IYF’S 2025 UP for Change Leaders

Meet This New Community of Young Changemakers.  

This week, we join the world in celebrating Neurodiversity Week, an initiative aimed to transform how neurodiversity is perceived. For us, there’s no better way to commemorate this occasion than by introducing a new, unique, and inspiring community of young people who seek to make the world, specifically educational opportunities, more equitable for all types of learners; IYF’s 2025 UP for Change Leaders.

Unique Perspectives (UP) for Change is an initiative run by IYF with support from Oak Foundation that seeks to address the challenges and barriers neurodivergent youth face in educational settings in the US, by centering the people whose voices should be heard and valued the most in this process; young people.  UP for Change recognizes the need to cede decision-making control to solve complex issues to the people most affected by them. It embodies the principle of “nothing about us without us”.  

Moreover, UP for Change acknowledges the right and potential of young people to influence their environments and meaningfully participate in society to make it more inclusive and accessible to everyone.

Now in its third and final year of operation, UP for Change is excited to introduce the newest community of youth leaders who will continue to carry out this vision. The 2025 UP for Change Leaders are 15 young people from across the US, aged 16 to 24, who will be partnering with IYF through an 8-month Leadership program. This cohort is comprised of neurodivergent youth and allies, featuring a mix of new and returning leaders from the 2024 cohort.  

The 2024 cohort of Leaders established the funding priorities of UP for Change’s grant fund and awarded $600,000 USD in grants to seven youth-serving organizations. As UP for Change supports these seven grantee organizations, this new group of Leaders will embark on a journey to learn from their initiatives by acquiring skills in program evaluation and participating in grantee monitoring efforts. Through this process, UP for Change Leaders will gather information to support them in reflecting on how educational opportunities can be more inclusive, accessible, and youth-responsive, synthesizing and presenting their findings with the grantees. Additionally, they will participate in a Partner Learning Event in October 2025, where they will convene with grantee partners to build knowledge and share learnings about what works best for diverse learners.  

Even though the 2025 cohort of UP for Change Leaders is building on the impactful legacy established by the first group of Leaders, the next chapter of UP for Change is up to this new community to define.

Just as every brain is different, this new cohort of UP for Change Leaders is unique and will provide diverse perspectives on how to create more equitable educational opportunities for all youth. This new cohort is powered by young activists, artists, students, multilingual individuals, entrepreneurs, advocates, fashion lovers, caring siblings, sports enthusiasts, educators, and more. It will draw from the experiences of returning leaders, some of whom will take on “Senior Leader” roles, engaging in the program through progressive leadership opportunities to further develop their leadership, facilitation, and project coordination skills. Furthermore, the cohort will also be enriched by the new Leaders, who bring their energy, ideas, and experiences to collaboratively create a meaningful and supportive program experience.  

The 2025 UP for Change Leaders describe themselves as trailblazers, ambitious, resilient, and determined, qualities that are evident in the diverse ways they already demonstrate leadership in their lives and communities. They also see themselves as kind, empathetic, open-minded, funny, loyal, and patient, which is reflected in how they show up for one another, shape their learning community, and practice friendship and care.  

Recognizing that we must shape educational opportunities to meet the collective and individual needs of youth, the foundation of UP for Change is who these Leaders are, what their experiences have been, what they care about, and what they dream of the world to be. We believe these young leaders have the power to show us a different way—one that truly honors the unique ways in which we all learn, communicate, interpret the world, and thrive. And we are excited to learn with and from them, along with our grantee partners, throughout this process.

Young people don’t just need a seat at the table, they need the tools to create their own tables. Our role in UP for Change is to be supportive allies of this new and special table, nurturing the commitment to justice, accessibility, and inclusion that has led them to this initiative.    

This is their moment. This is their table. And we’re honored to have a seat alongside them.  We invite you to get to know the young people who make UP for Change.

Read their full bios here.