About the Sebastian Family Foundation
Our Mission
Through the Sebastián Family Foundation’s scholarships and grants, we amplify the power and possibilities of community transformation.
Values
Decolonize: We honor the land and Indigenous communities through the celebration of our beauty and strength.
Community: We contribute to community-based solutions through support for social equity among Native and Latinx children, youth, and young adults.
Our History
Our family foundation stems from Grandmother Dora Miller, born on the Cherokee reservation; Grandfather Henry Young, born on the Choctaw reservation; and Grandmother Aurelia Ramirez of the Tephuan people who traveled from the Durango area to El Paso, Texas. All three grandparents teach us about our lineages and the political and economic challenges of their journeys at the turn of the 20th century. Today, we live on Yokuts Land in Central California.
The Foundation is one way we serve and honor our kin and the Indigenous and Latinx communities of Central California. The Native Student Scholarships (NSS), launched in August 2022, is one program specifically focused on celebrating the beauty and power of Native students in Central California. In the near future, we will grow more scholarship and grantmaking programs.
Nonprofit Status
Our family foundation is exempt at the federal and state levels. With the federal government, we are designated as a charitable 509(a)(2) foundation and our EIN is 88-3535265.
Our Board of Directors
Aurora García, M.A., Special Education Teacher & Avid Outdoor Adventurer, Yokuts Land
Marc Vélez Young, M.A.F.M., President/ Chief Consultant Industry Standard Inc., Accounting & Controllership, Yokuts Land
Meaghan Young, M.A., Special Education School District Administrator & Entrepreneur, Yokuts Land
Morghan Vélez Young, Ph.D., Teacher, Researcher, & Healer, Yokuts Land