25 youth-led climate groups get $1M each in global award

Enlight Foundation, The Patchwork Collective and Lever for Change named 25 winners of the Emerging Climate Champions Award, a $25 million global open call backing youth-led climate solutions. The flexible, multi-year grants will support organizations working across 33 countries on conservation, agriculture, energy, policy and community-led climate action.

Why it matters: - The award gives youth-led climate groups flexible, multi-year funding to scale solutions in communities that are already feeling climate impacts. - The 25 recipients span 33 countries and include initiatives led by Indigenous peoples and women, two groups often shut out of traditional funding. - The program is designed to back organizations that have already shown measurable environmental, economic and social results.

What happened: - Enlight Foundation, The Patchwork Collective and Lever for Change announced 25 award recipients of the Emerging Climate Champions Award on Oct. 21, 2026. - Each recipient will receive $1 million in unrestricted, multi-year support. - The award is a $25 million global open call. - The selected organizations work on conservation and biodiversity, sustainable agriculture and resource management, renewable energy, movement building, and policy and advocacy. - The announcement was made in Chicago.

The details: - The open call drew applications from youth-led organizations in 108 countries. - Eligible applicants had to meet at least two of three youth leadership criteria for people ages 15 to 35. - Applications went through administrative screening, participatory review, external expert evaluation and additional due diligence. - The final awardees were chosen by Enlight Foundation, The Patchwork Collective and Lever for Change. - The 25 awardees joined Lever for Change’s Bold Solutions Network, along with other top-ranking applicants from the open call. - The network is meant to help vetted organizations attract more funding and expand their impact. - Funders can still support the awardees and other top applicant organizations from the open call. - More information about the award is available in the official announcement.

Between the lines: - The award reflects a broader shift toward funding local, youth-driven climate leadership instead of top-down programs. - The inclusion of Indigenous and women-led groups signals an effort to widen access to capital in climate philanthropy. - The program’s multi-stage review process suggests the funders were trying to balance scale with rigor. - Lever for Change is using the award to bring promising groups into a larger donor pipeline, not just deliver one-time grants.

What’s next: - The awardees will use the grants to continue or expand their climate work over multiple years. - Lever for Change and the funders expect the recognition to attract additional investment for the cohort. - The wider network of top-ranked organizations may also secure future support through the Bold Solutions Network.

The bottom line: - The award puts serious money behind young climate leaders already delivering results, and it aims to turn early success into larger, long-term impact.