Young Leaders in Civic Engagement
Are you a passionate young change-maker? Ready to make a difference in your community? Here’s your chance to be recognized as a leader driving positive change!
The Young Leaders in Civic Engagement (YLCE) Program is dedicated to recognizing and supporting young change-makers who are making a difference in their communities. Through this program, we celebrate ongoing and new civic engagement projects that showcase leadership, collaboration, and a commitment to positive change in our communities and the world.
More than just an award, YLCE serves as a hub for youth-led civic engagement initiatives. Here, young leaders can submit their projects for the opportunity to receive monetary awards, earn the YLCE Certification, and have their work showcased on our platform. We are especially looking for projects that not only strengthen communities but also foster meaningful connections between people of diverse backgrounds, faiths, and cultures. By highlighting these initiatives, we aim to inspire and connect young change-makers, encouraging dialogue, understanding, and unity across communities.
If you’re a young leader working on a project that brings people together and creates positive change, we invite you to share your work and become part of the YLCE Program!
What is civic engagement?
Civic engagement is the process of connecting individuals of diverse cultural, religious or ethnic backgrounds in society who share common interests and work for the common good by addressing issues of public concern. As an umbrella organization for several institutions to form a nationwide network, AfSV has been working toward promoting community service, education, and interfaith dialogue. With this initiative, we hope to support and recognize young social innovators who contribute meaningfully to society through civic engagement.
Requirements
Participants must:
- Be between the ages 15-24.
- Live in the United States or Canada.
- Submit a project from the current year or the previous year.
- Gather a group of at least 3 members.
- Work with a mentor.
- A mentor must be an adult professional with prior mentoring experience in any area. A mentor cannot be a college student.
- Please contact us if you need assistance finding a mentor and we will try our best to match you with a mentor.
Submissions are evaluated on a rolling basis. In order to be considered for the YLCE 2025 Awards please submit your project by October 30, 2025. Any project submitted after this date will be considered for the next year’s awards.
If you would like to schedule an informational session, please email us at [email protected]
Project Types
We offer two levels of student-led projects, each designed to foster civic engagement and leadership while allowing flexibility in scope and complexity.
Level 1: Focused Project
A smaller-scale initiative that consists of one to three student-led activities addressing a specific issue or goal. These projects are more concise in scope but still provide meaningful impact through targeted action. They are presented in a minimum of 10 slides to showcase their objectives and outcomes.
Level 2: Multi-Faceted Project
A multifaceted initiative that involves a series of interconnected student-led efforts, all contributing toward a common goal. These projects require strategic planning, collaboration, and execution across multiple activities or events. They are presented in a minimum of 15 slides, demonstrating the depth and impact of the initiative.
Award information
The first 25 YLCE-approved projects will each receive a submission reward of $50!
Groups submitting multiple projects can receive this reward for up to two approved submissions, after which additional projects will still be eligible for the final awards but not the initial submission reward.
Level 1 – Focused Project
1st place: $500
2nd place: $350
3rd place: $200
Level 2 – Multi-Faceted Project
1st place: $1000
2nd place: $750
3rd place: $500
People’s Choice Awards: $500
For any questions, please contact our team at [email protected]
Evaluation Criteria
Scope and Implementation
Scope and Implementation refers to the process of planning and implementation. This criteria will be assessed based on clearly thought out goals and objectives, thorough planning as well as ability to adapt to changes or overcome challenges they faced during the implementation of the project.
Diversity
Diversity refers to the involvement of people of different ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds. This criteria will be assessed based on the level of engagement of people from diverse backgrounds facilitated by this project. This can be achieved in two different ways: 1- Group members come from diverse backgrounds 2- Group members will have meaningful interactions with individuals of diverse backgrounds during the implementation of the project.
Societal Impact
Societal Impact refers to the impact of the project on the solution of a societal issue or improvement of a social condition. This criteria will be assessed based on both the quantitative and qualitative data and evaluations. More specifically, how many people were impacted by the project and in what ways they were impacted.
Presentation
Presentation refers to how well the project is presented. This criteria will be assessed based on clarity, cohesion and comprehensiveness of the final submission form and the impact report. All questions in the final submission form should be answered sufficiently.
Forms and Guidelines
Helpful Resources