Call for Kindness Grant

The Call for Kindness Grant, offered by Riley's Way Foundation, empowers young leaders aged 13-23 to launch impactful social projects focused on kindness and community connection. With grants up to $5,000, recipients receive essential mentorship, coaching, and community support. This initiative has already benefited over 3,500 youth nationwide, promoting values of empathy and social change. Applicants can pursue projects in diverse areas, including environmental justice, ensuring a broad impact in their communities.

Our Mission & Vision
Riley’s Way invests in and supports the next generation of kind leaders. We provide young people with the programs, support and inclusive community they need to thrive as changemakers. Riley’s Way is committed to supporting these young leaders to build a better world that values kindness, empathy, connection and the voices of all youth.
Riley’s Way works with emerging leaders, ages 13-23, who are leading social impact projects in areas like food insecurity, homelessness, education equity, and environmental justice – all through the lens of kindness, empathy, and connection. To date, we have invested in more than 3,500 young people across the country with over $4 million in grants and programming, impacting hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.
We see Riley’s Way Alumni as future leaders in business, nonprofit, arts, education, STEM, public service, and their communities.
Call For Kindness (C4K) Fellowship
The Call For Kindness (C4K) Fellowship gives young leaders (ages 13-23) across the country the skills, connections, and funding they need to run social impact projects that inspire kindness and strengthen their local, national, or global communities. The Fellowship consists of a 12-month leadership development fellowship and a startup grant of up to $5,000. Fellows receive 1:1 coaching and project support, virtual skill-building sessions, an in-person leadership Retreat, mentorship opportunities, and a peer community of other young changemakers. Fellows can also apply for Continuation Grants with ongoing project support and coaching.
In addition to the General Category (28 awards), 10 awards will be given in the Special Category: LGBTQIA+ Community Award. Awards will be given in the following Sponsored Categories: A Kinder World for Animals Award (3 projects), the Equity in Law Award (up to 2 projects), the Civil Discourse & Connection Innovation Award (1 project) and the Yuriko Kikuchi Arigato Award (1 project).
Eligible Projects
You can submit any project that is youth-led and inspired by kindness, drives change in your community, and builds connections. Past projects have ranged from social justice projects to clubs at school, and anything in-between. This year, our special topic is environmental justice, but we are also accepting application in the general category and for the Yuriko Kikuchi Arigato Award, which supports one award in a special dance and performing arts category.

Eligibility

We are accepting applications from US citizens and DACA recipients between the ages of 13-23.Applicants must reside in the United States.We hope that you are able to partner with a registered 501(c)(3) organization, which could be your school or a nonprofit organization, which will be your fiscal sponsor. The grant money will be awarded directly to your partner organization who will administer the funds to you.If you do not currently have a partner organization, this will not exclude you from eligibility. Riley’s Way will work with you to secure a partner through the Fellowship process.If your project is already a registered 501(c)(3), you are exempt from requiring a project partner and you will receive the grant money directly.You can apply as an individual or as a group. If you are applying as a group, you only need to submit one application. Please note that you can only be listed as an applicant for one project (but you are welcome to assist on any project). All members of your group will be included in the leadership development program.Use of FundsThe prize money can go towards expenses needed to implement or expand your project. You can spend the prize money in a variety of ways, such as: buying supplies to complete your project (i.e. food, books, or other materials)creating a website or designing an app hosting an event

Ineligibility

For legal and tax purposes, we cannot provide the grant money directly to individuals.You cannot spend prize money to pay people for their time spent working on the project.