Knight Emerging City Champions

Overview

Knight Foundation is eager to support a new group of rising civic leaders ready to turn their creative ideas into action—and join a growing network of community leaders transforming Knight cities from the ground up.

The program seeks creative young leaders with bold ideas that strengthen trust and community connection, foster creative expression and build local resilience. The KECC program is now accepting applications for 20 new leaders for the 2025-2026 program.

Twenty successful applicants will receive $5,000 in seed funding and a $500 tech grant to help implement their project idea, ongoing virtual training, technical support from 8 80 Cities and access to a national network of creative urbanists. The program will run from August 2025 to August 2026.

The KECC program was created to support and better equip emerging leaders with the resources and training to turn their ideas into action. This will be the eighth cohort of KECC. Since its inception in 2015, the program has helped catalyze more than 130 public space and civic engagement projects in communities across eight Knight cities. Projects have ranged from beehives and jukeboxes to mentorship programs and gamified co-design tools.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

* The program is accepting applications from residents and young civic innovators, aged 18-35 from the following cities: Akron, OH; Charlotte, NC; Detroit, MI; Macon, GA; Miami, FL; Philadelphia, PA; San Jose, CA; and St. Paul, MN.