LAUNCHING A GLOBAL YOUTH GRANTMAKING PROGRAM

In 2020, the Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN) partnered with the Aspen Institute to launch the Youth Innovation Fund, which provides micro-grants to youth addressing challenges in their local communities related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Youth Innovation Fund is a new program that lacks rigorous internal protocols and processes for its grant application process. GOYN engaged a team to establish best practices for program management and create a grantee application and evaluation process. The team compiled relevant research on engaging youth around SDGs, identified best practices for establishing youth grant funds, and developed an application and selection framework to guide GOYN in selecting diverse and influential grantees.