EMEA Youth & Wellbeing Grant

The EMEA Youth & Wellbeing Grant is a €500,000 funding program for organizations across the region to help young people benefit from AI.

The program will offer funding to NGOs and research organizations that are working directly with children, young people, families or educators; or producing independent research on how AI affects young people’s safety, wellbeing and development.

Our goal is to support practical work and independent research that helps everyone better understand what safe, responsible AI looks like in the real world.

As AI becomes part of how young people learn, create and communicate, there is a growing need to ensure it is beneficial and safe. Collaboration between youth organizations, independent researchers, and AI developers can help to strengthen understanding of its real-world benefits, while also testing and strengthening safeguards. This grant will support that effort by funding organizations doing important work and helping them expand their impact.

We will support projects that focus on youth safety, wellbeing and AI. For example:

For NGOs:

• Youth protection and harm-prevention programs
• AI literacy initiatives focused on young people, parents or educators
• Practical tools that help organizations respond safely to AI-related risks

For research organizations:

• Research on new ways AI can enrich youth development and education
• Research on child safety and adolescent wellbeing
• Evaluations of youth-safety safeguards in real-world settings

We encourage proposals that produce clear, usable outputs, such as reports, toolkits, policy briefs or tested approaches that others can learn from.

Total fund: €500,000.

Typical grant size: Grants will vary depending on scope and scale of work; awards are expected to be between €25k–€100k, with multi-year awards considered for larger programs or networked partnerships. Allowable costs include reasonable direct and indirect costs consistent with institutional policies.

Applicants must meet all of the following:

• Applicants must be 18+ and represent an operational NGO, research institution or coalition.
• They must work primarily on youth safety, adolescent wellbeing or AI impacts on minors, or propose work that will generate useful evidence or practical tools in these areas.
• Applicants must have the capacity and to deliver the work ethically and on time, be willing to share their methodology and findings, and engage with the Council of Approvals where required.

Applications will be evaluated against the following weighted criteria:

1. EMEA presence (mandatory): your organisation must be legally registered in an EMEA country (Europe, Middle East, or Africa). We may request proof of registration.
2. Alignment with program objectives (high): How clearly the project advances AI youth safety, evaluates safeguards, or produces actionable evidence for policy stakeholders or product teams.
3. Impact & scalability (high): Likely contribution to measurable improvements in youth wellbeing or safety across the priority markets; potential to influence policy, practice or product design.
4. Methodological rigor & ethical design (high): Research methods, protection of minors, consent processes, and plans for safe data handling.
5. Feasibility & capacity (high): Team’s operational/research capacity, realistic timeline and budget, ethical safeguards and data governance.
6. Sustainability & amplification (medium): Potential for the project to continue beyond the grant period or to build local capacity (e.g., helplines, trusted testers).

Applications open: 28 January 2026

Applications close: 27 February 2026

Projects begin: Q2-Q3 2026. (Dates can be finalised to align with the official launch.)

To apply, applicants should complete the online form and upload:

• Project title
• Detailed proposal (max 500 words): objectives, methods, timeline, key deliverables, value to policymakers/products/NGOs
• Detailed budget and budget justification
• Team CVs and institutional affiliation(s)
• Ethics statement and data handling plan (if relevant)
• Letter(s) of support or partnership confirmation (if relevant)

Submit via: Apply⁠(opens in a new window)

Contact: emea-youth-grants@openai.com⁠ (for application questions). Note: we will not be able to provide status updates for applications that are not selected.

Initial screening for eligibility and completeness

Council review for technical, ethical and legal fit

Final approvals & contracting (Legal & Comms sign-off prior to award)

Awarding & activation: Funded partners begin pilots and research in Q2 2026; outputs will feed into product, policy and regulatory engagements as they become available