Member Highlight: Todd Battiste on Centering Youth Voice and Building Collective Power

As Senior Vice President for Education & Youth Initiatives at United Way of Southeast Louisiana (UWSELA), Todd leads with a deep belief in collective action, sustained partnership, and staying close to the community. In this conversation, he shares why collaboration matters, how GNOFN is helping funders work collaboratively with the community, and how UWSELA supports local youth and families.

How does your background in nonprofit leadership shape your approach to philanthropy?

Todd’s time leading nonprofits, including roles at Total Community Action and the Urban League of Louisiana, continues to inform how he engages with partners today.

“I was a lot more proximate to the work back then,” he says. “I had the voices of the people I was trying to serve in my head, and I experienced the real challenges of running a program.”

That experience helps him stay grounded in reality when reviewing funding opportunities.

“Oil companies spend years carefully studying where to drill because the stakes are high,” Todd shares. “Yet in philanthropy, education, and child development, where the stakes are even greater and the impact is on human lives, we’re often expected to see transformative change in just three years. That disconnect is deeply troubling.”

He also carries with him a deep sense of responsibility to the community. “My dollars come from local donors and funders. I want to be a good steward of those dollars.”

What brought you to co-chair the Education Action Table at GNOFN?

“It was important to me to contribute to GNOFN in the youth and education sectors. But, I really needed a good partner to make sure that we could move the work forward,” Todd shares.

That partner turned out to be Mike Woodward from the Schott Foundation for Public Education. “With our experience and shared commitment, I knew we would make a great team,” Todd says. From there, the GNOFN Action Table took shape with intentional outreach to local and national leaders in education, early childhood, mental health, and college-to-career pathways.

But it wasn’t just about building a roster. “We’ve been very intentional about being inclusive. I’m of the belief that people support what they help build,” he says. “We open up every meeting to feedback, thoughts, and mid-course corrections. And folks at the table really feel like they’re contributing to something, not just joining something that’s already done. We are co-creating the future we want to see.”

What makes the GNOFN model different from other philanthropic networks?

For Todd, GNOFN fills a critical gap in how philanthropy works together and how it listens to members of the community.

“Philanthropy has to figure out how to play well in the sandbox together,” he says. “There are so many organizations that are working around youth issues, each with its own strategy and plan. But without alignment, we risk working in silos. Philanthropy needs to come together around a shared plan to achieve the outcomes we want to see.”

That alignment is exactly what the GNOFN Action Tables are designed to build. “Each of us is aligning around an issue,” Todd says. “Even if it’s just a portion of our funding, those arrows are all pointing in the same direction. That’s powerful.”

Todd thinks what really sets GNOFN apart is how it centers the community. “I don’t know of another philanthropic network that truly lifts community voice in the process. The fact that we’re asking, ‘How do we engage and lift community voice in philanthropy?’ It’s a unique opportunity.”

What work at United Way are you especially excited about right now?

“We just co-convened a gathering at the New Orleans Career Center with Jobs for the Future focused on youth voice,” he shares. “We’re asking partners to work with us to ensure youth voice is part of our decisions.”

One standout program is InspiredUp, which offers high school students academic support, entrepreneurship training, financial literacy, and mentorship. “We meet them where they are, provide the resources they need, and incentivize participation with a $5,000 stipend for successfully completing the program,” Todd says.

UWSELA also serves as the convener for the New Orleans Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (NOLA-GLR), a multi-sector collaboration dedicated to ensuring children are reading on grade level by the end of third grade. The campaign is driven by the coordinated efforts of five active working groups: 

• Awareness & Advocacy

• Educational Resources & Toolkit Development

• Longitudinal Study & Research

• Data Hub & Infrastructure

• Hospitality & First Responders Child Care Consortium

"Each working group addresses a key challenge in our local literacy ecosystem, bringing together educators, families, community organizations, policymakers, and business leaders to implement sustainable solutions," says Todd.

"As part of our advocacy work, we are deeply concerned about recent legislation passed by the Louisiana legislature that mandates retention for third graders who do not pass the LEAP exam," he continued. "As a coalition, we believe this policy penalizes children without addressing the root causes of reading challenges. Instead, we are advocating for proactive supports that begin early, long before a child takes a high-stakes test. Retention should not be the default response to systemic failure."

UWSELA and its partners are also addressing barriers that impact working families. Through the Hospitality & First Responders Child Care Consortium, UWSELA is developing a menu of solutions that blend state, philanthropic, and private-sector dollars to expand access to affordable, high-quality early childcare, especially for those in the hospitality and first responder industries. UWSELA is also supporting the launch of a geo-fenced digital platform that connects families to free and low-cost community resources, including libraries, museums, and cultural institutions.

And then there’s the vision for Prosperity Centers. "Today, we operate four hubs offering everything from financial coaching to reading support, all designed to meet parents where they are, even on weekends. Next, we aim to expand this one-stop model across more parishes so every family in Southeast Louisiana can access the help they need, close to home,” Todd said. 

Todd shares: "Together, these efforts reflect a citywide commitment to closing literacy gaps, expanding opportunity, and building a system that supports every child and every family."

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Todd Battiste serves as the Senior Vice President for Education & Youth Initiatives at United Way of Southeast Louisiana, where he is responsible for overseeing all education initiatives. With a career dedicated to philanthropy, Todd brings extensive experience in designing, managing, and monitoring strategic grantmaking initiatives aimed at improving educational outcomes. Prior to his current role, Todd held positions including Program Officer for Education at Baptist Community Ministries and roles within Total Community Action/Head Start and New Orleans Public Schools, focusing on enhancing educational opportunities for children and families.

 Todd’s commitment to the community extends beyond his professional roles, as evidenced by his involvement in various boards and committees, including the New Orleans Children & Youth Planning Board, the Louisiana Association for the Education of Young Children, and Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy. Todd holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Southern University at New Orleans, a master’s in Business/Industry Counseling from Xavier University at New Orleans, and a master’s in Public Administration from the University of New Orleans. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Young Leadership Council (YLC) 2011 Role Model of the Year and Children’s Defense Fund-Louisiana 2011 Champion for Children, and is an active member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.