Youth-led climate projects are “chronically underfunded, undersupported, under-resourced, underestimated,” says this climate fund executive director

Kat Cadungog never intended to become the executive director of the Foundation for Environmental Stewardship (FES). In fact, she was ready to help the organization close down. 

FES was meant to close in 2020 — it had never operated as a philanthropic foundation, and had been working on a four-year project that was wrapping up. Cadungog was in a different role, working on programming for university students, and when the pandemic hit, she took what she called a “covadical” to reflect on next steps for the organization and for herself. 

“When they asked me [to become executive director], I had a lot of hesitancy,” she says. “I don’t think things should exist just for the sake of existing.” But at the same time, major philanthropic organizations had begun reaching out to FES, offering support, and Cadungog decided she wanted to take on the challenge of channeling those funds toward the movements FES believed in. “COVID-19 really provided the space for people in philanthropy to reflect on their practices and take the time to discuss how they can reform.” 

One way being shifting funds to groups — like youth — who’ve been traditionally overlooked. Less than 40 percent of youth-led climate organizations have paid staff, according to FES, even though 72 percent of Canadians agree with the demands of the youth-led climate movement. 

Fast forward to this week and FES announced that, over the next three years it will grant $1.15 million to youth-led climate projects, supported by the McConnell Foundation, Trottier Family Foundation, and Echo Foundation. We sat down with Cadungog to learn more about FES’s model of philanthropy, why youth-led climate projects are “chronically underfunded”, and what you can do about it.

Kylie Adair: What have been some challenges in coming into your role as executive director of FES during such a turbulent time?

Kat Cadungog: The biggest barrier to any type of youth engagement is the lack of financial, technical, and networking support that you experience when you are a youth-led organization. Youth-led organizations tend to be chronically underfunded, undersupported, under-resourced, underestimated, and it’s a huge learning curve when you realize not only do I have to deliver programming, but I also have to find ways to resource my own staff and salaries. So, it’s been learning the world of fundraising, learning how the different relationships work in this climate space — it’s a huge learning curve, especially as a young person.

One thing I’ll also say about youth-led climate organizing that a lot of people don’t realize or don’t really think about is if you’re transitioning a youth-led organization [like in the case of transitioning FES to become a philanthropic foundation], a lot of times, transitions are actually very difficult, because you don’t really get that institutional knowledge that you can learn from. You have to actively find mentors, because it’s not like you have someone who’s been at the organization for 20 years, because they generally leave by the time they’re 30. So that institutional knowledge is lost. You have to learn to have a good sense of self, and assert yourself as a young person in spaces that are generally adult-centric. 

Kylie: How does that feel, personally?

Kat: Very frustrating. It’s funny because it goes two ways — it’s a very real thing to be frustrated at the current systems, the colonial systems that perpetuate the lack of funding for youth and particularly BIPOC folk. But at the same time, it’s frustrating to be undermined and say that because we’re youth, we have to go through all these growing pains. And it’s frustrating, because youth are at the frontlines of climate action. Youth are inheriting the consequences of the previous generation, and are taking responsibility for decisions made by older generations, and are taking the brunt of this work — yet, they’re continuously undercompensated and undersupported. Youth organizations cannot afford to pay their own staff. It’s easy to, traditionally, lose employees’ momentum and impact when you’re constantly chasing support. 

At the same time, I’m optimistic, because there’s a lot of room for growth. It’s exciting, in a way, because now I get to be at the forefront of changing people’s perceptions and starting new projects to actually address these issues. 

Kylie: Can you talk more about the case for funding youth-led climate projects? What do young people bring to this work?

Kat: Youth are the best agents of change, and not just when it comes to climate. We can look to so many historical and present moments, whether it’s the civil rights movement, the abolishment of apartheid, suffrage, LGBTQ+ rights, it’s always been youth wielding that baton at the front of the parade. It’s boggling to me that time and time again, despite this historical evidence that older generations continue to underestimate what youth are capable of and devalue the contributions of youth to society simply because they’re youth. 

For the first time ever, youth take up the largest voting block in Canada. We’ve seen an increased amount of [youth] civic and political engagement, whether it’s climate strikes, divestment campaigns, community-based solutions, youth are really at the forefront. I think there are also many co-benefits. You get an increased amount of democratic engagement. Youth are very oriented toward the diversity of this movement, whether that’s supporting BIPOC, disable-bodied, or LGBTQ+ folks. And youth know what youth need — so it’s much easier for youth to address things like mental health and eco-anxiety, because youth do tend to centre different values than older generations. 

Youth are inheriting the consequences that have been passed down to them from older generations, and yet you have these older generations saying ‘You have the energy, so you go about and address these issues, but we’re not going to go about supporting you.’ That’s hugely problematic. 

Kylie: Is that something you see being part of FES’s work moving forward — holding older generations accountable for supporting this work?

Kat: Yes. For the next three years, we’re granting $1.15 million to the youth-led climate movement in partnership with systems led by older generations, particularly in philanthropy. We can talk about transforming and reforming these systems, but what we’re really working on is working with these older generations, educating them, and liberating funds that should be going to Indigenous folks and youth that are at the forefront of this movement. So it’s a huge part of our mandate — intergenerational collaboration, but intergenerational collaboration that’s led by youth. 

Kylie: How do you get older generations on board with this vision?

Kat: There’s not necessarily a right answer to this. FES understands that huge transformation needs to happen, but we also understand that we’re in a world where transformation can’t move fast enough, and we’re acting within the current institutions and trying to liberate funds within a pretty bureaucratic system. Unfortunately — we can talk about whether this is the right approach or not — it’s about really meeting them where they’re at, just as we expect these older generations to meet youth where we’re at. It’s about communicating using their jargon, really talking about quantitative impact and the justifications. And then saying, ‘Now that we’ve talked on your terms, now let’s talk on our terms, and talk about trust-based philanthropy, let’s talk about decolonization, and liberating wealth, and reforming philanthropy.’ Mind you, I think it’s also a mistake to villainize older generations. In a lot of cases, they’re doing their best, but the system that’s been built is colonial. 

Kylie: You must be having a lot of these discussions about the future of philanthropy yourself, as the leader of what’s now a grantmaking organization. What do you see FES’s grantmaking model being?

Kat: That’s a loaded question, because there will never be the perfect way. Even ‘granting’ is problematic, because we’re not granting funds, we’re liberating funds. We’re redirecting funds to where they should have been going in the first place — where they shouldn’t have been taken away from in the first place. If I’m to talk about a model for granting, what FES has been doing all summer is consultations. It’s definitely a weird feeling to go from chasing funds to all of a sudden be granting them, because now that we’re on the grantmaker’s side, we can almost empathize — this is very, very difficult. How do you actually do this? So the best thing we can do right now is consult with youth in the space and ask, what is the most ethical way to go about this?

Kylie: Is there anything you’re finding so far that you know you’ll implement?

Kat: We’re very much looking into oral reporting and oral applications. It’s a huge barrier, especially in rural communities, to expect people to have the same breadth and expertise when it comes to grant writing, which is incredibly difficult. We’re also hoping to get into trust-based philanthropy. And finally, a big part of what we’re trying to fund is core capacity funding. If we want to sustain movements, it needs to be consistent, and youth don’t need to be chasing funding. 

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