Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) Fellowship: Brave Heart Grant

Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) Fellowship: Brave Heart Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: The Aspen Institute Inc
Last Updated: December 08, 2025

Summary

The Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) Fellowship: Brave Heart empowers Native youth leaders aged 18-24 to engage in environmental justice and advocacy. Through tailored training, mentorship, and community projects, CNAY fosters skills in leadership, stewardship of lands, and food sovereignty. This fellowship addresses the representation gap for Indigenous Peoples in climate justice, promoting cultural preservation while mobilizing youth to protect sacred sites and waterways. Applications are open to eligible Native youth residing in specific regions.

Overview

Founded in 2011, the Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) at the Aspen Institute is a national education and advocacy organization that works alongside Native youth — ages 24 and under — on reservations, in rural villages and urban spaces across the country to improve their health, safety and overall well-being. CNAY Fellowships The Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) Fellowship is a program for aspiring Native youth leaders (18-24) looking to make an impact in their communities. CNAY provides tailored sovereignty, leadership and advocacy trainings, unique opportunities for education and knowledge sharing, and micro-grant support to complete a community action project of Fellows’ choosing. CNAY supports youth-led change through a culturally-grounded, sovereignty-minded curriculum, intergenerational learning space and promotion of policy change at the tribal, local, state and national level. Fellows work alongside community members, like-minded organizations and peers to grow as individuals and in their cohorts – confident in their abilities, grounded in their culture, and rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing and being. While all 2026 Fellows will engage in a shared, core curriculum – inclusive of trainings pertaining to sovereignty and governance, financial literacy, media and more – the bulk of their fellowship will be divided into three distinct cohorts, each focused on a different issue area: Brave Heart: providing pathways for Native youth leaders to enhance their skills as protectors of our lands, waterways and sacred sites, and stewards for food sovereignty. Remembering Our Sisters: illuminating opportunities for female & femme identifying youth passionate about advocating and raising awareness for the MMIP epidemic. California Native Youth Collective: creating a policy advocacy network and cross-sector platform for Native youth in California. CNAY Fellowships: Brave Heart The Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) created Brave Heart to uplift youth voices, while addressing the representation gap and inequities facing Indigenous Peoples in the fight for climate justice. The Brave Heart track of the CNAY Fellowship program centers Native youth (ages 18-24) in environmental justice efforts by equipping them to advocate for and mobilize their communities to advance food sovereignty and protect traditional lands, waterways and sacred sites – preserving Native culture, paving the way for an Indigenous-led future and protecting the Earth for all.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Self-identify as Native or Indigenous; Are between the ages of 18 and 24 years old on March 1, 2026; and Currently reside in Alaska, (Northern) California, Idaho, Oregon or Washington.