Austin Belali is an emerging leader and writer and director of the Youth Engagement Fund at the Democracy Alliance (YEF). The YEF is a pooled fund of institutional and individual donors that invest in next-generation civic and political participation in the United States. Austin comes to philanthropy from community and labor organizing at the intersections of working-class issues and issues facing young people of color. He currently serves on the boards of the Virginia Civic Engagement Table and CASA, a low-income immigrant membership organization.