Privacy Policy

• Young people aged 13 to 18 who apply to our programs or submit project ideas.
• Parents and guardians who contact us or provide consent for a participant.
• Mentors, volunteers, and youth leaders who work with our programs.
• Companies, nonprofits, community organizations, and institutional partners who collaborate, sponsor, host, or co-deliver programs and events.
• Anyone who contacts us, joins our mailing list, registers interest in an event, or simply visits this website.

We only ask for what we need to run our programs and partnerships.

From young people and applicants

• Name, email address, age or age range, country and city.
• Whether you already have a project idea, and what you would like to build.
• Why you want to join, how you heard about us, and the support you are asking for.

From partners and collaborating organizations

• Organization name, country, website, and area of work.
• Contact person name, role, work email, and phone number.
• Details of the proposed collaboration, sponsorship, event, or program, and any agreements or documents you share with us.

From everyone

• Messages you send us through the contact form or by email or phone.
• Email address if you subscribe to updates.
• Basic technical information such as browser type, device type, and pages visited, used only to keep the site working and understand what content is useful.

We never ask for financial account details, government identification numbers, or health information through this website. Please do not send sensitive information of that kind to us.

• Our programs are designed for ages 13 to 18. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.
• We ask participants for the minimum information needed to place them in a program and to reach them safely.
• For activities that require it, we ask for parent or guardian consent, and a parent or guardian may review, correct, or request deletion of their child's information at any time.
• We never publish a young person's full contact details. Stories, quotes, photos, or project results are only shared publicly with permission, and we use first names or first name plus age where possible.
• Mentors and partner staff working directly with participants are given only the information needed for that activity, and are expected to follow our safeguarding expectations.

• To review applications, match participants with mentors, and run programs, workshops, and events.
• To communicate with participants, parents and guardians, mentors, and partner contacts.
• To coordinate collaborations, sponsorships, and co-hosted events with partner organizations.
• To send program updates, event invitations, and stories to people who asked to hear from us.
• To report anonymous, aggregated impact numbers to partners, funders, and the public, such as the number of youth reached or projects launched.
• To keep our site, programs, and community safe, and to meet legal obligations.

We do not use personal information to build advertising profiles, and we do not make automated decisions about people without human review.

Because we work alongside other companies and organizations, some sharing is necessary. It is always limited and purpose-bound.

• Partner organizations receive only what is needed to deliver a shared program or event, such as a participant list for a session they are hosting, and they may not use it for their own marketing.
• Mentors receive contact and project details for the participants they are matched with.
• Service providers such as email, form-handling, and hosting providers process information on our behalf under their own security obligations.
• We may disclose information if required by law, or where necessary to protect the safety of a young person or another individual.
• We never sell personal information, and we do not share a participant's information with a partner for commercial purposes.

Because our community is global, information may be processed in countries other than your own, including Canada. We take reasonable steps to ensure it stays protected wherever it is handled.

Programs and events are sometimes photographed or recorded to share the work of young leaders. Participation in media is optional. We ask for consent from the participant and, where the participant is under 18, from a parent or guardian, before publishing identifiable images, video, or personal stories. Consent can be withdrawn at any time and we will remove the material from our own channels as soon as reasonably possible.

We keep application and program information for as long as needed to support a participant's journey and to report accurate impact numbers, and partnership records for as long as the collaboration is active plus a reasonable period afterwards for legal and accounting purposes. When information is no longer needed, we delete it or keep it only in anonymous, aggregated form.

We use reputable providers, limit access to information to the small number of people who need it, and review our practices regularly. No system is perfectly secure, but if a breach affects your information we will act quickly and notify affected people and authorities where required.

• Ask what information we hold about you, and request a copy.
• Ask us to correct information that is wrong or out of date.
• Ask us to delete your information, or a young person's information as their parent or guardian.
• Withdraw consent for media use, or unsubscribe from emails at any time.
• Ask a question or make a complaint about how we handle information.

Email us and we will respond within a reasonable time, usually within 30 days.

We may update this policy as our programs and partnerships grow. When we do, we will change the date at the top of this page, and we will let participants and partners know directly if a change is significant.