Everytime I’m met with the question of  ‘how is work going’ — which is a lot of times — I have a super reductive go-to response, which is to say it’s going super well, so many exciting things are happening. There’s just no other way to contain how immensely proactive our team has been this year to completely overhaul what we do and how we do it — so many exciting things are indeed happening at YIF, and I truly believe that we are in gear to bring about some super relevant developments in the field of youth civic engagement and electoral politics this year. For starters, we’ve had the opportunity to partner with The Body Shop as part of their Be Seen Be Heard campaign, a global initiative centered on empowering young people to become more active participants in their country’s public life. 

We’re streamlining our focus on three key initiatives: first, we’re collecting signatures on our #Why25 petition to reduce the age of candidacy in the Lok Sabha; second, we’re hosting Youth Voter Festivals all across India to register and re-register upwards of 25 million young voters in the country; and finally, we’re also providing support to young independent candidates campaigning for elections at the grassroots to ensure that the realm of politics is accessible to our country’s youth. All of our work boils down to a simple premise—if the promise of a democratic nation is the rule of the people, it makes no sense that 64% of that very population — India's youth — is disenfranchised and prevented from participating in political decision-making. Of course, such ambitious initiatives cannot be made possible without two key factors: a dedicated team, and well-versed research that supplies our work with credibility and honesty.

In service of these goals, we’re constantly expanding to recruit individuals who can help further our work (read below to find out more), and also establishing YIF’s Center for Youth Policy: the official research wing of the organization focused on placing young people at the forefront of political, economic, social, and civic research. YIF always has a place for young people who believe in a democratic future for the country — come work with us to make this future possible!

Rishika Arora, Chief Executive Officer