100% Youth Steward Ownership

I started The Resilience Project when I was 24, fiercely committed to building an organisation that was not just youth-led but showcased the tremendous power (and return on investment) of equipping youth with resources. 

There was, and still is, a nuanced burden on young changemakers – fatigue, uncertainty and in-movement posturing – and that burden wasn’t something that always required paid therapy or the wisdom of elders. What it required was youth being resources to be with other youth, to share openly in supportive, caring communities; to challenge how we ‘do’ activism. 

We were the experts in our problems, and the agents of our solutions. 

For five years, we’ve been anchored in ‘by youth, for youth’, with all of our programmes led by youth, the majority of our freelancers being youth, and all of our work overseen by an international Board of Youth, to guide our strategy and decision making.   

In 2025 we hit discomfort. I was now 30 years old – still youth but less connected – and our organisation was operating at such scale that we needed a CEO with a wealth of experience. When we had an extraordinary level of funding pulled at the beginning of the year, my ability to live our values meaningfully became compromised. I had less capacity to go to the Board of Youth calls. I brought in senior partners to deliver our website as the remit was larger. I chose easy choices, because I was exhausted.

How could we still claim to be by youth, for youth? When we brought this question to our Board of Youth, they said simply: we couldn’t. The Board of Youth didn’t have as much power and influence as they wanted. One member even described what we were doing as ‘youth-washing’. This was painful, but refreshing to hear, especially since I’d worked on a youthwashing campaign in my mid-20s, with my friend Eilidh Robb who to me originated the term. 

Something needed to change if we wanted to keep that integrity and mission alive. Firstly, I apologised to our Board of Youth, owning what I’d let slip and reiterating my belief in each of them as human with gifts, not a photo on our website. We brought the whole board together, and hashed out a brave, honest and energising conversation. My ego wasn’t bruised. In fact I was energised by the honesty, authenticity and outrage from them – we need to cultivate these modalities if we are to disrupt business as usual. I was so proud that they were our board, holding us to account. From here, we got moving. 

As part of my 12 month leadership transition, ‘how do we stay youth-led’ has been a core piece of the puzzle. Youth-led not only keeps us honest to youth lived experience, but importantly for me it offers young people a caring organisation to learn and grow. One which prioritises progress over perfection, which offers mental health days, weekly community unwinds and autonomy to develop your own ideas. I was lucky enough to be trusted as a 24 year old, and it is my intention to offer those same opportunities to others. I know the external work we do is effective – but how we operate inside (beyond the gaze of social media) is just as important. 

We are not just building an organisation. We are building a field. Of enlivened young changemakers who will eventually leave our organisation, and go on to do extraordinary, better things. That is impact in action. 

Big Problems Require Bold Solutions

For the past 4 months we’ve been collaborating with our Board of Youth to find a solution. So, with curiosity, openness, courage and excitement, I present an important pivot in our governance model… 

…It’s big, it’s bold, it’s radical:

We are becoming 100% youth owned, by establishing our first-ever youth-led Board of Stewards.

The Board of Stewards will be 7-9 youth, who are offered a paid position to be the statutory governing board that will guide The Resilience Project’s long-term direction, protect our mission, and ensure our work stays accountable to the movements and communities we serve.

This is a major step toward youth steward-ownership – a governance model where young people hold meaningful power, not just advisory roles.

This Steward Board will:

• Approve strategy, partnerships, and key budget decisions
• Hold TRP accountable to its values, climate justice and protecting youth mental health
• Keep mission and purpose in youth hands
• Work alongside the Intergenerational Advisory Council and The Resilience Project’s CEO
• Shape a governance model that could become one of the first youth steward-ownership systems in the world

Applications Now Open

We’re now inviting The Resilience Project Alumni to join our first steward Board. If you’ve been part of a Circle, a Fellow, a co-host or a Board of Youth member, you are eligible to apply. Since this is a bold, radical step for us, we are prioritising those who know our work and have an existing relationship with our team. 

We are seeking 7–9 Stewards aged 18–30 who:

• Have been part of The Resilience Project in any way (fellows, circle participants, facilitators, Board of Youth members, event participants)
• Care deeply about climate justice, youth empowerment, mental health, or community work
• Can commit 4–6 hours per month
• Bring reliability, integrity, and a willingness to learn governance
• Want to help The Resilience Project grow sustainably and keep our mission anchored in youth leadership

We welcome people with a wide range of experiences, from organising and community building to communications, finance, wellbeing, programme design, business, decolonisation, or storytelling. Passion, values, and accountability matter more than perfection.

Board of Stewards

Applicants will be asked to specify which role they are most interested in holding. The Board will be made up of members with different leanings and perspectives, which align to the following roles:

• Co-Chair: Leads the Board alongside the Founder Co-Chair; sets agendas, convenes meetings, ensures youth voice is centred.
• Treasurer Steward: Reviews financial dashboards, helps maintain clarity on budgets, supports financial literacy.
• Ethics & Risk Steward: Supports safeguarding, ethical revenue decisions, and risk-awareness from a youth perspective.
• Community Inclusion and Lived Experience Steward: Connects with the Youth Assembly, supports participation and inclusion and representation of the people we aim to serve, ensure lived realities of youth in climate change are held centre.
• Alumni/Community Steward: Ensures continuity, supports relationships with alumni and wider youth networks.
• Organisational Development Steward: Oversees development of the organisation, fair employment and operations, and ensure its lived through a youth perspective 
• Decolonisation Steward: Brings a perspective on decolonising The Resilience Project’s work –  including language, practice and curriculum – as we transition from a primarily UK organisation to a more global organisation. 
• General Stewards (1–2): Bring diverse perspectives, vote on decisions, and support areas of interest. Represent The Resilience Project in various networks and events (all stewards can also hold this role) 

How Selection Works

1. Step 1: Self-nominations (8–15 December 2025 – check your emails for the link!)
2. Step 2: Review and shortlisting using published criteria
3. Step 3: Short conversations with some selected (if needed)
4. Step 4: Board of Youth provides ⅔ consent for proposed Steward Board
5. Step 5: Senior Board of advisors validates
6. Step 6: Any flagged seats trigger targeted open calls
7. Step 7: Final appointments + onboarding and training

This is not a competitive “filtering-out” process. It is a careful, values-based selection to build a balanced, representative, high-trust group.

How to Apply

Nominations are now open, from 8 December – 16 December 23:59  

Please ensure you’ve first read all of the information here. Then, complete the short form below to apply, which should take 10-15 minutes.

All applicants should also upload a CV (max 2 pages).

We aim to get back to you by the new year.