Youth Climate Justice Fund
/OVERVIEW: The Youth Climate Justice Fund is a single-issue funder tackling the impacts of climate change on global communities, with a focus primarily on organizations founded and run by young people.
IP TAKE: The Youth Climate Justice Fund is a new grantmaker on the scene. So new, in fact, that it has not yet completed its first grantmaking cycle since its inception. For that reason, not much can be known about its grantmaking process. Despite its relative newness, this funder’s staff, as IP has previously reported, is highly experienced and the organization itself has several major climate backers priming the youth justice space for “abundance.” Overall, this funder builds several layers into its process to set grantees up for success — like pairing them with “current grantees who have relative experience and cultural context,” according to IP’s climate journalist Michael Kavate. Taking things a step further, the YCJF also plans on offering feedback to those applicants who don’t walk away with a grant.
What makes this funder participatory grantmaker unique is that it conducts its climate justice grantmaking through the lens of youth organizing. Its application guidelines clearly state that it will only work with groups that are youth-led, meaning the majority of your staff and leadership in decision-making positions must be under the age of 35. In an effort to bridge the funding gap and address global inequality of access to grants, it also highly prioritizes organizations based in developing countries, or groups in developed nations that are majority led by people of marginalized backgrounds.
PROFILE: The Youth Climate Justice Fund (YCJF) was founded in 2023, following the publication of the United Nations’ Youth Climate Justice Study (2022). This study found that less than 1% of grants awarded by the U.S.’s top climate change funders goes to youth-led nonprofits globally, and that of this small percentage, U.S.-based climate justice organizations still receive 16 times more funding than the global average. In an effort to rectify this inequality, YCJF was founded to “support climate justice young leaders with trust-based funding, resources, and youth-to-youth capacity development.” To that end, it works with both Organizers and Funders to “support emerging youth movements with a focus on bridging funders and organizers to enable flexible and impactful support.”
Grants for Climate Change
The Youth Climate Justice Fund conducts grantmaking for climate change through its work with Organizers to “bridge the resource gap” by providing project funding, resource sharing, and capacity building services to youth-led climate justice groups.
It especially prioritizes “locally-led, indigenous peoples', women and queer-led organizers,” who face the most significant structural inequalities when seeking funding.
YCJF aims to provide “swift and flexible funding,” trusting youth leaders to know what is best for their movements, while also guiding them with youth-to-youth mentorship and capacity development resources.
YCJF also works to address funding inequalities by working with Funders to enhance their understanding of youth climate movements.
This work as included quarterly online conferences in partnership with the Urban Movement Innovation Fund, various other events and talks to showcase the power of youth-led initiatives, as well as resources and learning tools to benefit funders looking to expand their reach with youth movements.
Important Grant Details:
The Youth Climate Justice Fund awards project, operating support, and capacity building grants between $10,000 to $30,000. No information on past grantees is available, as the Fund has not yet completed its first grant cycle since its inception.
The Youth Climate Justice Fund accepts applications through its online grant portal. This funder offers its application in seven languages — English, Portuguese, Arabic, Spanish, Hindi, Swahili and French. It also has options for those unable to submit an application by computer.
The call for applications is open for four weeks between August and September. Specific deadlines may vary each year.
Applications are reviewed by the foundation’s Regional Leads for each geographic area.
Would-be grantees can already get some application assistance from the team’s regional leads, who will also screen all incoming applications, based on what the field tells them are priorities. Then an eight-member steering committee will make final grantee selections.
To be eligible for a grant, your organization must have young people (under 35) in a majority of leadership roles.
The Fund prioritizes organizations based in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Organizations based in North America and Western Europe must have a majority of leadership roles occupied by staff from discriminated or marginalized communities or backgrounds.
Application materials are available in seven languages, and the Fund is willing to offer resources and assistance to grantseekers working in a language not represented.
Grantseekers may contact the Fund at ask@ycjf.org for questions about the application process.
General inquiries may be directed at hello@ycjf.org.
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