Uploaded January 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Many Quakers feel called to action, but are unable to bring their ideas to fruition. Learn how five young adult Friends were able to make their leadings a reality.
Thanks to The Clarence and Lilly Pickett Endowment for partnering with us this week.
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Music and Filming by Jon Watts
Editing by Jon Watts and Rebecca Hamilton-Levi
jonwatts.com
Meet our new QuakerSpeak video producer, Rebecca: http://fdsj.nl/meet-rebecca
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Transcript:
Jade Souza: We all know that there’s, like, forces in the world that are out to get us, or at least I know that. That are not for you; that are against you; and that, you know, there's gonna be trials and difficulties that you didn't anticipate. But there's also the other; there's also friends that you don't know you have, and allies that you don't know you have, and people who are for you even if they've never actually met you, and the more that we can be aware of that—those places where we touch that are so important for us to be resilient enough to try doing things like this in this world.
Supporting Young Adult Quakers in Their Leadings
Ashley Wilcox: I know that Friends look around and they want to see young people in their
meetings. They want to see young people in their events, and one of the ways to do that is to get to know the young people, support them, and support them financially. I've been to a lot of Quaker gatherings where older people are like, “Where are the young people?” and I usually
tell them, “They're at work.” Young people are often in transition, they often have to work a lot, they don't have a lot of money, or they're raising children—they have families, and so they need some incentive and some encouragement.
The Clarence and Lilly Pickett Endowment was established in 1992 to support young Quakers in following their leadings. Between 1994 and 2019, the Endowment supported over 150 young adults.
Liz Nicholson: I’m Liz Nicholson. I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and I received a Pickett grant in 2014 to do a service learning trip to Israel-Palestine.
Drew Elizalde-Miller: My name is Drew Elizalde-Miller, and I am a member of Reedwood Friends Church, and I received a Pickett grant in summer 2016 to conduct a solidarity visit to the Philippines.
Laura MacNorlin: My name is Laura MacNorlin. I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and I'm a member of the Friends Meeting of Atlanta. I got a Pickett grant in 2014, and it was a grant to do a Quaker visitor project between the Friends Meeting and the Friends School.
Anna Fritz: I'm Anna Fritz. I'm a member at Multnomah Monthly Meeting, and in 2015 I received a Pickett grant to bring a music ministry to eight monthly meetings in the West and Midwest.
Ashley Wilcox: My name is Ashley Wilcox. I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and I got a Pickett grant in 2013 to lead a workshop at the FGC Gathering called, “Convergent Friends: Worship and Conversation.”
Jade Souza: My name is Jade Souza. I live in Portland, Oregon, and I got a Pickett grant in 2016. The grant that I got from the Pickett Endowment was to visit Quakers in Cuba.
Receiving the Grant
Liz Nicholson: At this point in my life I had recently graduated from college, had just finished a service year program, had just started a new job, and was not in a place to financially support this leading that I've had for many years. And so when I heard about this opportunity it felt like such an answer to this question of how this would be financially possible. And yeah, I think I felt very much like a right time, right place moment. and I found myself to be incredibly grateful for the strangers who read my information and saw my name on a page and connected with the idea that I wanted to carry forward and had enough faith or trust in me to do that thing with their resources.
Jade Souza: When I received the news that I'd gotten the Pickett funding, it was a huge relief, because I had to go out on a limb to do something that I didn't really know would I be able to do it or not. I had to just sort of treat it like, “Yes, I'm going to do this.”
Drew Elizalde-Miller: To me, it helped clearly identify that my call and leading was not just as an individual, but really also the will of a community that was behind me and supporting me.
More: https://fdsj.nl/ya-quakers
___
The views expressed in this video are of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Friends Journal or its collaborators.
Many Quakers feel called to action, but are unable to bring their ideas to fruition. Learn how five young adult Friends were able to make their leadings a reality.
Thanks to The Clarence and Lilly Pickett Endowment for partnering with us this week.
___
SUBSCRIBE for a new video every week! http://fdsj.nl/QS-Subscribe
WATCH all our videos: http://fdsj.nl/qs-all-videos
___
Become a Friends Journal subscriber for only $28
http://fdsj.nl/FJ-Subscribe
Music and Filming by Jon Watts
Editing by Jon Watts and Rebecca Hamilton-Levi
jonwatts.com
Meet our new QuakerSpeak video producer, Rebecca: http://fdsj.nl/meet-rebecca
___
Transcript:
Jade Souza: We all know that there’s, like, forces in the world that are out to get us, or at least I know that. That are not for you; that are against you; and that, you know, there's gonna be trials and difficulties that you didn't anticipate. But there's also the other; there's also friends that you don't know you have, and allies that you don't know you have, and people who are for you even if they've never actually met you, and the more that we can be aware of that—those places where we touch that are so important for us to be resilient enough to try doing things like this in this world.
Supporting Young Adult Quakers in Their Leadings
Ashley Wilcox: I know that Friends look around and they want to see young people in their
meetings. They want to see young people in their events, and one of the ways to do that is to get to know the young people, support them, and support them financially. I've been to a lot of Quaker gatherings where older people are like, “Where are the young people?” and I usually
tell them, “They're at work.” Young people are often in transition, they often have to work a lot, they don't have a lot of money, or they're raising children—they have families, and so they need some incentive and some encouragement.
The Clarence and Lilly Pickett Endowment was established in 1992 to support young Quakers in following their leadings. Between 1994 and 2019, the Endowment supported over 150 young adults.
Liz Nicholson: I’m Liz Nicholson. I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and I received a Pickett grant in 2014 to do a service learning trip to Israel-Palestine.
Drew Elizalde-Miller: My name is Drew Elizalde-Miller, and I am a member of Reedwood Friends Church, and I received a Pickett grant in summer 2016 to conduct a solidarity visit to the Philippines.
Laura MacNorlin: My name is Laura MacNorlin. I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and I'm a member of the Friends Meeting of Atlanta. I got a Pickett grant in 2014, and it was a grant to do a Quaker visitor project between the Friends Meeting and the Friends School.
Anna Fritz: I'm Anna Fritz. I'm a member at Multnomah Monthly Meeting, and in 2015 I received a Pickett grant to bring a music ministry to eight monthly meetings in the West and Midwest.
Ashley Wilcox: My name is Ashley Wilcox. I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and I got a Pickett grant in 2013 to lead a workshop at the FGC Gathering called, “Convergent Friends: Worship and Conversation.”
Jade Souza: My name is Jade Souza. I live in Portland, Oregon, and I got a Pickett grant in 2016. The grant that I got from the Pickett Endowment was to visit Quakers in Cuba.
Receiving the Grant
Liz Nicholson: At this point in my life I had recently graduated from college, had just finished a service year program, had just started a new job, and was not in a place to financially support this leading that I've had for many years. And so when I heard about this opportunity it felt like such an answer to this question of how this would be financially possible. And yeah, I think I felt very much like a right time, right place moment. and I found myself to be incredibly grateful for the strangers who read my information and saw my name on a page and connected with the idea that I wanted to carry forward and had enough faith or trust in me to do that thing with their resources.
Jade Souza: When I received the news that I'd gotten the Pickett funding, it was a huge relief, because I had to go out on a limb to do something that I didn't really know would I be able to do it or not. I had to just sort of treat it like, “Yes, I'm going to do this.”
Drew Elizalde-Miller: To me, it helped clearly identify that my call and leading was not just as an individual, but really also the will of a community that was behind me and supporting me.
More: https://fdsj.nl/ya-quakers
___
The views expressed in this video are of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Friends Journal or its collaborators.
