Youthshare Initiatives

Young people have big questions. We give them the space to answer them, anywhere in the world.

YouthShare Initiatives is an international, youth-led think-action tank. We bring young people from every continent together in five labs to think together first, then act: documented research, open debate, mentoring and foresight, turned into projects on the ground.

What we do:

• Train young leaders through workshops on project management, sustainable development and social innovation, so they can design and run projects with real social and environmental impact.
• Connect continents through exchange networks where young people share experience and co-create local and global initiatives.
• Open the door to those left out, with a deliberate focus on young people from disadvantaged and marginalized backgrounds.
• Carry young voices to decision-makers, from international organizations to local communities, to push for inclusive and equitable policies. Our members have spoken at the United Nations in Geneva and taken part in the World Food Forum at FAO in Rome.
• Publish and debate: analyses in English and French on climate and environmental justice, youth leadership, social and territorial innovation, and gender and female leadership.
• Close the digital gap by helping young people in rural communities build the digital skills their future requires.

Our conviction is simple: young people are not tomorrow’s solution, they are today’s.

Think together. Then act together.

YouthShare Initiatives is a non-profit association governed by the French Law of 1901, founded in 2023 and based in France. We grew out of Youth Experience Sharing, a network built on one idea: young people learn the most from each other. Today we are an international think-action tank, with contributors and members on several continents, organized around five youth-led labs:

• The Digital Palaver: artificial intelligence and society
• The New Agora Lab: civic space and youth co-designed public policy
• The Southern Compass Lab: South-South cooperation
• The New Forge Lab: leadership, entrepreneurship and mentoring
• The Impossible Futures Lab: climate, geopolitics and democracy

Our values

• Youth leadership: we train and support young people to lead projects with high social and environmental impact.
• International collaboration: we build exchange networks that turn shared experience into shared action.
• Inclusion and equal opportunity: we actively involve young people from disadvantaged or marginalized backgrounds.
• Sustainable development: we propose concrete solutions in education, environment and social innovation.
• Awareness and advocacy: we speak to institutions and decision-makers to promote more inclusive and equitable development.
• Digital literacy: we help young people in rural areas gain the skills their future requires.

Whom we serve

Young people everywhere, from every region and every background. We offer them real spaces to express themselves, make decisions and take action, so they become active agents of social, economic and environmental change.

Join us

Volunteer, write for our publications, join a lab, start a YouthShare club at your school or university, or become a member. Active members take part in the life of the association, benefactor members support it financially, and honorary members are recognized for exceptional service. Individuals, organizations and people of any nationality are welcome.

Wherever you live, if you believe young people should have a seat at the table, you belong here.