Community Changemakers Grant Program

Community Changemakers Grant Program is sponsored by First Book and Ashoka. This program builds capacity among educators and youth-serving professionals who want to foster changemaking in their schools, districts, or communities.

Apply for the Community Changemakers Grant! Time for Change: Community Changemakers Grant Application Deadline Extended! Applications Now Due on June 17, 2025.

Learn More Below. Application Deadline Extended! Applications Now Due on June 17, 2025.

Do you believe that everyone has the power to make a positive impact in your school, district, or city? Apply for the 2025 Community Changemakers Grant! First Book and Ashoka are launching the Community Changemakers grant program, with support from Audemars Piguet, to build capacity among educators and youth-serving professionals who wish to bring changemaking to their school, district, or community.

To apply, form a team of 3-10 educators and/or community members and share why you are passionate about creating environments where young people have agency, lead with empathy, work together, and are motivated to tackle real world challenges. You’ll also be asked to think through an initial idea for how you could get started.

Eight total teams in the Washington, DC and Chicago, IL metro areas will have the unique opportunity to turn that passion into a plan for the 2025-2026 school year. Each team will receive $10,000 in award funding , plus interactive workshops, trainings, and personalized support sessions from Ashoka and First Book. Up to 5 team members may attend the in-person workshop in your metro area, with others joining the online sessions.

This hands-on program is paired with the grant funding to help you build out your strategy for incorporating youth-driven changemaking into the culture of your school, organization, or community. Apply for the Community Changemakers Grant! Do you believe that everyone has the power to make a positive impact in your school, district, or city?

Apply for the 2025 Community Changemakers Grant! First Book and Ashoka are launching the Community Changemakers grant program, with support from Audemars Piguet, to build capacity among educators and youth-serving professionals who wish to bring changemaking to their school, district, or community.

To apply, form a team of 3-10 educators and/or community members and share why you are passionate about creating environments where young people have agency, lead with empathy, work together, and are motivated to tackle real world challenges. You’ll also be asked to think through an initial idea for how you could get started.

Eight total teams in the Washington, DC and Chicago, IL metro areas will have the unique opportunity to turn that passion into a plan for the 2025-2026 school year. Each team will receive $10,000 in award funding , plus interactive workshops, trainings, and personalized support sessions from Ashoka and First Book. Up to 5 team members may attend the in-person workshop in your metro area, with others joining the online sessions.

This hands-on program is paired with the grant funding to help you build out your strategy for incorporating youth-driven changemaking into the culture of your school, organization, or community. The teams selected to participate each receive: $10,000 in grant funding to implement a changemaking idea that will have a positive impact on your school, district, or community.

Funding will be awarded in two phases for ongoing support of your project (see timeline below). In-person and virtual professional development and community-building workshops to develop your team's proposed idea and make a game plan. One local in-person community-building and professional development workshop (held on a weekend, see dates below).

Monthly virtual support sessions and trainings led by our staff throughout the 2025-2026 school year to help make your initiative successful. Access to a community of educators, administrators, community leaders, and young people willing to create change in their communities! Have an idea but need support to apply?

If you have any questions about the grant or application, please contact us at communitychangemaker@ashoka. org The teams selected to participate each receive: $10,000 in grant funding to implement a changemaking idea that will have a positive impact on your school, district, or community. Funding will be awarded in two phases for ongoing support of your project (see timeline below).

In-person and virtual professional development and community-building workshops to develop your team's proposed idea and make a game plan. One local in-person community-building and professional development workshop (held on a weekend, see dates below). Monthly virtual support sessions and trainings led by our staff throughout the 2025-2026 school year to help make your initiative successful.

Access to a community of educators, administrators, community leaders, and young people willing to create change in their communities! If you have any questions about the grant or application, please contact us at communitychangemaker@ashoka. org Resources to Help Your Team Prepare Your Application How to Build a Change Team Toolkit How to Foster Changemaking Toolkit Click below to download the corresponding resource for your team type.

Resources to Help Your Team How to Build a Change Team Toolkit the corresponding resource Eligibility Information for Teams Guidelines for School, District, and Community Teams Ideas submitted must be for supporting students in the K-12 range, primarily those from low-income communities and/or attending Title I-eligible, Tribal, or Military Base schools.

Applicants can submit new or existing ideas to implement during the 2025-2026 school year. If submitting an existing idea, there must be an innovative or new aspect that the grant will fund. A team can be composed of changemakers, professionals, and others to form a school team, district team or a community team.

Teams applying must be composed of a minimum of 3 people and up to 10 people. Please see the next tab, or the full Terms and Conditions , for more guidelines on the composition of each team. Applicants must be located in the Washington, DC or Chicago, IL metro areas and serve young people within these metro areas or up to a two-hour drive of them.

(Teams located in Baltimore, MD are eligible to apply and must be able to participate in an in-person session in the Washington, DC metro area.) All proposals must demonstrate how young people will be meaningfully involved in shaping, designing, and carrying out the project. Successful applications will center youth voices and leadership, ensuring that young people are active partners—not just participants—in the work.

Teams must agree to participate in all capacity building and professional development workshops that form part of the Grant Program. At least 3 members of each winning team must be available to participate in a two-day, in-person workshop on the dates below. 1 Team members must attend virtual workshops and support sessions, held approximately once per month between August 2025 and April 2026.

This will include a combination of group trainings for all teams and individual sessions for each team.

Washington, DC metro area: Saturday & Sunday, October 4-5, 2025 Chicago, IL metro area: Saturday & Sunday, October 25-26, 2025 Teams agree to participate in interviews, submit photos of their project(s) in action, coordinate testimonials from students, with all appropriate guardian permissions, and to be filmed or photographed throughout the experience.

The purpose of this criteria is to document and celebrate the impact of this work and the Time for Change initiative with other educators, funders, partners, and to create public awareness. Media releases will be provided. Applicant(s) and their team agree to participate in periodic surveys, focus groups, and other monitoring activities to track the progress of their work.

Grants will be awarded to each winning Applicant’s Organization. Applications must be submitted in English. Limit one entry per team.

1 Participation in in-person workshops is limited to 5 participants per team. Teams are encouraged to include young people; participants under 18 years old must be accompanied by an adult chaperone if attending an in-person workshop. If you are applying as a school team: At least 2 team members must be working within the classroom the majority of their time (over 50% of their time).

The majority of the team members must be from or serving Title 1 schools (they do not have to be educators). The remaining team members may be different stakeholders in the school community, such as: Students (student attendance is not required for the in-person training, but please keep in mind that a chaperone will be required for anyone under 18 years old to attend.)

If you are applying as a District team: At least 2 team members must be working within the classroom the majority of their time (over 50% of their time). The majority of the team members must be from or serving Title 1 schools (they do not have to be educators).

The remaining team members may be different stakeholders in the school community, such as: Students (student attendance is not required for the in-person training, but please keep in mind that a chaperone will be required for anyone under 18 years old to attend.)

If you are applying as a Community team: Team members can be different stakeholders in the community, but a majority of the team must be community members that interact with young people from low-income families at the core of their work, voluntary or professional.

(i.e.: Boys and Girls Clubs, faith-based youth groups, etc.) Community teams may include young people as members (attendance of a young person is not required for the in-person training, but please keep in mind that a chaperone will be required for anyone under 18 years old to attend.) Integration with a local Title I school is encouraged but not required.

Employees of Ashoka, First Book, and Audemars Piguet (the funding partner) or any of their respective affiliates, and their family members and persons living in the same households of such employees are not eligible to apply. See the full grant terms & conditions here. Changemaking is the idea that, in collaboration with others, every person can apply creative solutions to address problems in their communities.

Help foster Changemaking with the Time for Change program. First Book and Ashoka, in partnership with Swiss Haute Horlogerie manufacturer Audemars Piguet, are equipping a generation of educators and young people with the abilities needed to take action to make sustainable change in communities in the U.S. and in countries around the world.

Changemaking is the idea that, in collaboration with others, every person can apply creative solutions to address problems in their communities. Help foster Changemaking with the Time for Change program.

First Book and Ashoka, in partnership with Swiss Haute Horlogerie manufacturer Audemars Piguet, are equipping a generation of educators and young people with the abilities needed to take action to make sustainable change in communities in the U.S. and in countries around the world.