social Change Partners LLC in San Francisco received $42,800 for consulting services tied to youth housing development. Across the recent grants list, the foundation backs housing stability, tax-preparation assistance, workforce-linked services, and college-related supports for young people navigating foster care or homelessness. It also uses consulting and technical-assistance grants, suggesting an interest in implementation as well as direct program delivery. Named programs in the data include the Burton Critical Needs and Opportunity Fund, the John Burton Fellowship, and the THP-Plus Santa Clara County RFP. The combination of subgrants, project funding, and named internal programs makes the foundation’s role broader than a single grantmaking stream.
What John Burton Advocates for Youth Funds
A clear theme is housing stability. John Burton Advocates for Youth gave $75,000 to RYSE Center in Richmond for a YHDP housing project, and it awarded $30,000 to EA Family Services in Quincy for a Homekey housing project. Several other Homekey grants in 2024 point to sustained support for housing interventions serving young people. The foundation also funds tax and economic-security work. The Community College Foundation in Los Angeles received $80,000 for VITA - Tax Project, while Lutheran Social Services in Concord and Bill Wilson Center in Santa Clara each received VITA support as well. In education-related work, the Urban Institute received a $40,000 ETV subgrant, and the foundation also funded basic needs and book-fund support at California colleges. Workforce-linked support appears through New Ways to Work and Pivotal, each receiving a WIOA subgrant in 2023.
How John Burton Advocates for Youth Gives
Typical grants cluster in the mid-thousands: the 25th percentile is $6,000, the median is $9,000, and the 75th percentile is $20,000. That pattern fits a funder that uses many smaller awards alongside a smaller number of larger project grants. The recent grants list shows repeat funding to the same organizations across years, including The Community College Foundation, Bill Wilson Center, Lutheran Social Services, San Francisco Court Appointed, and First Place for Youth. John Burton Advocates for Youth is classified as a Pure DAF Provider, and the grant data shows project-based subgrants, consulting grants, and targeted support programs rather than individual giving or program-related investments.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$393K
Total Assets
$11.9M
Total Revenue
$2.2M
Total Expenses
$3.3M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $6K and $20K, with a median of $9K.
25th Percentile
$6K
Median
$9K
75th Percentile
$20K
Geographic Reach
Local2 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
John L Burton
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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