Peace First

Peace First is an organization co-led by young people that supports young people ages 13-25 to create a more compassionate, just and peaceful world by providing digital tools, community support, start-up funding and stories that celebrate their social change journeys and impact. 

We were founded by teenagers in 1992 at Harvard University upon a simple idea: if we are going to solve the world’s greatest problems, we must support young people with the skills and commitments to solve problems by connecting with others with compassion, standing up for ideals and others with courage, and creating collaborative change. 

Our work began as a school-based youth empowerment model in the US and, since then, we have matured into a global NGO supporting youth-led projects and connecting thousands of young social change leaders from over 150 countries. Through our digital platform — the world’s largest incubator for youth-led social change initiatives — Peace First offers young people ages 13-25 the skills and resources necessary to turn their ideas into action. We currently host over 19,000 young users on our digital platform and are supporting over 7,000 youth-led projects.

Work supported by Act for Change Fund

Young people in the UK have largely been disenfranchised – it is more difficult than ever to find a job, higher-education costs have tripled, there are fewer vocational bursaries, public spaces for young people have been disappearing, the list goes on.

Peace First believes young people have the power to solve these problems – not someday – right now.

Peace First’s UK Challenge is uniting young people from different backgrounds to take action together, using the power of their collective voices to create healthier and fairer communities in which to live, work, and play.

All participating teams received access to digital tools and mentorship and were eligible for mini-grants of up to $250. In 2019, Peace First awarded three £2,500 Accelerator Grants to especially transformative projects. The recipients of these grants participated in virtual events, where they received intensive support to support them to deepen their impact.