The 2025 Brower Youth Awards application opens February 18
Earth Island Institute established the Brower Youth Awards for Environmental Leadership in 2000. We recognize the outstanding leadership efforts of young people with this annual, prestigious award.
Eligibility
Youth environmental change leaders ages 13 to 22 (as of the application deadline) living in North America (including Mexico, Canada, and U.S. territories) are encouraged to apply. Our application deadline for submission is Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. The link to the application is at the bottom of this page. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for updates.
Award Details
Recipients receive a $3,000 cash prize, a short film produced about their work, a trip to participate in leadership development activities, flight, meals, and lodging accommodations.
Post event, Brower Youth Award winners join a wide network of over a hundred youth leaders across the world making a difference globally.
Application Process
All applications must be completed and submitted online. Please notify us well in advance of the deadline if you foresee any problems with submitting an online application.
You must complete your own application. Parents, friends, mentors, and teachers cannot complete it for you.
Need help or have questions on your application? Email us at bya@earthisland.org. Applications submitted after the deadline due to technical issues will not be accepted.
In addition to meeting award eligibility requirements and following all instructions to complete the online application, each applicant must submit:
- a photograph of yourself
- if you are a semifinalist, you will be asked for a letter of support from someone who is familiar with you and your environmental work (cannot be from a parent or guardian)
Please contact us well in advance of the deadline for support with the submission of your application or clarifying questions by emailing bya@earthisland.org. Applications submitted after the deadline due to technical issues will not be accepted.
We review all applications and a panel of judges vets all semi-finalists. If you are selected as a semi-finalist, we will request a video call with you, along with the letter of support from your recommender. All Brower Youth Award applicants will be notified of their status.
What We Look For
Applicants are assessed on the following criteria:
Outstanding Youth Leadership
You played the major leadership role in creating, organizing and implementing your project or campaign(s).
Issue & Approach
Your project is applying fresh solutions and approaches to relevant environmental challenges.
Project Impact, Scalability, & Replicability
Is the project’s impact significant? Can your work be used as a model for other communities or campuses?
Charisma, Personal Commitment, & Trajectory
What draws you to this work? What would winning a Brower Youth Award mean to you?
A Few Tips
Leadership:
The Brower Youth Awards are looking to recognize the leader of a group or an effort. While we will consider applicants who are implementing individual efforts, it is our tendency to focus on leaders of groups and efforts.
Research and science fair projects:
Many research and science fair projects are individual and/or one-time efforts. As such, they are difficult to compare to the leadership of ongoing projects. We will not consider applicants who are implementing research and science fair projects, unless it is part of ongoing environmental efforts involving a larger group.
Earth Day and one-time conferences:
We understand the impact and necessity of Earth Day, conferences, and one-time gatherings. However, we typically will not consider one-time gatherings for the award, unless the event produced long-term measurable impacts in which you have continued to play a significant leadership role.