In November of 2021, We Trust You(th) issued a public challenge to youth-focused donors and NGOs. The challenge is to demonstrate concrete steps taken to make changes in one or more of the following focus areas by mid 2022 (June). 

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• Making resources more readily available by: co-designing new funding mechanisms and/or co-revising existing mechanisms in collaboration with young people, to make them more accessible to youth-led organizations, networks, and movements.

  • ​Some examples of success by June 2022 could be: Ensured a higher proportion of funding upfront when directly funding YLOs; Set a proportional standard for the amount of funding that will go directly to YLOs; Revised definition of “capacity” to enable more YLOs to be successful in the grant selection process, Reviewed and enhanced existing funding schemes with a youth lens; introduced youth representative(s) to decision-making teams for grantmaking.

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• Implementing equitable agreements and partnerships with youth-led efforts by: adjusting partnership agreements to be more equitable in terms of treatment, workload, and compensation, and to better articulate joint ownership and collaboration.

  • ​Some examples of success by June 2022 could be: Required youth-focused organizations to subcontract youth-led partners using a fair standard for pay; Amended contracts with youth partners to ensure joint ownership of products and materials developed; Developed a secure feedback loop to ensure all YLO who are sub-grantees have a way of disclosing mistreatment, etc. 

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• Co-creating and co-developing programs with youth-led efforts and working collaboratively to ensure sustainability beyond the program cycle.

  • ​Some examples of success by June 2022 could be: Secured formal youth partnerships with multiple YLOs to determine programming focus areas at a strategy level; Funded planning stages for quality engagement with young people at a programming level; Enabled youth partners to define success indicators for programs; etc.
     

• Build your capacity by developing the knowledge, skills and culture, as youth-focused donors and NGOs, to work more collaboratively and equitably with young people.

  • ​Some examples of success by June 2022 could be: Adjusted staff position descriptions and performance reviews to include youth partnership skills and goals; Compensated young people and participatory donors and NGOs to learn from them;