Youth Innovation Fund

Youth Innovation Fund

The Youth Innovation Fund (YIF) is a fund that provides up to $100,000 per year in grants for early-career World Bank Group (WBG) employees to design, implement and evaluate development projects in line with WBG priority areas.  WBG employees under 35 years old from all units and countries are welcome to apply. Selected applicants will be invited to pitch their ideas in a pitch contest. Multiple winners will receive up to $25,000 per project in funding to implement their projects over a period of 6 months.

Since 2004, the Youth Innovation Fund has

  • Disbursed over US$1 million
  • Funded more than 100 projects with grants of US$10,000 to US$25,000 each
  • Covered 50+ client countries
  • Empowered early career professionals to implement projects in focus areas like Climate Change; Data and Digital Technology; Education, Skill and Capacity Building; Gender Equality; Health; Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods; Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) and more
  • Launched a WBG-wide selection process and pitch contest to engage creative thinkers and award the best projects

Who can apply?

All WBG employees under 35 years old
All WBG employees (including STCs and STTs) in HQ or country offices

Why apply to the YIF?

Are you a young WBG professional with a real passion for development? Do you have an idea that you would like to turn into reality? Would you like to be sponsored to start working on your idea now?

The Youth Innovation Fund (YIF) offers a unique opportunity for young WBG employees to act as pioneers for innovative ways to tackle key development issues, sharpen their leadership skills and contribute to the global community by turning their big ideas into reality.

Previous Winners

Learn more about the program and its real impact on communities all over the world from its previous winners. Get inspired by these young WBG employees who have successfully led innovative project ideas, from their conception to their implementation in the field.

Lebanon

Country: Lebanon

Winner: Myra Murad Khan

Project: Developing Skills for the Future for Refugee Youth in Lebanon

Project Summary:

Myra’s project provided education and personal development opportunities for Syrian youth in refugee camps in Kurdistan, Iraq.

Liberia

Country: Liberia

Winners: Weiyi Wang, Hongye Fan

Project: 100-Day Challenge: Applying Rapid Result Approach to Improve World Bank Contractors’ Environmental and Social Performance in Post-conflict Liberia

Project Summary:

Weiyi and Hongye launched a project to test the Rapid Result Approach, which applies design thinking to deliver capacity-building interventions improve the performance of World Bank Contractors in adhering to Environmental, Social, Health, and Safety (ESHS) procedures in FCV countries. For more information, visit the 100-Day Challenge Facebook page.

Indonesia

Country: Indonesia

Winners: Steisi Mileiva, Juul Pinxten, Zack Petersen

Project: Height Chart

Project Summary:

To contribute to the broader efforts of reducing child stunting rates in the country, Steisi, Juul, and Zack launched a project to test the efficacy of height charts in raising awareness of stunting in the Komodo, Rinca and Messah Villages, in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.

For more information about the
Youth Innovation Fund, please email:
y2y-yif@worldbank.org

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