May 14, 2026

Greg Weatherford II

Supporting service

Harry Booth

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Booth is a reporter at TIME.

Julian Placino

At age 12, Greg Weatherford II was already raising money to give other kids $100 grants to serve their communities in whatever ways they were passionate about. More than 20 years later, that same philosophy guides Weatherford’s work at a national scale in his role as director of the Allstate Foundation and Social Impact.

According to research the Allstate Foundation commissioned, 82% of American youth are already involved in a form of service. Previous findings, based on a narrower definition, put the figure at just 23%. The revised number has moved the conversation around youth service, Weatherford says, from how to get kids motivated to how to get them what they need to make even more of an impact.

Under his leadership, the Allstate Foundation has done just that, launching a college service grants program in 2023, giving $10,000 checks to 65 colleges annually across America. In 2025, it partnered with the National Association of Secondary School Principals to give microgrants to middle and high school students. (The Allstate Foundation has also partnered with TIME for Kids to introduce Service Stars, which highlights youth making a difference.)

For Weatherford, it all comes back to his experience growing up. Watching his father driving the local church’s van and his mother cooking for a sick neighbor, he learned early on that charity isn’t reserved for the wealthy. "It is so critical for young people to be able to think that they can achieve things,” Weatherford says, “that there's that transformative power that they really do have.”