By Eric Ortega | Programmes Director
September 2026 Update
2026 has truly marked a period of growth and scaled impact for Global Changemakers. As we navigate through this transformational year, we are thrilled to share several key operational and community milestones achieved from January to September 2026, milestones made possible by your continuous support, partnership, and shared commitment to youth-led social change. Over the past nine months, our initiatives have expanded across regions, empowered grassroots innovations, modernized our digital learning ecosystems, and amplified youth voices globally.
The Return of the Global Youth Summit (GYS26)
We are officially returning to Cape Town, South Africa, for the Global Youth Summit 2026, taking place from October 19–23, 2026, in collaboration with ATKV. Following an extensive application review process for young leaders aged 21 to 28, we evaluated hundreds of competitive submissions from across the globe. We are proud to announce our finalized cohort of 50 exceptional young changemakers who will gather for an intensive week focused on skills-building, cross-cultural networking, and capacity development.
Expanding Our Grant Program
Through our first grant cycle of 2026, we welcomed 14 new impact initiatives to the Global Changemakers Network, marking 573 supported projects since the creation of the grant funding program. These youth-led efforts target critical challenges, ranging from disaster response initiatives in El Salvador ("Resiliencia en Acción") to Menstrual, Sexual, and Reproductive Health (MSRH) education in Nigeria ("Two to Tango"). Furthermore, with 73% of grant recipients having completed our Project Management for Changemakers (PMC) course, we are preparing to launch our second grant application cycle of the year in November.
A Reimagined Changemakers School
To better serve our global community of young leaders, we launched a fully refreshed website featuring an updated look and feel for the Changemakers School. The updated platform offers better user experience and a more interactive learning environment. This upgrade helps young changemakers worldwide easily access our growing catalog of self-paced courses, toolkits, and free educational resources, enabling them to build essential project management and leadership capabilities. To take a look at our new changemaker school, use the following link.
Young Changemakers Podcast Season 8
In celebration of International Youth Day on August 12, 2026, we officially launched Season 8 of the Young Changemakers Podcast. This new season amplifies the authentic stories, challenges, and insights of grassroots leaders operating worldwide. By sharing practical lessons and first-hand experiences, the podcast aims to inspire and equip the next generation of social innovators to turn their ideas into sustainable community action. You can listen to the new episodes every Wednesday here.
These milestones continue our mission of funding, and connecting the next generation of young changemakers across the world and furthering the positive impact they are creating.
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