Students Welcome New and Returning Council Members from Five
Jefferson County High Schools for Yearlong Leadership Program
WATERTOWN — The Northern New York Community Foundation recently named its 2026-2027 Youth Philanthropy Council class, welcoming 12 new and eight returning students to the leadership program.
The Youth Philanthropy Council is a Community Foundation advisory committee that was chartered in 2010 to promote positive youth development and engage young people in meaningful activities that build their skills. Throughout the yearlong program, students deepen their understanding of community needs while learning about community philanthropy and its impact across Northern New York. Council members grow to become informed critical thinkers and philanthropic leaders as they engage in lessons that may never be taught in a traditional classroom.
“We know this program has a transformative effect on the students who participate and provides lessons in leadership that will help better prepare them for lives of service to our communities,” said Rande S. Richardson, Community Foundation President & CEO. “Our donors, past and present, are making investments in our youth that will have enduring value and instill a lifelong love of civic engagement.”
This year’s Council includes 20 representatives from Carthage, General Brown, Immaculate Heart Central, South Jefferson, and Watertown High School. Council members are in their sophomore, junior, or senior class. They are:
- Valerie Akins, Carthage Central, senior, second-year member
- Christian Attisha, Watertown High, sophomore, first-year member
- Rohan Bolla, South Jefferson Central, sophomore, first-year member
- Mya Brown, Watertown High, junior, first-year member
- Annia Carbajal, Watertown High, sophomore, first-year member
- Caitlin Daugherty, Watertown High, senior, second -year member
- Gaige Doroha, Watertown High, senior, second -year member
- James Glynn-Shelmidine, Immaculate Heart Central, junior, first-year member
- Jolene He, General Brown Central, sophomore, first-year member
- Lucy Johnson, Watertown High, junior, first-year member
- Aariz Khan, Watertown High, senior, first-year member
- Alexandra Knapp, Watertown High, junior, first-year member
- Isabel Mendez, General Brown Central, senior, second-year member
- Aiden O’Shaughnessy, Watertown, junior, first-year member
- Carter Pistner, Watertown High, senior, first-year member
- Devyn Pleskach, South Jefferson, junior, first-year member
- Annabelle Renzi, South Jefferson Central, senior, second -year member
- Julia Tontarski, Immaculate Heart Central, senior, third-year member
- Trey Urf, Watertown High, senior, third-year member
- Frances Weir, Watertown High, senior, second -year member
Students elected members to this year’s Council Executive Committee during the last meeting of the school year in June. Watertown High School senior Trey Urf will serve as Council Chair; South Jefferson High School senior Annabelle Renzi will serve as Vice Chair; and General Brown High School senior Isabel Mendez was elected to serve as Council Secretary.
“I am deeply grateful to have been selected as this year’s Youth Philanthropy Council Chair. This is my third year on the Council, and yet I look forward to a completely distinct experience and perspective on our community, and how everyone can support it,” said Trey Urf, Watertown High senior.
Executive Committee members work alongside program advisors to set meaningful agendas and program goals while facilitating grantmaking efforts that include managing $25,000 in competitive grant funding available to tri-county nonprofits and $5,000 in mission-based grant awards.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve as vice chair of the Youth Philanthropy Council this year,” said Annabelle Renzi, South Jefferson junior. “My experience on this Council so far has changed my perspective, and I look forward to working with my fellow Council members to build a better community.”
“I am extraordinarily grateful to be selected as the secretary of the Youth Philanthropy Council this year,” said Isabel Mendez, General Brown junior. “I am excited for what this next year will bring and the opportunity to further aid my fellow Council members and my community.”
Each of the three students now serving in leadership roles is in their second or third year of Council service.
The Council also named committee chairs. Caitlin Daugherty will chair the Grants Committee; Frances Weir will chair the Communications Committee; and Julia Tontarski will chair the Service Committee.
Since its inception in 2010, the Youth Philanthropy Council has awarded 166 grants totaling $315,070 in support to nonprofit organizations that serve residents of Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. In the past 16 years, nearly 195 students representing nine Northern New York high schools have been appointed to serve on the Youth Philanthropy Council.
The Youth Philanthropy Council and its grant program are made possible by gifts from donors who make contributions to the Friends of the Foundation Community Betterment Annual Fund and generous support from Watertown Savings Bank, RBC Wealth Management Watertown, the Renzi Family Charitable Foundation, the Mart Liinve Fund, and the Timerman Family Fund.
A team of volunteers and Community Foundation staff manage the program, including Senior Advisor Emily Sprague, a retired Watertown City School District educator who also serves as Vice Chair of the Community Foundation Board of Directors. Mrs. Sprague has volunteered to lead the program since it began. Advisor Leslie Renzi is a volunteer who has helped mentor Council students for the past five years. Mrs. Renzi’s son, Jude, is a Council alumnus. Kraig Everard, Community Foundation Director of Philanthropy, serves as senior staff advisor for the program. He joined the Foundation team in 2020. Emily Pfeil, Community Foundation Philanthropy Associate, also serves as a staff advisor. She joined the Foundation team in 2025.
About the Northern New York Community Foundation
Since 1929, the Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
Through partnerships with businesses and organizations, charitable foundations, and generous families and individual donors, the Community Foundation awards grants and scholarships from an endowment and collection of funds that benefit the region. Its commitment to donors helps individuals achieve their charitable objectives now and for generations to come by preserving and honoring legacies of community philanthropy while inspiring others.
The Community Foundation is a resource for local charitable organizations, donors, professional advisors and nonprofit organizations. It also works to bring people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live, work, and play.
