Deadline: 14th April 2025
Roots is built on the philosophy of “community born, community led, and community owned” solutions. We create a platform for young people in the Global South to build power and scale impact that drives transformative political and social change. Through a holistic approach that adapts and responds to evolving community needs, Roots is focused on bolstering skills and capacity; providing resources and tools; and building community through connecting people to a growing network of other young leaders working to
improve the lives of those around them.
The Micro-grants Program provides funding of up to $10,000 USD per group to help support youth led projects, initiatives, or campaigns that advocate for climate justice through an intersectional lens.
Preference will be given to projects that demonstrate some, or all, of the following characteristics:
- Community-driven approach: Projects, initiatives, research, or campaigns originating from grassroots efforts at the local level, driven by the community.
- Ambitious and transformative community solutions: Applicants should demonstrate innovative strategies focused on transformative, intersectional, and equitable solutions to address the root causes of the climate crisis.
- Support for marginalized communities: Initiatives actively engage and provide aid and assistance to marginalized communities, including but not limited to, sharing activist knowledge, capacity-building, facilitating leadership workshops, organizing networking events, and hosting climate-focused programs.
- Promotion of intergenerational collaboration: Priority will be given to initiatives that address and foster relationships across generations, seeking to bridge the intergenerational gap and reach audiences beyond existing echo chambers.
- Wellbeing: Groups that put an emphasis on the wellbeing of their membership and building resilient structures within their groups and communities.
Benefits
- The Roots micro-grants project provides funding of up to $10,000 USD per group to help support youth-led projects, initiatives, research, or campaigns that advocate for climate justice through an intersectional lens.
- Capacity Building – Micro-grant recipients will have access to Roots training and workshops across their core program to boost their capacity around specific needs. These include their organizing, creative storytelling, resilience and wellbeing, and counter-disinformation training, as well as their affiliated communities of practice. They will also provide opportunities for recipients to take on leadership roles within these programs.
- Coaching Program – They will allocate 1 coach to successful initiatives according to your project’s needs. Coaches will be there to support you from project inception to implementation, with a six-monthly reporting cycle. They will offer project-specific advice wherever required, including strategic assistance around tactics, communications, public outputs, lobbying, networking, and outreach.
- Community Building – Grantees will be integrated into the wider Roots network and have the opportunity to attend Climate Justice Camps in order to expand their connections with groups in relevant regions or who are working on similar initiatives.
- Media and Social Media Support – Grantees will be amplified through the Roots social media channels through storytelling opportunities, videos, and posts. They will also offer local media support to help amplify your initiative and your messages.
Eligibility
- They support initiatives from those who are aged between 18 and 35.
- At least 70% of the membership of your group should be made up of young people, and those responsible for making decisions in the group should also be between 18 to 35 years old.
- Focus on groups in the following regions:
Middle East and North Africa
Southeast Asia
South Asia
The Caribbean
Latin America
Sub-Saharan Africa
For more information and application.