Youth-led organizations are transforming how high school students engage with global problems. They blend academic integrity with boots-on-the-ground activism, providing high school teens with incredible opportunities to lead climate strikes, create AI solutions, or advocate for gender equity, all while developing college-preparatory portfolios. For high-schoolers with a love of STEM, social justice, or policy, these programs include stops at facing Nobel Prize winners, Ivy League-funded researchers, and UN advisors to make what they learn in class real.
1. Global Youth Mobilization (GYM)
Location: Global (170+ countries)
Program Dates: Year-round projects
Cost: Funded (grants up to $5,000)
Eligibility: Ages 15–30
Application Deadline: Rolling
Global Youth Mobilization creates a global ecosystem where high school students learn that their ideas matter enough to receive real money and international recognition. High school students lead community projects like mental health workshops in Kenya or solar-powered irrigation systems in India. With $5 million awarded to 640+ initiatives since 2021, participants present solutions at UN forums and gain grant-writing expertise.
2. Malala Fund
Location: Online/Afghanistan, Brazil, Nigeria
Program Dates: Year-round advocacy campaigns
Cost: Free
Eligibility: Girls aged 13–18
Application Deadline: Varies by region
Founded by Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, this fund trains high schoolers to lobby policymakers and host workshops on girls’ education. In 2024, teens in Nigeria secured a state policy eliminating school fees for 50,000 girls. Participants earn leadership certificates endorsed by Malala Fund’s Education Champion Network, a global coalition of 120+ organizations. The Malala Fund operates on a revolutionary premise, that high school students can be effective policy advocates. Over the past decade, the organization has reached 21.8 million students, but its real impact lies in teaching teenagers that advocacy requires both passion and precision.
3. Fridays for Future
Location: Global (100+ countries)
Program Dates: Weekly climate strikes + summer intensives
Cost: Free
Eligibility: All ages
Application Deadline: Ongoing
Founded by Greta Thunberg, this movement equips high school students with data-driven advocacy tools. Teens organize local strikes, create viral climate toolkits (e.g., #CleanUpStandardChartered campaign), and attend COP summits. What high school students learn from FFF goes beyond environmental science, they master the mechanics of mass mobilization. The September 2019 Global Week for Future, which attracted an estimated 4 million protesters, taught participants how to coordinate across time zones, manage media relationships, and maintain message consistency across diverse cultural contexts. In 2024, a 16-year-old from Indonesia mobilized 10,000+ peers to petition against coal-powered plants.
4. AIESEC
Location: 90+ countries (UK hub: London)
Program Dates: Summer internships (6–12 weeks)
Cost: $500–$2,000 (scholarships available)
Eligibility: Ages 16–30
Application Deadline: March 1 Annually
AIESEC's Global Talent program represents something unprecedented, high school students gaining professional experience typically reserved for college graduates. The organization's partnership with companies like Morgan Stanley and Google means teenagers work on projects with real business implications. This UNESCO-accredited org places high schoolers in tech or sustainability roles, like developing apps for rural schools in Kenya or renewable energy projects with Google mentors. A 2025 cohort intern at Morgan Stanley analyzed carbon footprints for 50+ Asian startups, with findings published in Forbes.
5. Global Changemakers
Location: Zurich, Switzerland (virtual options)
Program Dates: 6-month fellowships
Cost: Free + $1,000 grants
Eligibility: Ages 15–25
Application Deadline: April 30 Annually
Global Changemakers has created something remarkable: a system where high school students learn to measure and scale social impact using the same methodologies employed by major international development organizations. The organization's track record, 8.3 million people impacted through 400+ youth-led projects, provides concrete evidence that teenage ideas can achieve massive scale. This org teaches high school students to measure social impact using UN Sustainable Development Goals. Alumni like Michaela Mycroft (disability rights) launched projects reaching 8.3 million people. The 2024 summit in Cape Town trained 49 teens in AI ethics and disaster response.
6. One Young World
Location: Annual summit (2025: Montréal)
Program Dates: 4-day summit + year-round mentoring
Cost: $3,000 (scholarships cover 75%)
Eligibility: Ages 18–30
Application Deadline: January 15 Annually
One Young World creates an experience typically reserved for senior executives: direct access to world leaders, participation in high-stakes policy discussions, and membership in elite global networks. The summit's structure, bringing together 2,000+ young leaders from more than 190 nations and 250 organizations, teaches high school students how to operate in multinational, multilingual, and multicultural professional environments. High school seniors debate AI ethics with Justin Trudeau and draft UN resolutions. The 2024 summit featured Nobel laureates and 12,000 delegates, with a 17-year-old from Kenya presenting a healthcare app now piloted in 23 clinics.
7. Restless Development
Location: India, Uganda, Zambia, UK, USA
Program Dates: 8-week summer fellowships
Cost: Paid stipends
Eligibility: Ages 18–25
Application Deadline: February 1 Annually
Restless Development operates on a revolutionary premise, young people aren't just program participants, they're the actual drivers of development in their communities. The organization's power-shifting approach has transformed how international development works by placing young people at the center of decision-making and implementation. Focused on gender equity, high schoolers audit policies and lead workshops. In 2024, fellows in Tanzania distributed 5,000 menstrual kits and trained 200 teachers on inclusive education. Participants join a 4,000+ Youth Collective to scale projects globally.
8. Resolution Project
Location: Virtual + New York HQ
Program Dates: Year-round
Cost: Free + $10,000 grants
Eligibility: Undergraduates (pre-college tracks available)
Application Deadline: November 5 Annually
The Resolution Project fundamentally rejects the notion that young people must wait until adulthood to create meaningful impact. Through its signature Social Venture Challenge (SVC), the organization identifies high school students and undergraduates with promising social enterprise ideas, then provides them with seed funding, mentorship, and a powerful support ecosystem. High school students pitch ventures like AI-driven recycling apps to panels from Goldman Sachs. A 2025 winner developed a water-purification device deployed in 15 Guatemalan villages, impacting 6,300 lives.
9. UNESCO Global Youth Community (GYC)
Location: Online
Program Dates: Ongoing
Cost: Free
Eligibility: Ages 15–35
Application Deadline: Open Enrollment
The UNESCO Global Youth Community (GYC) operates as a powerful platform that fundamentally changes how high school students engage with global institutions. Unlike traditional youth programs where young people are merely participants, GYC is explicitly designed to be run by youth, for youth, creating an inclusive space that fosters youth-to-youth collaboration and intergenerational learning. Teens co-design projects like digital literacy toolkits with peers in 185 countries. A 2024 initiative by high schoolers in Pakistan and Colombia taught coding to 1,200 refugees, earning UNESCO endorsements.
10. Black Women In Motion (BWIM)
Location: Toronto, Canada (virtual)
Program Dates: Summer intensives (July–August)
Cost: Free
Eligibility: Black girls/non-binary teens
Application Deadline: May 15 Annually
Black Women In Motion (BWIM) has pioneered a unique approach to supporting Black girls through trauma-informed, culturally-relevant programming that addresses both individual healing and systemic change. Founded in 2013, the organization emerged from the recognition that there were virtually no spaces dedicated specifically to the needs and experiences of Black women and girls in the Greater Toronto Area. This award-winning org offers trauma-informed workshops and podcast training. In 2024, participants produced Voices Unmuted, a mental health series streamed 50,000+ times, featuring interviews with activists like Tarana Burke.
If you are a high school student pushing yourself to stand out in college applications, RISE Research offers a unique opportunity to work one-on-one with mentors from top universities around the world.
Through personalized guidance and independent research projects that can lead to prestigious publications, RISE helps you build a standout academic profile and develop skills that set you apart. With flexible program dates and global accessibility, ambitious students can apply year-round. To learn more about eligibility, costs, and how to get started, visit RISE Research’s official website and take your college preparation to the next level!
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