Apply to the Youth Organizing for Climate Action and Racial Equity (YO-CARE) 2!

FCYO is looking for youth-led and multi-generational organizations committed to organizing around climate and racial justice (with a climate justice lens) in BIPOC communities to join our newly launched  Youth Organizing for Climate Action and Racial Equity (YO-CARE) Capacity-Building Fund.

 

Building on the lessons and enthusiasm of its first iteration, we have intentionally designed the YO-CARE 2 program to support the application of FCYO’s Power To Win Framework to the daily work of cohort organizations while intentionally strengthening relationships between emergent and legacy climate and environmental justice groups. Specifically, YO-CARE 2 is constructed to advance several key goals:

• Strengthen organizations' ability to implement the transformation necessary to secure wins that allow their communities to thrive. This includes reaching clarity on the base-building strategies, leadership development programs, and advocacy campaigns that best achieve their vision.
• Support organizations’ execution of a short-term experiment that aims to shift organizational practice toward building social power and securing greater influence in their local ecosystem.
• Cultivate a pro-intellectual, pro-collaboration learning environment that encourages grantees to see both theoretical study and peer learning as critical components of power-centric organizing work. 
• Create opportunities for funders to learn about the work of grantees directly alongside standard approaches to funder learning.
• Bolster greater awareness of and commitment to movement building as integral to sound organizational strengthening strategies and overall sustainability

 

Organization Eligibility:

Selected organizations will exhibit the following characteristics and qualities:

• Have a 501c3 IRS designation or a fiscal agent
• Display recent solid base-building and membership development abilities
• Conduct work that falls within FCYO’s Definition of Youth Organizing
• Operate as youth-led or intergenerational organizations with youth (ages 13-24) in leadership (as staff, decision-makers, board, or program/campaign leadership)
• Be place-based or community-based
• Engage in local and/or state-wide organizing efforts
• Align with FCYO’s Power to Win Framework
• Maintain an annual organizational budget under $3,000,000
• Identify two (2) individuals who can commit to participating for the duration of the capacity-building program (one person in formal leadership and one programmatic staff with decision-making power) 
• Demonstrate a willingness to engage in political education and ideological discussions

 

Preference may be given to:

• Organizations with a strong grasp of the interconnected nature of racial justice and climate justice
• Groups that participated in recent iterations of YO-CARE and OWL 1 & 2 (Organizations currently participating in LUL and P4P are prohibited from applying; however, program grantees can partner with them on peer learning exchanges.)

Applying to YO-CARE:

If your organization is interested in applying to participate in YO-CARE 2, please follow the instructions on how to apply via the Survey Monkey portal. The deadline to submit your application is December 20, 2023, at 11:59 pm PT. The application will require you to provide basic information on the organization, answer some demographic information, upload attachments, and respond to narrative questions.

 

Submission of a proposal does not guarantee approval of and receiving a grant. All applications will be reviewed by FCYO staff and partners from the field. We anticipate that your organization will be notified in late March 2024 regarding our decision concerning your application. Should you have questions about the program, please contact Program Manager, Kaleia Martin at kaleia@fcyo.org

 

We will host an informational webinar on November 29, 2023, at 3:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm PDT. Follow this link to register.

 

Download the RFP Overview in the top left corner for more information on the program and how to apply.