Maria Woltjen Child Advocate Waymaker Award
Recognizing Excellence and Impact in the Advancement of Rights and Best Interests of Immigrant Children
Sumudu Waas, Executive Director and COO of HFC,
and featured
Young Center Executive Director, Gladis Molina Alt
(far right) and Young Center Founder and
2021 Award Recipient Maria Woltjen (third from the left).
Named in honor of the Young Center’s founder and first recipient, Maria Woltjen, this yearly award recognizes individuals and organizations who have made a significant impact in advancing the rights and best interests of immigrant children.
A tireless advocate for unaccompanied children, Maria served from 2004 until her retirement in June 2021. She is credited with developing the model for providing Child Advocates to champion the best interests of unaccompanied and separated immigrant children. At the time, there was no role like that of a Child Advocate for children in immigration proceedings. Without guaranteed access to counsel to represent their wishes and no one to fight for their best interests, children often faced an adversarial immigration system all by themselves.
Today, the Young Center is a national organization with over 100 employees in 10 offices nationwide. It protects the rights and best interests of thousands of unaccompanied and separated children from more than 80 countries across the world.
2026 Maria Woltjen Child Advocate Waymaker Award Recipient
The Julian Grace Foundation
This year, the Young Center will honor the Julian Grace Foundation for their leadership in immigrant and human rights funding.
Founded in 2015 by Jessica Sarowitz, the Julian Grace Foundation uses an innovative grantmaking approach that seeks to advance socio-economic mobility, build connections across diverse communities, and foster sustainable, scalable impact.
As a family-founded and BIPOC-led grantmaking organization, the Julian Grace Foundation is guided by its mission, vision, and values that seek to empower communities of color, prioritize initiatives that create lasting, systemic change, and uplift the voices of those most impacted by racial inequity.
Their commitment to equity and justice was further underscored in 2025, after they stepped in to provide vital funds to organizations facing challenges due to shifting funding priorities, increased regulatory scrutiny, and policy volatility. The Foundation’s support ensured programs vital to immigrant communities could continue at a critical moment.
It’s been an honor and a privilege for the Young Center to enjoy a relationship since 2017 with the Julian Grace Foundation. The 2026 Maria Woltjen Child Advocate Waymaker Award is our way to show our gratitude and affirm our partnership with the Foundation, while highlighting their broader community impact, beyond direct funding to the Young Center.
Past Award Recipients
2025
Help for Children
As one of our earliest and most dedicated funders, HFC’s support and partnership have been instrumental in strengthening our ability to advocate for unaccompanied immigrant children.
2024
Houston Advisory Board
The Houston Advisory Board helped advance the organization’s work by raising awareness, organizing fundraising events, and building meaningful connections to advance our mission.
2023
Dr. Selma Yznaga
Part of our first cohort of Volunteer Child Advocates, Dr. Yznaga has been part of our Volunteer Child Advocate cohort in Harlingen. She served as an expert on Best Interests Determination (BID) panels and helped us train our Child Advocate Volunteers. Currently, she is serving on the Young Center’s Board of Directors.
2022
Isabel Allende
Since July 2019, the Isabel Allende Foundation, has supported the Young Center and its mission to not just reimagine, but to recreate, an immigration system that values the inherent humanity, dignity, and rights of all immigrant children.
2021
Maria Woltjen
An influential leader in the field of children’s rights, Maria is credited with building the model to provide Child Advocates to advocate for the best interests of unaccompanied and separated immigrant children.