Growing your Youth-Led Climate Organization

The YECAP Shakers Fellowship was a 4-month capacity-building programme for youth-led climate CSOs, networks, and communities in the Asia-Pacific region, co-organized by YECAP, Movers Programme, UN Women, and UNEP.

YECAP kindly offered Skill Our Future to host the training sessions to benefit as many young leaders as possible, enjoy!

This course strengthens the capacity of youth and climate practitioners to drive meaningful, inclusive, and sustainable climate action. Participants explore systems thinking, gender-responsive approaches, volunteer engagement, fundraising, partnerships, data and AI tools, and impact measurement. By combining strategic frameworks with hands-on tools, the course supports learners to move from isolated actions to coordinated, evidence-based solutions that create lasting change.

Module 1: Systems Thinking for Sustainable Solutions

This module introduces systems thinking as a core mindset for changemakers. You learn how to understand complex challenges by identifying patterns, feedback loops, and root causes, and practice practical systems thinking tools. The module also emphasizes applying systems thinking to personal growth and leadership development.

Module 2: Gender and Development in Climate Action

This module explores how climate change affects women, men, and marginalized groups differently. You gain a deeper understanding of gendered vulnerabilities and learn how to design gender-equitable and gender-transformative climate responses that empower women and girls and strengthen community resilience.

Module 3: Empowering Youth – Effective Volunteer Recruitment and Management

This module focuses on building strong volunteer-driven movements. You learn strategies to attract and recruit volunteers, best practices for onboarding, and techniques to keep volunteers motivated, engaged, and aligned with your climate mission over time.

Module 4: Fundraising for Climate Action

This module covers the fundamentals of fundraising for climate initiatives. You learn how to identify and approach donors and sponsors, craft compelling fundraising messages, and build long-term, trust-based relationships that sustain your projects and organizations.

Module 5: Forming and Sustaining Effective Partnerships

This module teaches how to build and leverage partnerships to influence policy and create systemic change. You develop skills in identifying, approaching, and engaging partners, policymakers, and stakeholders, while learning how to manage and sustain effective collaborations over time.

Module 6: Leveraging Data and AI for Climate Project Management

This module introduces public climate-relevant data sources and practical digital tools. You learn how to use data and AI-enabled tools to improve reporting, inform decision-making, and optimize project management processes for greater efficiency and impact.

Module 7: Measuring Impact – Assessing the Success of Climate Initiatives

This module focuses on evaluating what works in climate action. You learn to identify key impact indicators and metrics, explore qualitative and quantitative measurement methods, and use surveys, interviews, and data analysis to assess and communicate the success of your initiatives.