Join us: Fostering Youth Participation & Leadership in Community Foundations 

In 2024, ECFI placed a strong spotlight on a game-changing question: How can we foster meaningful youth participation and leadership in community foundations? 

In 2025, we remain committed to keeping youth voices at the heart of European community philanthropy. 

What’s our ambition? To build a wider space for young people to connect, exchange ideas, and collaborate on shared challenges. Together, we aim to strengthen youth leadership in their organisations, shape the field, and drive change in their communities and beyond.

Youth Community Coffee Drop in

Are you a young practitioner from the community foundations world? Then we have the right space for you!

Join us for our first Youth Community Coffee Drop-In

Date: Thursday, 20th February

Time: 10 AM CET | 9 AM UK 

What to look for: 

• Exploring new and old questions,
• Sharing challenges and asking for feedback
• Getting to know your colleagues across Europe and much more

We want this to be a community-led space: you can make whatever you want out of it!

Sign up here to receive the link and help us spread the word to other young changemakers in your organisation and in the community philanthropy field. 

Highlights from 2024

1. Webinar: Empowering Young People as Active Participants and Decision-Makers in Community Foundations – From Fundamentals (Why) to Examples of Practice (How) Together with Elevate Children Funders Group, we explored the dedicated toolkit designed for community foundations eager to involve implicate young people meaningfully in decision-making processes. [Read the recap of our conversation.] 
2. Peer Exchange: Conversations Between Practitioners A dynamic session sparked by insights from Local Community Development Foundation – Stip (North Macedonia) and Heart of Bucks Community Foundation (UK) provided concrete examples, shared practices, and tackled challenges related to fostering youth leadership in community foundations. 
3. In-Person Gathering: 'It's all about you(th): the transformative power of youth participation & leadership for community foundations' Hosted in Ghent, Belgium by Streekfonds East Flanders with support from the King Baudouin Foundation, this two-day event celebrated the transformative power of youth participation. Shaped by an under-35 steering committee, it brought together 60 participants from 15 European countries—60% of whom were under 35. [Discover the full recap of the gathering.]