Youth-Led Program Design
An Open Call for Indonesian Climate Movements
Co-launched an open-call grant process for youth-led forest and climate justice movements in Indonesia that drew 400+ applications, expanded the Foundation’s reach beyond invitation-only networks, and created workable compliance pathways for newly formalizing groups.
At a glance
- Scale
- 400+ applications
- Role
- Program Associate · open-call implementation, technical support, review, compliance onboarding
- Methods
- Open-call design · applicant technical assistance · grant review · compliance problem-solving
- Outcome
- Expanded reach beyond invitation-only networks; funded youth-led movements previously outside the Foundation’s usual pipeline
The problem with invitation-only
Many private foundations make grants by invitation only. That can simplify the funder’s process while narrowing who ever gets the chance to be seen. Organizations and movements outside an existing network may never enter the pipeline, and funders lose access to ideas and leaders already doing the work locally.
Build a wider front door
In 2023, our Global Climate Initiative team at the Packard Foundation opened a request for proposals for youth-led forest and climate justice movements in Indonesia. I helped implement the process from application through selection: technical assistance for prospective grantees, scoring and review, committee coordination, and post-selection onboarding. More than 400 organizations and movements applied, immediately revealing a much larger field than an invitation-only process would have surfaced.
Opening the front door was only useful if young organizations could actually make it through. I worked with our legal and compliance teams to identify defensible pathways through requirements built for older, more formal organizations. In practice, that meant helping finalists assemble foundational documents and accepting forward-looking budget information where years of audited history simply did not exist.
The primary goal was to create an evidence base for grantmaking that was appropriate to the organization’s actual stage of development.
Fund movements the old model could miss
The two finalists were selected and funded. More important to me, the process demonstrated that access is not solved by publishing an application alone: outreach, technical assistance, review mechanics, compliance, and onboarding all shape who a funder is actually capable of funding.
Two lessons about what it actually takes for a funder to open its doors.
Access is a systems-design problem.
An RFP application process does not create access if later stages of the process still assume resources or institutional histories that applicants do not have.
Low burden is not low rigor.
The design question is what evidence is necessary for a sound decision, versus what is simply inherited procedure.
When you work with local movements, institutions of power must be flexible and willing to meet the challenge of funding a group who is closest to the work. I’m thankful I got to work with a team at Packard dedicated to doing so.
Due to the sensitive nature of this work, documentation is limited. I’m happy to discuss this project in more detail. Get in touch.