Black Youth Fund Information Session

Laidlaw Foundation

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM

Description:

Laidlaw Foundation invites you to an information session: Black Youth Fund.

Black Youth Fund offers grants for Black youth-led projects (35 & under) based in Ontario. We funds grassroots, nonprofits, and charities.

BYF prioritizes Black youth-led initiatives. The development of this fund is guided by Black youth advisors representing different regions of Ontario (Windsor, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Peterborough, Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, and Greater Toronto Area) and under the guidance and blessings of Elder Aina Nia-Ayo’dele who grounds our work in African Indigenous practices, Black ancestral teachings, and a decolonized approach to leadership.

More specifically, the Black Youth Fund grants are for grassroots initiatives to develop and lead projects where they:

• Amplify voices of Black youth with lived experiences in identified issue areas
• Prioritize Black Queer and Trans youth-led initiatives
• Advocate for Black-led solutions, policy work, and evidence-based research
• Support initiatives working on, or, advocating for prevention, early intervention, and crisis intervention
• Focus on initiatives led and informed by Black youth with community buy-in

Eligibility:

This call is open to Black youth-led groups that are based in remote, rural, and urban areas in Ontario. A youth-led initiative is a project that has been developed by and will be led by at least three Black young people, 35 years of age and under. Youth leads are expected to be the point of contact for the Foundation. Our grant is inclusive of African, Black, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Indigenous, Afro-Latine, Black Arab, Black Asian, and other racially Black communities. N.B.: People from the Caribbean and African continents (and other predominantly Black areas) who are not racially Black are not eligible for this grant.

Initiatives must be:

• Led and informed by Black young people supporting Black youth leadership (35 inclusive and under)
• Based in Ontario (all group members and expenses must be in the province)
• Proposed by a Charity, Nonprofit, or a Grassroots Group (for-profit entities are not eligible for funding)
• Led by Black youth for by Black youth
• Address issues impacting Black youth in at least one of these issue areas

Register online