(Feb, 2026)
While youth leadership is widely expected, the investment itself remains limited. Why?
To decode this conundrum, we brought together friends from philanthropy, practitioners, and youth leaders for an intimate conversation.
On ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ต ๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐, at Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, we hosted a gathering - โ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ.โ
The intention was simple but uncomfortable: to ask why, despite decades of work and evidence, youth-centric development still struggles to receive the kind of immersive support it deserves in India.
What struck us most was the spirit in the room.
This wasnโt a room of organisations pitching for funding.
Instead, it felt like a collective moment of honesty where many of us from the youth sector acknowledged something quite openly:
๐๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ?
Friends from philanthropy didnโt show up as cheque books either. They showed up as individual allies, bringing their own experiences, questions, and perspectives about the sector.
That shifted the quality of the conversation.
Instead of individual fundraising discussions, the room began reflecting on something larger:
โข What would it take for youth leadership to be truly recognised as nation-building work in this country?
โข How do we tell the story of youth leadership in ways that truly resonate?
โข Where might our own blind spots as a sector lie?
โข Do we value scale more than depth of transformation?
โข What would it take for philanthropy and youth organisations to see this work not as projects, but as infrastructure for nation-building?
A few things felt particularly meaningful:
โข Seeing funders not only as institutions, but as people with their own motivations and journeys
โข A willingness within the youth sector to question ourselves and reflect honestly
โข Holding the conversation at the ecosystem/ sectoral level, beyond individual organisations
โข The richness that comes when multiple philanthropic perspectives sit in the same room
It reminded us that some of the most important shifts in ecosystems donโt begin with answers. They begin with rooms where people are willing to come together and ask difficult questions.
We are grateful to everyone who joined the conversation with openness and honesty. Thank you!
This dialogue was only the beginning of a much larger conversation that continued through the day at โBeyond Right and Wrong - Youth Leadership is Changing the Game.โ
