The purpose of the 2023 Young Leaders' Mini-Grant Program: 

• To encourage passionate young leaders to design and do community impact/civic engagement projects and get hands-on experiences in real world

• To give opportunities to the young leaders to present their project plans in front of  professionals and public 

• To support the young leaders to do their project by providing mini grant and other resources if the pitching is successful 

• To inspire the audience in community service and civic engagement

• To connect young leaders, community leaders, organizations in community impact/civic engagement 

Who can apply 

This is open to the student groups nationwide who are interested in community impact/civic engagement. Please see below for criteria.

• Any group of high school or college students that is doing or planning to do a community impact/civic engagement project 

• The project needs to be nonprofit and nonpartisan and already has a complete project plan 

• The project planning and implementation need to be led by the students

• The group belongs to a 501C(3) organization or has a 501C(3) organization as its fiscal agent

Timeline

• Feb. 1, 2023: Application Opens (Please check application form)

• March 31, 2023: Application Closes

• April 1 to April 11, 2023 Pre-Screening

• April 12, 2023: Groups will be selected and notified by email of their acceptance into the Pitching Day

• April 29, 2023: Pitching Day (online, 2 pm to 5 pm PT)

• May 3, 2023: All grant winners will receive notification of their status and following steps by email

Important Information

• A prescreening will be done before the Pitching Day and then groups meeting our basic requirements (above) will receive a Pitching Day invitation from CLA by April 12, 2023.

• If selected, each group has 5 minutes to pitch and answer judges’ questions.

Selected projects chosen by us will: 

• Receive a seed grant of $500 (after signing grant agreement)

• Have access to youth civic leaders circle (monthly meetings, workshops, and more)

• Invited to showcase the project at our Annual National Showcase event when the project is completed 

• Have access to CLA leadership development training

• Be eligible to apply for CLA’s annual project award 

Inquiries?

Please contact Qing Bai (She/her), Director of Education, Civic Leadership Academy

Email: qbai@nclacademy.org