Young Social Innovators Marks 25 Years of Youth-Led Change and Sets Its Sights on the Next Generation of Changemakers

This is not a legacy moment - it’s a foundation. For 25 years, we’ve seen what’s possible when young people are trusted, resourced, and backed to lead. Now, we’re ready to scale that impact.

Young Social Innovators (YSI) is celebrating its 25th anniversary, marking a quarter century of backing young people to lead real change in real communities. Since its founding in 2001, YSI has supported youth-led ideas tackling social and environmental challenges on a local and global scale, proving again and again that young people don’t just imagine change -  they lead and deliver it.

Over the past 25 years, YSI has empowered tens of thousands of young people to turn ideas into action, supporting acts of leadership that have reached millions and helped build a generation of changemakers. From grassroots initiatives to scalable social innovations, YSI’s work has consistently placed young people at the centre of solutions that advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

YSI’s commitment to youth-led change spans investment, research, and advocacy. Through initiatives such as the YSI Den and YSI Social Impact Fund, the organisation has invested directly in young people’s ideas, while its research and advocacy, including the Gen Z Index and the YSI Echoboard, continues to shape conversations about the realities, ambitions, and leadership potential of young people today.

To date, YSI has supported more than 190,000 changemakers worldwide. Looking ahead, the organisation has set a bold ambition for its next chapter: to double the number of young people leading change, reaching a further of 500,000 young changemakers over the next 25 years.

As YSI celebrates this milestone, it invites partners, supporters, and communities to join in backing young people wherever their journey leads. Because the next generation of change is already in motion.

Impact doesn’t happen alone - and it lasts when we work together. The next 25 years will be about deeper collaboration, more ideas, more change, and more young people shaping the future.