Chrysalis Youth Fund
Resourcing young leaders and youth groups to mobilise for the environment
Securing a flourishing future for Earth’s biodiversity is both a cultural and an intergenerational challenge. Protecting biodiversity needs rigorous science and robust policies, but – to be effective – it must also be rooted in place-based, locally led approaches and include the knowledge and experience of Indigenous Peoples and local communities across all generations.
Around the world, young people are catalysing change through their energy, action, and commitment, but too often they lack the support networks and funding needed to scale up their work and have their voices heard. This absence of meaningful support often comes at a significant emotional, financial, and sometimes physical cost.
The Chrysalis Youth Fund (CYF) is designed to address this challenge. It aims to catalyse and support a growing global youth biodiversity movement to protect, restore, and advocate for Earth’s most at risk ecosystems and species. Co-designed with young people from across Synchronicity Earth’s network, the CYF provides direct core, flexible funding that aligns with their priorities, directing funding to where it is most needed and most impactful.
Image © Leandro Justen/Atmos
Speakers and participants at the launch of the Chrysalis Youth Fund in New York in 2023. Left to Right: Tulio Viteri, Lucia Galarza, Wio Gualinga, Alexis Grefa, Majo Andrade Cerda, and Melina Sakiyama.
“Providing flexible core funding to nascent and more established youth-led organizations will allow them to grow and prepare them for bigger gifts from other donors, thus strengthening the resilience of the ecosystem as a whole. Synchronicity Earth’s collaborative approach, including its work with a youth advisory committee and trusted partners, enhances its ability to identify and support organizations with high potential for impact.”
– Sofia Fernandez – Program Associate, Global Initiative, Climate and Land Use Alliance
Why support the Chrysalis Youth Fund?
Ayisha Siddiqa (left) and Swetha Stotra Bhashyam speaking at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Canada. Image © GYBN
“I believe Synchronicity Earth plays an essential and unique role in the youth biodiversity space. In most youth-led spaces, accessing funding is incredibly difficult – grants are competitive and often unsuccessful. What makes Synchronicity Earth different is its regional approach, involving youth committees who advise on where funding is most needed. This ensures that resources reach underrepresented young people who are actively leading conservation efforts on the ground.”
– Alumita Sekinairai – Youth Committee member (paraphrased)
What does the Fund aim to do?
© Tesoro Escondido
Catalyse grassroots action
– Increase direct funding to youth-led and youth-inclusive initiatives focused on conserving species and ecosystems.
– Support efforts that respect, protect, and revitalise Indigenous and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, led by or inclusive of young people
© Katie Maehler
Strengthen alliances and advocacy
– Provide resources for knowledge sharing, capacity building, and organisational development – including support for wellbeing – to enable youth organisations and networks to thrive.
– Amplify youth voices in environmental advocacy, helping them shape policy, influence governance, and participate in decision-making at every level.
Images: Top – Tesoro Escondido Reserve, northwest Ecuador, where young members of the community play a key role in reforestation of an area of highly threatened Chocó forest. Bottom – Taily Terena and Cerizi Francelino Fialho of Terena Youth Collective at the COP27 Climate Summit in Egypt, 2022.
Initiatives conceived and led by young people play a central role in shaping positive outcomes for our planet and society. We invite like-minded funders to contribute to this fund and join forces to pave the way for a more just, sustainable, and equitable future.
To find out how you can get involved, contact Agrita Dandriyal:agrita@synchronicityearth.org