Grants for Youth Leaders: What’s Possible Fund

The What’s Possible Fund, launched by the Children’s Rights Innovation Fund (CRIF), is dedicated to supporting youth activists and community organizers who are at the forefront of advancing liberation, justice, and the well-being of children and youth leaders. This fund aims to uplift diverse forms of activism and organizing that prioritize those who have been historically and systematically marginalized.

The What’s Possible Fund is guided by a Participatory Grantmaking and Strategy Making Collaborative, known as “The Collaborative.” This group is composed of 10 young people from diverse countries, including Zimbabwe, Malaysia, The Philippines, Ukraine, Sudan, Benin, Sierra Leone, Brazil, Colombia, and Haiti. These young leaders bring diverse knowledge, expertise, and lived experiences from the communities they represent.

While these youth leaders hail from specific countries, the fund is open to applicants from all regions.

Core Objectives of the Fund

The What’s Possible Fund support work that:

• Promotes the advancement of liberation and justice.
• Promotes the well-being of children and youth leaders.
• Represents diverse organizing and activism efforts.
• Centers those that have been historically and systematically marginalized.
• Is culturally-connected and community-based.
• Strengthens local resources
• Supports intergenerational networks of care and community-building for youth leaders.
• Protects civic spaces and individual freedoms.
• Addresses systemic and historic violence.
• Provides direct support to communities in need.

Types of Grants Available

Applicants can apply for one of the following grants:

1. Core Grants
   • Flexible Funding
   • Can be used for operational costs like paying team members, purchasing supplies, or maintaining digital tools.
   • Support for New or Existing Projects
   • Exclusively available to youth-led groups and organizations.
2. Project-Based Grants
   • Specific Project Funding
   • Designed for a particular project, whether new or existing.
   • Projects must be youth-led but can be within organizations that are or are not youth-led.
   • Funding can be applied to projects already in progress.

Who Can Apply?

The fund is open to groups or organizations that meet the following criteria:

1. Youth-Led: Must be led by three or more youth aged 11-28.
2. Types of Organizations: Includes informal collectives, unregistered organizations, and registered organizations.
   • Informal Collective: A temporary group formed for a specific campaign or project.
   • Unregistered Organization: An entity without official status according to local laws.
   • Registered Organization: An organization with official registration or one that is fiscally sponsored.
3. Focus on Marginalized Youth: Led by and benefiting youth who have been marginalized, such as young mothers, stateless individuals, persons with disabilities, Indigenous persons, LGBTQI+ individuals, and others.
4. Affected by Systemic Harm: Focused on youth affected by systemic harm or violence, including sexual violence, armed conflict, colonization, climate change, and more.
5. Under-Resourced Areas: Serving under-resourced and hard-to-reach communities, whether rural, urban, peri-urban, or working-class.

How to Apply?

• If you wish to apply through written format, please apply by clicking this link.
• If you wish to apply via video or audio, please review the guidelines here to submit your application materials.
• Deadline for submission is September 24, 2024.

In your application, you will be asked to share information about yourself and the work that you or your group are doing or would like to do. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out at grants@crifund.org.

Grant Timeline

• September 24, 2024 – Application closes
• Aug-Sept 2024 – Applications are screened
• October 2024 – Collaborative selects grant recipients and award amounts
• November 2024 – Final decisions are shared with selected grantees
• December 2024-Grants are awarded

For more details and to apply, visit the What’s Possible Fund page.