NEW YORK (AP) — In the 15-year existence of her girls' empowerment organization, Joanne Smith has dealt with funders and donors but never quite like this: a foundation putting $90 million toward helping girls of color by letting them determine their needs instead of being told what the funds have to be used for.

The NoVo Foundation, founded in 2006 by Jennifer and Peter Buffett, the youngest son and daughter-in-law of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, officially announced on Thursday how its $90 million commitment over seven years will be carried out.

It comes a year after the New York City-based foundation first announced the investment and spent the intervening time talking to minority girls and advocates around the country about how best to carry it out. At the time, the foundation said it was the largest single investment aimed specifically at this demographic.

What was heard was that different communities of minority girls face different issues, and "one size fits all was never going to work in terms of the kind of support we offer," said Pamela Shifman, executive director of the foundation. "We wanted to let girls of color and their advocates really determine their most important needs because they are the experts on their own lives."