Investing in the future, making the right impact

At Healthy Cities for Adolescents (HCA), our grant making process is continuously evolving to ensure perfect alignment with our vision, goals and principles. We invest in projects that share our unwavering commitment to creating thriving cities for adolescents.

The HCA Global Team is responsible for identifying suitable grantees and projects. HCA does not accept unsolicited grant applications.

How we award grants

Our grant making process is proactive and collaborative. To ensure the greatest potential for impact and sustainability, the HCA Global Team carefully researches the local context to identify suitable partners. Together we develop projects that align with the specific needs and priorities in target cities.

In Phase II of the programme (2022–2026), we are taking it a step further. We are testing models of grant making that involve adolescents from the design phase. This ensures that the projects are tailored to address young people’s real-life experiences and priorities within their cities.

To drive systems change, HCA grants are typically made to a consortium of partners that pool their skills, experience and resources to achieve project goals. The composition of these project consortia varies in each country and city, but generally includes civil society organisations or social enterprises, local government bodies, academic or research institutions, think tanks, and sometimes private sector organisations.