ThePrize
We award three grants each year in conjunction with locally-delivered capacity-building programmes and peer-to-peer mentoring facilitated by our Youth Advisory Panel. In September 2023, we will be announcing the winners of The Iris Prize 2023. Meet the 2022 winners!
We recognise that nature restoration takes a variety of forms – from traditional land stewardship, to innovative technological solutions. As such, the ‘Iris Prize’ rewards new ideas and established projects, hoping to overcome the circumstantial barriers that too often prevent young people from being able to advocate for nature-related change.
All prize applicants are invited to join The Iris Project Ecosystem! A slack channel community which provides young people in our network with additional funding and capacity building opportunities happening all over the world. Apply to the prize to join the Ecosystem.
The prizes are structured as such, and awarded alongside a bespoke capacity-building programme for each of our winners:

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000
Each year, our Youth Advisory Panel create a short-list of applicants for each prize, which is then assessed by the Iris Prize judges who select three winners. You can find out more information about them below.
- Aliza Ayaz
United Nations Goodwill Ambassador
- James Thornton
Environmental Lawyer and Writer
- Afroz Shah
Environmental Activist and Lawyer
- Melati Wijsen
Changemaker and Movement Builder
- Kate Rothschild
Iris' Mother, Environmental Philanthropist & Music Industry Executive
- Wanjira Mathai
Vice President and Regional Director for Africa at the World Resources Institute
- Elizabeth Wathuti
Environmentalist and Climate Activist
- Dr Enric Sala
National Geographic Explorer in Residence



“The world – at present – has two kinds of people – followers and leaders. The former is in abundance and the latter is in rarity. The Iris Prize is identifying young leaders. This honour of receiving the prize will give young leaders the right push – to inspire many more young leaders to step forward and lead.”

“I believe that young people can accelerate change. My mission at YOUTHTOPIA is completely aligned to The Iris Project’s objectives – to provide space that brings young people together, ignites their passions and grows their skills to become active changemakers.”

“The Iris Project is so important to me because not only does it honour the memory of my brilliant, nature loving daughter Iris, it also supports young people in the fight for their future, and there is nothing more important than that. Iris would have been so proud of what The Iris Project has set out to achieve.”


“We are facing a triple planetary crisis of nature loss, climate change and pollution. And young people are working hard to safeguard their future by developing solutions to these deeply interconnected problems can find it difficult to access the funding and resources they need. The Iris Project supports young leaders to overcome this resource barrier and so I am excited to be joining the judging panel.”

How to apply.
The Iris Prize accepts applications from March to June annually. Applications will reopen in March 2024.