Momentum Episode 36: Building a Smarter, More Equitable Future for Youth Funding

What if the biggest barrier to helping young people wasn’t funding — but paperwork? In this episode, we sit down with Alysia Lee, CEO and President of the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund (BCYF), to uncover how her team transformed a slow, manual grantmaking process into a fast, transparent, and automated system using Jotform Enterprise.

Alysia shares how BCYF supports over 100 grassroots youth organizations each year and why outdated workflows were holding them back. She breaks down how switching to Jotform Enterprise helped them automate approvals, simplify reporting, collaborate across departments, and move millions in grant dollars faster — ensuring young people get access to high-quality programs without unnecessary delays.

You’ll learn:
How BCYF automated grant reviews, reimbursements, and compliance workflows
Why “one-click reporting” has been a game changer for public transparency
How flexible, youth-friendly forms made it easier for young people to apply for leadership roles
How staff across departments used Jotform to build better, more efficient processes
The real impact: more time for grantees to serve youth, less time stuck in bureaucracy

If you’re a nonprofit leader, grantmaker, public sector innovator, or operations professional, this episode offers a real-world look at how technology can streamline complex workflows and improve community outcomes.

👉 Sign Up for a Free Jotform Account: https://link.jotform.com/UrCqxV6P5x
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LINKS & RESOURCES
👉 Check Out More Episodes of Momentum: https://link.jotform.com/WCW2gdJyLl
👉 Learn More About BCYF: https://bcyfund.org
👉 Learn more on the Jotform blog: https://link.jotform.com/bdf5uYEGKN
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👋 ABOUT JOTFORM
Hi, we're Jotform, a full-featured online forms platform that makes it easy to create robust forms and collect important data. Check us out: https://link.jotform.com/gKR7JiGNDV
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00:00 Introduction
01:06 How Jotform Enterprise Helped Transform Operations
02:52 Introducing Alysia Lee and the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund
03:35 How the Fund Was Created
04:41 Alysia’s Early Involvement in Youth Leadership
06:24 Grant Funding and Professional Learning
08:00 Alysia’s Background Growing Up
10:23 Giving Youth the Power to Lead and Explore
11:44 The Fund’s Core Mission
14:17 Why the Fund Doesn’t Run Its Own Youth Programs
15:34 Supporting Small, Grassroots Organizations
17:23 Raising the Standard for Youth Programming
18:45 Local Impact Stories
23:33 Missed Opportunities When Small Programs Go Underfunded
28:34 Building a Sustainable Ecosystem for Leaders
33:08 Vision for a Youth Innovation Hub
35:45 Collaboration Over Competition
38:22 Peer Support & Community Among Grantees
40:51 Tech Stack Challenges Before Jotform
46:09 Why Jotform Was Chosen
49:02 How Staff Use Jotform for Workflows
50:55 Digitizing Board Compliance with Jotform
52:34 Automating Financial Processes
57:46 Automating Reimbursements With Conditional Logic
1:05:46 Routing, Transparency, and Streamlined Approvals
1:08:46 Final Thoughts