Youth-Led Program Design
An Open Call for Indonesian Climate Movements
Helped launch an open-call grant process at the Packard Foundation that drew 400+ applications from youth-led climate movements in Indonesia.
Many private foundations provide grants by invitation only, and do not read unsolicited grant proposals. There are major limitations to this approach. If organizations aren’t within the same network, direct service nonprofits will be ineligible for much-needed funding, and funders will miss out on opportunities to build relationships with local changemakers.
Earlier in 2023, the Global Climate Initiative team at the Packard Foundation launched an open proposal process to support youth movements for forest and climate justice in Indonesia. We received over 400 applications from this one open call, demonstrating the enormous capacity of youth-led movements in Indonesia.
I served on the advisory committee that selected the two finalists, and worked closely with our legal and compliance team to create an entirely new grant structure to accommodate the informal organizing nature of Indonesian grassroots movements. A commitment to inclusive grantmaking, and creative mindset for addressing legal requirements, was crucial to the success of this open proposal process.
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.