About the Youth Impact Project
The Youth Impact Project (YIP) is a collaboration between the Children and Youth Planning Table of Waterloo Region (CYPT) and Smart Waterloo Region Innovation Lab (SWRIL). The Youth Impact Project looks to fund youth who are addressing local challenges which are identified through the 2023 Youth Impact Survey results. The funded projects include a focus on supporting youth mental and physical health, increasing feelings of belonging, and responding to climate change and food insecurity.
In 2024, over 100 youth from 15 local organisations pitched their ideas to a panel of nine youth. The Youth Decision-Making Panel (“The Dragons”) decided which projects would receive funding to make their idea a reality. In 2025, CYPT and SWRIL accepted youth applications online, and a team of three youth decided which projects received funding.
Funded Youth Project #17: MechMania
MechMania was started to foster promising minds and ideas, focused on solving problems that are prominent in the community. The project aims to increase high school student access to robotics, by offering a free robotics competition in Waterloo Region. MechMania will offer information sessions, demos and tutorials, and upgraded kits to interested students free of charge, to facilitate their participation in the competition. This year’s theme: Save the Earth.
Applications for the 2025 Youth Impact Project are now closed and 17 youth projects across Waterloo Region received funding. We have now announced all of the projects!
Last but not least, we are grateful to our funders United Way Waterloo Region Communities and Region of Waterloo for making the Youth Impact Project possible.
Learn more about the Youth Impact Project here.