The Citi Foundation has opened applications for its 2025 Global Innovation Challenge, which provides philanthropic support for community organizations to pilot or scale solutions to social and economic issues around the world.
Despite recent progress, young people globally continue to experience challenges in their pursuit of employment, including the skills mismatch and gaining access to quality jobs.
With this proposal, 50 community organizations will receive $500,000 each in grant support for innovative employment solutions for low-income youth, from upskilling and reskilling efforts to entrepreneurship programming, financial education and more.
Funding overview
The Foundation plans to award grants of $500,000 (USD) payable over two years to 50 community organizations working in select communities where Citi has a presence.
• Grants are meant to be catalytic in nature, supporting the piloting or expansion of ideas and projects in the field of youth employability.
• In addition to grant funds, the Citi Foundation will seek ways to support the selected grantees through volunteerism as well as hosting learning opportunities to promote shared lessons and best practices.
Eligibility criteria
- Applicant organizations must be registered as nonprofit entities under local law. For example, for U.S. entities, applicants need to be tax-exempt public charities as per Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
- Applicants must be able to submit their most recent externally audited financial statements, including auditor’s notes, covering some part of calendar year 2023 or a subsequent year.
- Applicant’s proposed program must align with the Foundation’s mission of supporting low-income communities as defined by local standards and definitions.
- Applicant’s proposed program must impact one or more of the target geographies.
Application process
Organizations must first register and confirm they meet the eligibility requirements to gain access to the Citi Foundation’s grantmaking portal. Eligible applicants will receive access to the portal within three business days.
View the original call here.
The deadline for application is 12 p.m. New York time (Eastern Time) on March 4, 2025.
For more opportunities visit Expression Africa.
