YAF Youth Action Fund Funding for Black and Indigenous youth leading change in Ontario / Grants & Programs / Indigenous Youth / Youth Action Fund Overview of the Fund The Youth Action Fund (YAF), as informed by our Strategic Plan 2025-2030, offers grants to grassroots initiatives working with youth who are underserved by the education system, overrepresented in the criminal justice and child welfare systems, and affected by policies and actions that perpetuate environmental racism. YAF prioritizes Black, Indigenous, and/or racialized youth-led initiatives. The development of this fund was guided by a series of consultations with experts and advocates in the field, including the newest issue area: environmental racism in 2025. Groups will be funded for a period of five years and get convened as a cohort to learn more from each other and strengthen connections and their respective work Who it’s for Black, Indigenous, and racialized youth-led groups in Ontario Funding amount Up to $100,000 per year for a maximum of three years Eligible work Projects addressing education, criminal system, child welfare, and/or environmental racism Eligible groups Grassroots groups, nonprofits, charities, or First Nations bands Status Applications currently closed What the fund supports More specifically, the Youth Action Fund grants initiatives to develop and lead projects where they: Elevate priorities and voices of youth with lived experiences in the identified systems Promote equitable and accountable institutions and systems Advocate for evidence-based policy Support initiatives working on, or, advocating for prevention, early intervention, and crisis intervention Support initiatives that are led and informed by Black, Indigenous, and/or racialized youth with community buy-in Projects may work within existing institutions or create community-based alternatives, as long as youth leadership and decision-making are clear. Research projects are eligible if they are community-based and not part of a master’s or doctoral program. Who can apply Initiatives must be: Based in Ontario Led and informed by young people aged 35 or under Directed by youth leads as the main contact for the Foundation Focused on at least one of the issues: education, justice, child welfare, or environmental racism Proposed as a grassroots group, nonprofit, registered charity, or First Nations band For-profit entities, projects that charge participation fees, and work outside Ontario are not eligible. Priority is given to initiatives led by and for Black and Indigenous youth, particularly those with lived experience in the systems addressed by the Fund. Youth Action Fund Issue Areas Education Transform public school system to meet needs of and empower all learners Child Welfare Advocate for accountable and responsive youth protection system and legislations Criminal Justice Advance a youth justice system that centers restorative healing and community support Environmental Racism *NEW* Invest in youth-led solutions for climate equity Funding details The Youth Action Fund provides operating and project grants to youth-led organizations and initiatives working in Ontario. Groups can request up to $100,000 per year for three years for a maximum total of $300,000. Eligible expenses Ineligible expenses Eligible expenses Youth salaries, stipends, and honoraria Transportation, food, childcare, and accessibility supports Project materials, technology, or small equipment directly tied to the project Ineligible expenses Fundraising campaigns Microgrant programs Capital projects such as renovations or construction Direct financial support to for-profit enterprises Endowments, Sponsorships of events and conferences Ongoing operating expenses unrelated to the proposed project Travel outside of Ontario Projects involving partisan political activities Projects involving strictly religious purposes or activities Projects outside of Ontario Projects from for-profit entities Note: Please contact us if you’re not sure whether the expenses you anticipate would be eligible for funding or not. How to apply If you are planning to apply, you may want to know how to share your idea, what youth-led work looks like, and what support is available for grassroots groups. Here’s how to submit an application through Foundant, how Organizational Mentors can support groups that are not incorporated, and what we mean when we say that projects must be youth-led and grounded in lived experience. The Process Mentorships Youth-Led Steps to Apply Applications are submitted through Foundant, Laidlaw’s online grants portal. You can save drafts and return to your work before submitting. When applications open, Laidlaw hosts an information session to explain eligibility, timelines, and the process. Applicants who lack consistent internet access can request to apply orally or by email. After the deadline, Laidlaw reviews all submissions for eligibility. Strong applications are shared with the Granting Committee, which reviews and recommends projects to the Board for final approval. Applicants receive confirmation by email after submitting and can expect decisions within approximately three months of the deadline. Feedback is available on request. Organizational mentors Non-incorporated grassroots groups must partner with a registered charitable organization that acts as an Organizational Mentor. The mentor receives the funds and provides administrative and mentorship support while youth lead the project. A written agreement is recommended but not required. The administrative fee for a mentor should not exceed 10 percent of the project budget. For charities or nonprofits that do not work with a mentor, the administrative portion of the budget can range from 10 to 15 percent. Defining youth-led work Youth-led means that youth aged 35 and under design, make decisions, and are responsible for the project from start to finish. Adults may act as mentors, but not as project leads. Projects must be rooted in lived experience and community accountability, following the principle “Nothing about us, without us.” Applications led or written by adults where youth only implement activities are not considered youth-led. Videos Guides & Tutorials Youth Action Fund 2024 Info Session Video Youth Action Fund Info Session 2022 Video After you receive funding Successful applicants sign a funding agreement and receive payments according to a mutually agreed schedule. Laidlaw uses the sharing circle method for project-end reporting to move beyond the more colonial compliance-based reporting methods. Recently Funded Grantees Building a Bridge Youth Empowerment & Justice Awareness GAME (Guidance, Awareness, Mentorship, Employment/education) On the Wings of Justice Reclaiming Our Futures Change Justice Project Findings Frequently Asked Questions What types of initiatives can be funded? Laidlaw grants a variety of projects, e.g., policy & advocacy work, direct action, programs, and community-based research (research cannot be part of a masters or doctorate degree). How many Youth Action Fund grants does the Foundation intend to make through the current call for applications? This depends on the number of eligible applications and the budget that potential grantees need to do this work. On average and during an open call year, over 100 applications are received and around 10 projects are funded. How much can we request? You can apply for up to $100,000 per year for a maximum of three years for a maximum total of $300,000. We need funding to support our core activities, not a project. Can we apply to the Indigenous Youth Fund? No. We do not provide core funding. However, we fund core operating costs associated with a project if they are directly related to the project. Do we need to submit audited financial statements? No. Laidlaw does not require financial statements to apply to our grants. Does an organization need to be youth-led to be eligible? No. However, the project itself needs to be entirely led by youth (35 and under). This can be done by youth staff, youth advisors, youth board members, etc. Youth who make up the group leads will essentially undertake a project on behalf of the organization. We are a social enterprise / a for-profit business, can we get funded? No. We do not fund for-profit entities. Additionally, we do not fund initiatives that come with a cost to the participants or activities that could generate profit (e.g., markets with vendors, event fee, program fee, fee for services, etc.) We’re asking for funds to have our own microgrants program. Could this get funded? No. We are unable to fund projects that give out microgrants to other participants, as well as fundraising campaigns, capital expenses, for-profit activities and business/social enterprises, endowments, sponsorship of events and conferences, partisan political activities, religious activities, projects outside of Ontario, and projects that partner with police or other types of policing institutions (e.g., CAS) as it can create unsafe spaces for young people. We are a grassroots group. Can we apply to receive funds directly? No. Currently, the Foundation requires non-incorporated grassroots groups to partner with a registered charitable organization or registered nonprofit to act as a trustee and provide organizational mentorship and administrative support. The Organizational Mentor (OM) will receive funds to distribute to the grassroots group. Depending on capacity, one organization can be an OM for one or multiple groups. While we strongly recommend having a partnership agreement between the grassroots group and the OM, this is not required to apply. Laidlaw developed this Organizational Mentor Booklet, which outlines expectations, offers a partner agreement template, and lists Black-led and Indigenous-led organizations that can be contacted. What is the usual percentage for admin fees, especially if working with an Organizational Mentor? Do we have to factor admin costs into our budget proposal? The admin fee for grassroots groups generally goes towards the OM and we don’t encourage more than 10% of the budget to be allocated to this line item, which you would factor into your budget proposal. For charities, and nonprofits not working with an OM, the admin budget line can be between 10-15%. Our project benefits Black and/or Indigenous youth but little to no one in our group shares these racial identities, would our application be competitive? No. We do not fund projects where the “by and for” is not a structural component of the group. Echoing South African disability activists, Laidlaw espouses the “Nothing about us, without us” slogan. Black, Indigenous, and racialized youth know how best to support their own communities. We are not interested in funding projects that parachute into communities and perpetuate a saviour complex. Which projects will get priority? Black and Indigenous youth-led groups will be prioritized over non-Black-led and non-Indigenous-led organizations. Read the Foundation for Black Communities’ definition of a B3 organization (Black-focused, Black-led, and Black-serving) here. Find The Circle’s definition of Indigenous-benefiting, Indigenous-informed, Indigenous Partnerships and Indigenous-led here. Can we pay ourselves through this grant? Absolutely! As long as salaries and honoraria only go to youth and no one above 35 gets paid. Projects must pay youth staff at least a living wage within your area. Find rates calculated by Living Wage Ontario. If reviewers gauge that the salary / wage is too low, applicants might be asked to rework their budget. Applicants can opt to do salaries or hourly wages for staff and honoraria for participants, whichever method works best for your group. Remember to add Mandatory Employment Related Costs (MERCs) to your wage calculations. Am I able to accept a grant if I’m currently on ODSP? Folks can keep their ODSP benefit while gainfully employed. Earnings are capped at $1,000 per month on top of what you receive from ODSP. In 2022, the ODSP earning cap increased from $200 to $1000 per month. For every dollar earned past the $1,000 cap, ODSP claws back $0.75. After the $1,000/month cap, you are entitled to $10,000 in-kind compensation annually. Visit ontario.ca/page/ontario-disability-support-program. If you have questions regarding programming and ODSP, contact the IYCFF Program Director. Will letters of support increase the strength of our application? We don’t require letters of support, however, providing recent youth testimonials vouching for the initiative could increase the validity of your application. We are more interested in youth validation over institutional validation so providing letters of support from adults/school boards/institutions does not strengthen applications. We understand that the Foundation will not fund capital expenditures. Is computer equipment considered to be capital expenditures? We will not fund capital expenditures for immovable assets (i.e., buildings, furniture, infrastructure, etc.). Small equipment including tech equipment relevant to the project could be included in the budget. Why is youth defined as someone 35 inclusive and under? Laidlaw defines young people as someone who is 35 and under at the time of application. In previous years, our definition of youth went up to 30 years of age. However, knowing Black and Indigenous youth who are exiting the child welfare system, surviving environmental racism and the criminal system, and reeling from the impacts of being pushed out of the education system might not have benefitted from the “youth” labeled before aging out. Being mindful of these barriers, we have changed the age criteria from 30 to 35. What do you mean by youth-led initiatives? Laidlaw funds projects that are envisioned, developed, led, and implemented by young people (30 and under, at time of application). The image below presents eight levels of youth participation that start from manipulation and tokenism at the lower rungs, to full participation at the top. Youth Action Fund focuses on groups within Rung 7, meaning little to no input from adults – e.g., only paying salaries and honoraria for youth (30 and under), no projects that are adult-directed or ideated where youth only implement or participate, and no projects that don’t have enough Black and Indigenous youth with lived experiences of the system(s). E.g., A mentorship program where youth will benefit from one-on-one coaching with mentors who will get an honoraria but the mentors are over 30 would not be seen as youth-led as the dynamics become top-down knowledge transfer from adult-to-youth. What are some common mistakes applicants make when submitting proposals? Here is a non-exhaustive list of general mistakes people tend to make when applying: Forgetting to mention group leads’ lived experience of the system(s), ages, and racial identity Parachuting into a community and perpetuating saviourism Passion doesn’t come through or has been diluted Project plan & budget don’t match – there’s no budget breakdown or enough details Alignment to the system(s) is not strong enough Project isn’t youth-led but just youth-serving Not reading the FAQs, guidelines, and eligibility criteria Non-youth (over 35) write the application and are the only group’s contact Youth leads writing the application don’t attend / listen to the info session Using AI as a primary tool and not checking content We got funding from Laidlaw before, does this affect our new grant application? Applications are evaluated on merits. Previous Laidlaw funding has no bearing on new applications unless you are a current grantee, and you’re seeking support for the same project and activities. If that’s the case, you’ll need to communicate clearly how your new application will build on your learnings from the previous project. N.B.: If it comes down to a decision between a project/organization that is currently being funded vs. one that isn’t, reviewers might opt for the one that has not yet gotten a Laidlaw grant. What do you mean by the justice, child welfare, and education systems? While justice could be understood as social justice, child welfare as the wellbeing of children, and education as learning – YAF seeks initiatives operating specifically within, or, as an alternative to the legal/criminal, foster care, and education systems. For all three systems, we understand that while some work within institutions, others will seek to offer alternative systems. Both approaches are acceptable. We understand how youth can have lived experiences in the criminal and child welfare systems. Can you explain what you mean by education? Projects focusing on education should be by and for Black and Indigenous young people having lived experience with the education system, e.g., being pushed out of the system, being at higher risk of, or already impacted by, streaming, suspensions, detentions, expulsions, lack of access to post-secondary education, etc. N.B.: YAF seeks projects by and for young people impacted by the education system rather than broader projects seeking to educate or raise awareness. Can you explain what you mean by environmental racism? Environmental racism refers to the disproportionate exposure of Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities to polluting industries and environmentally hazardous activities (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2020). Examples include mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows First Nation, boil water advisory on reserves, resource extraction on Indigenous lands, waste management inequalities, and displacing families and communities. Black communities face environmental racism whereby landfills, waste dumps, and other environmentally hazardous activities are disproportionately situated near neighbourhoods of people of African descent, creating serious health risks (Coutinho, A. and Ramesh, H., 2022). Community displacement through renovictions, infrastructure development like the LRT in Little Jamaica, which gentrifies and decimates long-established communities and neighbourhoods. Can our project focus on multiple regions or does it have to be only one? Yes. Projects can focus on an individual or multiple regions, neighborhoods, and/or cities within Ontario. All activities and expenses must be conducted in Ontario. Laidlaw is a province-wide funder and cannot fund initiatives outside of ON, partial activities in a different province or region, nor salaries for staff outside of the province. How do we submit an application? Submit an application online through Foundant, the Foundation’s online grant management portal. If you have limited access to the internet, you can contact us and request an oral application process or submission via email. When using the portal, can we leave the application unfinished and return to it later? Yes. Your application will remain in draft form until you hit submit. You can return to your draft application at any time. Try not to leave the application in draft until the last minute as the system times out. On deadline day, can we submit our application past deadline time? No. Foundant times out as soon as the deadline time hits (e.g. 5PM). If you don’t submit before the time, your application will stay in draft and not go through evaluation. There is usually a 30-mins grace period built into the system (e.g., 5:30PM) and due to the volume of applications, making exceptions to submit after the deadline will not be possible. What happens after we submit an application? You will receive an email confirming receipt of application. Laidlaw staff review each application for eligibility. Strong eligible applications that align well with the Youth Action Fund priorities will be shared with the Granting Committee (GC). If staff and/or Advisors have follow-up questions, we will reach out. Advisors review shortlisted applications and then meet to consider them. Together, they decide which projects to recommend for funding. The GC recommend projects to the Foundation’s Board for ratification. Following the Board’s ratification, we will contact you to share decisions made. How do I learn about the outcome of my application? After a decision is reached on your application, you will receive an email notification. We do not release results by phone unless you went through an offline application process. Our grant application has been approved – what happens next? Congratulations! You will be asked to review and sign an agreement, which may have special conditions attached that are specific to your grant. Generally, the first installment is paid soon after the receipt of the signed agreement and remaining installments are paid in accordance with the payment schedule drawn up to suit your particular project. What is a payment schedule? A payment schedule outlines dates and grant amounts made to your group by the Foundation for the approved budget. It is developed by taking into consideration the information provided in the work plan, and often also in consultation with the grantee. Our application did not get accepted. Is there somewhere I can get feedback? You can contact us directly. We will provide you with feedback on your application based on Granting Committee deliberations. What happens if COVID-19 or similar pandemics impact my project? BYF grantees are encouraged to see which activities could be conducted virtually i.e., over Zoom or other similar platforms. We also approve budget reallocations to allow for the purchase of equipment for online communication, where possible. What adjustments did the Foundation make during the pandemic? Laidlaw adjusted monitoring of grants and program delivery to alleviate stress. Funds should still align with the grant’s focus, however, flexibility is extended for budget reallocation, project deliverables, granting deadlines, and project start dates. If you need to adjust project plans or make changes to your grant, please reach out to discuss. We have some questions. Who can I contact? For more information, please contact the Director of Grants & Community Initiatives, Aldeli Albán Reyna, at [email protected].