This article is written by 2025 CFC Transformation Storytelling Fellow Kat Cadungog. The Transformation Storytelling Fellowship program is supported by Canada Life.
Philanthropy loves a picture of a young person smiling cheek-to-cheek on the cover of impact reports and campaigns. But when youth ask to be involved beyond a communications exercise, they’re often met with resistance. Quickly, sentiments about youth become: “Youth are the future… but not like that.”
Youth experience the world differently as its inheritors. Young people have the most to lose and gain when it comes to how today’s systems are designed. They are building the plane as it flies, and are judged on potential rather than legacy. They navigate adult-youth hierarchies and power dynamics at every turn, from being spoken down to, to entering the world as new voters and workers, but are usually not welcomed as leaders.
From 2021 to 2025, I worked with over 200 youth-led initiatives in communities, schools, and organizations and had the privilege of seeing radical and impactful initiatives. While I can accept that not every idea is a good one, what frustrated me is how rarely good ideas from youth, those aged 18 to 30 or so, are supported, and when they are, how critically undersupported they tend to be.
In some ways, it makes sense. Youth-led projects encounter similar growing pains to any new organization, like figuring out good governance practices and implementing project management mechanisms. What’s unique, however, is that being young adds a whole other layer of barriers that are near-impossible to overcome in the philanthropic world. Even if a youth-led organization can break through the exclusive philanthropic landscape, they are often placed in separate funding streams, with smaller grants and lower expectations.
The underlying assumption seems to be that young people are “cheaper,” willing to do more for less because they’re passionate. This devalues their leadership and reinforces a harmful message: even if you have a great idea, the resources available to you will always be smaller simply because of your age. We’ve built a funding culture that confuses youthful energy with a willingness to be undervalued in the name of community impact. Somewhere along the way, we started celebrating financial martyrdom in the youth sector, applauding young people for stretching shoestring budgets, pulling all-nighters, and doing unpaid labour in the name of “passion” rather than systemic issues as a result of stereotyping.
Compounding this issue, youth organizations also rarely have the resources to craft the usual, funder-friendly applications. This is not only a matter of experience but also of access. Established organizations often have teams of grant writers, communications professionals, and fundraising consultants who can translate their ideas into compelling narratives and funder-ready jargon. Youth-led groups do not have that luxury. Their applications may be raw, imperfect, or written in unfamiliar language, but that doesn’t make their ideas any less powerful. The current philanthropic model means these applications are often misunderstood or undervalued, as granting committees may lack the context to see the strength and relevance of youth ideas.
This culture bleeds into the way we organize foundation granting decisions. Young people are often shuffled into “youth advisory” committees instead of being trusted to sit on actual governance and/or granting committees, where real decisions are made beyond simply “providing input.” Yet, without young people integrated directly on these committees, it is nearly impossible to accurately evaluate youth ideas. This is because youth can see beyond the perfectly aligned $50,000 audited financial statement and the polished impact report, and instead, recognize boots-on-the-ground, hands-in-the-earth projects that are ready to create real change. Inviting young people to sit on granting committees brings another perspective while assessing projects. Instead of focusing solely on the polish of an application, young assessors push funders to look for signs of trust, community connection, and lived understanding of the issue. Youth insights are essential to getting a future-informed and a future-flourishing granting strategy right.
This isn’t a pipe dream, I’ve seen this work. While working at FES, I had the honour of embodying this vision with an entirely youth-led team under 30. We oversaw $7 million in grant requests and supported projects that reached 130,000 Canadians. Just $500 invested through FES enabled a young leader to engage 600 people in their community. From $100 million invested in Alberta’s bike infrastructure, to 40 urban harvests with 100 volunteers in Quebec, to thousands taking to the streets for climate justice in Newfoundland, youth were at the helm. They were the grantmakers, contract-makers, and stewards of every dollar. This is what becomes possible when young people are trusted not just to work on the project, but to decide.
We know the truth: doing the same thing and expecting change won’t work. When new ideas surface, especially from young leaders, funders too often retreat into risk aversion. But if a young person makes it to your doorstep, that in itself is extraordinary. They’ve navigated closed networks built on privilege and connection. The real risk isn’t funding youth innovation, it’s shutting the door on it.
The future of philanthropy will be written by those brave enough to share power. Bring youth to the table as equals, not tokens. Together, let’s fund the future, not the familiar.
