The Young Leaders in Civic Engagement award will highlight ongoing or new civic engagement projects and recognize the efforts of the young changemakers who demonstrate leadership abilities through projects that build relationships in their communities and work together toward positive change. The awardees will receive a certificate and a monetary award, as well as join the first cohort of the AfSV Youth Ambassadors network.

As Youth Ambassadors, you will have the following opportunities:

• Receive consulting on prospective projects
• Receive consulting on participating in local, national, or international conferences and events
• Participate in training and professional development programs
• Benefit from the professional and social networks of AFSV and its partners 
• Receive assistance in grant applications

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 a high school or college student.
• Live in the United States or Canada. 
• Gather a group of at least 3 members
  • You don’t need a group at the time of your application but will need to gather a group to continue with your project. We can help you match with other young leaders who are interested.
• Find a mentor before or after submitting their proposal. 
  • 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.

One of the main components we look for in projects is that they bring together a diverse group of  people from different cultures, religions, and/or ethnicities.

Timeline

Intent to participate  – Accepted on a rolling basis
November 30, 2023 – Project proposal deadline
February 15, 2024  – Status report deadline
April 15, 2024 – Final submission deadline
June 15, 2024 – Award ceremony

If you would like to schedule another informational session, please email us at ylce@afsv.org

Award information

1st place: $3000

2nd place: $2000

3rd place: $1000

For any questions, please contact our team at ylce@afsv.org

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.