Candler School of Theology’s Youth Theological Initiative (YTI) is once again participating in a fundraising effort through Momentum, Emory University’s crowdfunding platform that debuted last summer. YTI’s 2016 crowdfunding campaign runs from June 23 through July 16, benefitting the YTI Summer Academy, which brings forty rising high school juniors and seniors to the Emory campus for three weeks of Christian theological education. Donations are fully tax-deductible. Learn more and give to YTI through Momentum.

The campaign will run during this year’s Summer Academy, with hopes to raise substantial funds to support student scholarships. The first $3,000 raised will be matched dollar for dollar with a combined gift from three alumni from the YTI Class of 1996. In 2015, YTI completed the most successful crowdfunding campaign at Emory, reaching 208 percent of its original goal and raising over $12,000 (including matching gifts) in three weeks.

Established in 1993, YTI has now enrolled more than 1,000 youth from across the U.S. and around the world. During the Summer Academy, participants wrestle with deep theological questions in a supportive community of peers and are taught by seminary students and faculty at Candler. Diversity abounds, as participants are drawn from different theological and socioeconomic backgrounds. This year’s academy will bring together 36 scholars from five different countries, 10 different states, eight Christian denominations, non-denominational churches, and the Jewish and Buddhist traditions. More than half are students of color.

Visit YTI’s Momentum website.