Young Leaders Award
A cash award of up to $50,000 and a six-month program that supports visionary, young leaders who are innovating for our planet.
Young Leaders Receive

Funding

Cohort Retreat

Leadership Development
Young Leaders Award Recipients
Do you know a passionate young leader who is working on solutions for the betterment of our planet? Become a nominating organization.
The Young Leaders Award is seeking a well-rounded cohort with a mix of representation across geographies, backgrounds, and approaches to sustainability and regeneration.
Applications for the 2025 cohort are closed.
Reflections from Young Leaders
FAQs
The Young Leaders Award is an accelerator program for visionary leaders in their 20s and 30s who are innovating for our planet. Recipients receive a $50,000 cash award and a unique package that includes executive coaching, a six-month cohort-based curriculum, and a leadership retreat, culminating in a multi-year organizational growth and impact plan.
STRENGTHEN
Equip Young Leaders with the skills and strategies to build resilient, high-impact organizations
BRIDGE
Connect nonprofit and for-profit climate ventures through peer-to-peer and cross-sector learning
AMPLIFY
Drive lasting social and environmental change through sustained support and collaboration
The Young Leaders Award (YLA) nomination process spans roughly seven months. Walking Softer reaches out to nominating organizations to invite them to identify and nominate young leaders over a three-month period. After nominations close, the list is reviewed, and selected nominees are invited to submit pitch decks. Nominees that advance to the next round will submit applications outlining their impact, vision, and leadership background. External experts and executives are consulted in the final stages of the selection process. Finalists will then be invited to submit a final application and participate in a 30-minute virtual interview.
The evaluation process is informed by our program design principles and based on an evaluation rubric. An important note is that we select young leaders who already have a strong foundation in their relevant climate and/or environmentally related field. Finally, we aim for a well-rounded cohort that represents a diversity of backgrounds, including urban and rural areas, across age groups, and various problem-solving approaches to sustainability.
Each leader will have the opportunity to focus on developing in the areas most relevant to their current stage or needs. Examples of areas we can support include strategic planning, financial management and literacy, pitch deck development, regenerative business, impact evaluation and systems thinking, go-to-market strategies, and networking and fundraising.
While the Young Leaders Award focuses on the person over the project, all sustainability projects that address the aforementioned criteria are considered. Examples of project types might range across the areas of:
- food and plastic waste reduction
- shifting toward plant-rich diets
- pollution reduction
- circular and regenerative economy
- responsible consumption
- public transport solutions
- promoting transport through walking and biking
- urban greening
- sustainable buildings
- responsible production and consumption
- rewilding and conservation
- decarbonization
- climate resilience and adaptation
- Indigenous territorial sovereignty
- food and renewable energy cooperatives
- sustainable oceans, policy advocacy, and beyond
- grassroots activism
- local city planning engagement
- action research/participatory research projects
- policy action
- (social) entrepreneurship
- network/coalition building, and more.
Funds can be used to support personal and professional needs associated with the project, including compensation for living expenses so that awardees can focus on their project full-time.
An early-stage project is ideally between two and four years old, although the Young Leaders Award allows for an intentionally flexible interpretation of the “early stage.” The project, organization, or business must be legally incorporated. Projects that are still in “idea” form on paper, with no volunteers and no activities yet, will not be considered. Except in cases where the individual is the founder, the project cannot fall under the scope of normal paid job responsibilities for an organization.
All nominees meeting the eligibility criteria will be formally invited to submit a Project Readiness Form. Two weeks after the deadline, nominees will be notified via email if their application is moving forward to the next round, which is an invitation to submit a pitch deck. The final step will be an application and 30-minute virtual interview.
We are keeping this number open as we intentionally curate a well-rounded, diverse cohort representing a mix of geographies, solution approaches, and backgrounds. As a guideline, we anticipate awarding a minimum of 10 leaders and a maximum of 15.
60% of the award money will be distributed in Summer of 2025. The remaining 40% will be distributed at the end of the program upon receipt of the organizational growth and impact plan and all necessary and requested documentation.
Launched in 2023, the Young Leaders Award has resourced 24 exceptional changemakers across two diverse cohorts from the United States and Canada. Each year, we have refined and improved the program, and we are poised to launch our third cohort in fall 2025 with a new evolution.
In 2025, the Young Leaders Award will be a six-month accelerator program. Recipients will receive up to $50,000 in funding and six months of leadership development opportunities, including a unique package of executive coaching, cohort-based programming, and a leadership retreat culminating in a multi-year organizational growth plan.
We are evolving the program design to bridge the for-profit and nonprofit climate sectors, providing more tailored support for each while creating cross-sector learning and collaboration opportunities. By aiming for a balance between for-profit and non-profit leaders, peer-to-peer learning will encourage valuable cross-pollination of knowledge.
While non-profit leaders can learn how to develop stronger business models and planning from for-profit leaders, for-profit leaders can develop a stronger understanding of the complexities of creating sustained and holistic social and environmental impact through their businesses. We will also enhance participants' readiness for go-to-market strategies, application of regenerative business principles, and systems thinking while considering their 2-3-year organizational growth and impact plans.
Stories
A series of entries from our Walking Softer community that inform, inspire and support change on our planet.

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