PB Youth is a student-led committee dedicated to engaging youth in the Participatory Budgeting (PB) process and local democracy. PB is a district-wide process in which council members set aside discretionary funds for projects proposed, developed, and voted on by district members. To support this process, PB Youth organizes students who want to better their communities. Students of all ages (middle school, high school, and college) from across NYC are welcome to join. In addition to hosting monthly meetings, PB Youth plans and develops seasonal projects to facilitate youth outreach for each stage of the PB process in District 39. 

Now three years old, the PB Youth Committee was founded in 2016 by Ilana Cohen. After finishing an internship at the office of Council Member Brad Lander, where she worked on youth outreach for the PB process in District 39, Ilana became a District Committee member and created PB Youth. She envisioned the PB Youth Committee as a way for students to both get involved in PB themselves and teach others about the process. PB Youth continues to expand, gathering a devoted group of students passionate about enabling all District 39 and NYC residents to enact change in their communities.