The 2009 BYA application period closed on May 15, 2009.  The 2009 award recipients will be announced in fall 2009.  You can get updates about the selection process, be among the first to hear of this year's awardees, and find out when next year's applications are available by following us on Twitter or signing up for our monthly listserv, launching summer 2009.   

You can also request an email notification when the BYA application for the 2010 awards becomes available in late 2009.

Watch our video about David Brower's life and Earth Island's work supporting rising leaders here.

Earth Island Institute established the Brower Youth Awards in 2000 to honor our founder and legendary environmental activist, David R. Brower and to call forth a new generation of leaders. This award manifests the Earth Island Institute’s abiding commitment to growing environmental leadership.

Our annual Brower Youth Awards honor six young people for their outstanding activism and achievements in the fields of environmental and social justice advocacy. Each winner is awarded $3000 and brought to San Francisco for the award week and a backcountry camping trip. The Brower Youth Awards not only promote the accomplishments of these young leaders but also invest in their continued success by providing ongoing access to resources, mentors, and opportunities to develop their leadership skills through Earth Island Institute's New Leaders Initiative.

Dave was a pioneering leader in the evolution of the 20th century environmental movement. Time after time in a career that evolved over more than 60 years, until his death in 2000, he saw the need for expanding what people thought of as environmental, to meet the needs of an evolving, fair, sustainable society. A key part of Brower's vision for action was his mentorship of younger emerging leaders. Earth Island Institute founded its Brower Youth Awards program to celebrate the spirit of Brower's mentoring, and it has expanded its New Leaders Initiative to provide other opportunities for young people finding their way in working for the planet's agenda.

In his sixty-plus years of activism, nothing gave David Brower greater joy than see the success of the many young leaders he mentored, among them Dave Foreman, Amory Lovins and Julia Butterfly Hill. “My secret,” Dave said, “is to surround myself with bright, young people, stand back, then wallow in their accomplishments.”