JWH Initiative 2025 Leadership Grants – Open Call for Young Environmental Leaders

Summary

The Joke Waller-Hunter Initiative is accepting nominations for its annual leadership development grant program, targeting young environmental professionals in developing countries and emerging economies. The 2025 application deadline is August 28, 2025, with grants ranging from €1,500–€7,000 for personal development activities.

Score breakdown

Evidence

“One deadline per year: July 1st, 2025 start, August 28th, 2025, 5PM CEST deadline. Our small grants range from 1500–7000 euro, tailored to the grantee's leadership development plan.”

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Grants
Who can apply
We focus on young people who work or are affiliated with environmental CSOs in developing countries and emerging economies who have shown potential for and interest in further developing their leadership. Candidates can come from anywhere except from ‘advanced economies’ (see below for list based on the IMF classification). We acknowledge the definition of ‘young’ is context-specific and therefore not set in stone. However, preference will be given to young people under 35 of age.
We especially encourage the nomination of young women (in all their diversity) and local and rural community leaders.
Great candidates are:
showing potential and ambition towards becoming a leader in her/his/their field of work.
working with or linked to local communities, community based organisations or civil society organizations.
fully embracing the idea of sustainable development, gender equality and climate justice.
having a strong background in and commitment to working on environmental and sustainable development issues.
showing potential and ambition to be innovative and creative.
The grant can be applied for a wide range of activities, depending on the individuals’ need and interest. Most grantees request funding for advancing either their knowledge, and skills through courses, training or expanding their experience through internships, exposure and exchange travels, participation in conferences, high level meetings etc. It is crucial the activities requested are exclusively for personal development and should not be part of a larger organisational project.
Individuals from these countries cannot participate: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States.
Meet our grantees
Scovia Ampumuza
Rwanda
Alab Mirasol Ayroso
Philippines
Maria Reyes
Mexico
How to Apply
Nomination Process
We work with a nomination process: the participants do not apply themselves, but are nominated by another individual (read more about the responsibilities and credibility of the nominators below).
One deadline per year
There is one deadline per year, which starts July 1st, 2025 and the application deadline is at the end of August. This year the deadline is August 28th, 2025, 5PM CEST (Amsterdam time). By then, the filled out nominating forms - plus a resume and pass photo - will have to be sent to us should the candidate be considered for this round. Nomination forms can be found on the website.
Selection Process
After the deadline, the Selection Committee of the JWH Initiative will meet to select the most suitable candidates. We will only inform the successful candidates in due time, as due to the large amount of applicants it is not possible to inform all applicants personally. Our small grants range from 1500 - 7000 euro, tailored to the needs of the grantee's leadership development plan.
Leadership Development Plan
Should the candidate be selected to become a participant in the JWH he/she/they will be asked to develop a detailed leadership development plan, budget and timeframe. This will be part of the Memorandum of Understanding which subsequently will be signed by the participant, the nominator and the JWH Initiative. Furthermore the participant will agree to regular reporting and timekeeping in order to receive the full grant.
FAQs
No, we do not accept the nomination of groups and would advise nominators to only nominate one person. We support young individuals which we will be selecting on their personal merits.
No, the leadership programs should be tailored to the specific needs of the candidate and should be identified by the candidate itself.
No, we are trying to provide other young environmental leaders a chance, so we do not accept a second nomination of a current or former JWH grantee. However, in the JWH grantee community we try and share other funding opportunities where and when opportune.
As you can find in the Rules & Regulations, self-nomination is not allowed. A nominator - often a mentor, supervisor, colleague or professor - is someone traceable who can vouch for you and later on support you in your leadership development trajectory. The full application (nomination form, CV and photo) can either be shared by the candidate or by the nominator. We do not accept self-nomination.
We support young aspiring environmental leaders in the Global South at large.
Individuals with nationalities from these countries cannot participate: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the United States.
We acknowledge the definition of ‘young’ is context-specific and therefore not set in stone. However, strong preference will be given to young people under 35 of age, and we only support candidates that are slightly older (max 1 or 2 years) in exceptional cases. We reserve the right to make our own choices on this matter.
Your proposed activities should not start earlier than December of the year of your application. Since we take decisions in October, and we need some time to process the contract formalizing your grant, an earlier start is not favorable. There is no specific end date, this is all depends on the type of activities you propose.
No, the focus is on the personal development of young leaders, and therefore we are not able to provide support to this type of requests. We do not partner with organisations and we strongly discourage you to write a request regarding this.
Apply for a grant
The 2025 Call is Closed

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