Click to download Opportunity Fund brochure.

The Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development, a grant worth $1 million in funding per year, will award up to US $25,000 to groups led by young people, aged 15-24 years. The Fund supports inspiring youth-led initiatives worldwide and engages the partnership and leadership of young men and women in working towards sustainable urbanization.

Through this new fund, we are recognizing the urgent need to bolster youth-led initiatives, and are at the forefront of a growing movement to place youth at the centre of sustainable development strategies.

Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT

Go to http://www.unhabitat.org/opfund to download the Opportunity Fund application or forward it to an eligible youth-led group.

NLI is home to the Brower Youth Awards, the premier North American awards honoring bold young environmental leaders. Since 2000, the Brower Youth Awards has recognized 49 exceptional leaders with a cash prize and a high-energy week of activities in San Francisco.  

Each winner is awarded $3000 and brought to San Francisco for the award week and a backcountry camping trip. The Brower Youth Awards not only promote the accomplishments of these young leaders but also invest in their continued success by providing ongoing access to resources, mentors, and opportunities to develop their leadership skills through Earth Island Institute’s New Leaders Initiative.

NLI also offers seed grants, mentoring, and project sponsorship to rising young leaders.

Link: Earth Island Institute’s New Leaders Initiative website

InvenTeams composed of high school students, teachers and mentors are asked to collaboratively identify a problem that they want to solve, research the problem, and then develop a prototype invention as an in-class or extracurricular project. Grants of up to $10,000 support each team’s efforts.

InvenTeams was launched in 2002 as a pilot program that awarded grants to three New England high school teams for the 2002-03 academic year. The initiative has expanded each year since its inception, and in the fall of 2007 it awarded 16 InvenTeams grants.

InvenTeams Mission

• EXCITE high school students about science, math, engineering, entrepreneurship and invention
• EMPOWER students through problem solving
• ENCOURAGE a sustainable culture of invention in schools and communities

The InvenTeams experience is intended to generate excitement about the rewarding process of identifying a problem or need, brainstorming solutions, and working hands-on to develop a prototype. “Learning by doing” is a central tenet of InvenTeams. Students are exposed to current engineering design methods and teamwork. 

InvenTeams projects empower students to work collaboratively on a problem and create an environment ripe for “Eureka!” moments, where answers are discovered and lessons are learned.

2010 InvenTeams Application Timeline
(Grants for the 2009-2010 academic year)

• Early feedback deadline: March 20, 2009
• Initial application deadline: April 24, 2009
• Excite Award recipient notification: May 8, 2009
• Final application deadline: September 11, 2009
• 2010 InvenTeams announced: October 2, 2009

All deadlines are 5:00 p.m. EDT.

Apply for 2010 InvenTeams.

Link: Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams website