Young Gamechangers

Host Communities present the class with several of their most significant challenges and receive detailed and well-researched “big idea” proposals with timelines, potential funding sources, and prospective partners.

Class participants tackle real community and economic development issues with colleagues from across the state, building up civic engagement tools like collaboration, compromise, and negotiation. See the results from recent programs in Dalton-Whitfield County , Columbus-Muscogee County , Valdosta-Lowndes County , and Athens-Clarke County.

Explore Young Gamechangers Recommendations

Meet the 2026 Young Gamechangers

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2026 YG Final Recommendations

The 2026 YG Class presented their final recommendations to the Hinesville-Liberty County community on October 29, 2026. We encourage you to take a look at the culmination of their thoughtful and dedicated work by watching their public presentation and reviewing their written final report. Learn more about their creative, out-of-the-box recommendations in response to the four challenge questions posed to the group by local leaders and stakeholders.

Hinesville-Liberty County Final Recommendations

Become a Young Gamechanger

Young Gamechangers are civic-minded individuals with big-picture mindsets and a willingness to learn. An immersive and impactful leadership action program that goes way beyond networking, Young Gamechanger participants receive expansive, multi-faceted leadership development on three levels:

    • Traditional training such as networking, personal assessments, and education;
    • On-the-ground community and economic development training through engaging with the real problems and real people of a particular place – and seeing real impact from their work;
    • Training and practice in critical civic health skills such as a greater understanding and openness to other points of view, building broad alliances, and negotiating across divides.

Applicants are welcome from every industry, background, and corner of the state. Applicants must be between the ages of 25 and 40. Applicants must attend all four in-person meetings. These meetings are held in the Host Community over the course of the program. Several of the meetings require overnight stays. Spending time in the Host Community and with YG classmates is critical and a non-negotiable aspect of the Young Gamechangers program. Participants who are unable to attend all four meetings may be asked to leave the program.

For example, the typical mandatory dates of a Young Gamechangers program are:

    • Kick-Off Meeting: 3-day meeting in April
    • Community Research Meeting: 3-day meeting in June
    • Internal Run-Through Meeting: 1-day meeting in September
    • Final Presentation to the Community: 2-day meeting in October

The cost to be a member of the program is $1,000 per participant. Each participant is also responsible for their own travel to and from the focus community for all four meetings.

One-third of each Young Gamechangers class is selected from the Host Community, one-third from the Atlanta metro region, and one-third from greater Georgia.

If you would like to participate as a Young Gamechanger in a future cohort, you can apply when the next round of applications open in October!

View a complete list of all of the brilliant people who have been previous Young Gamechangers class participants.

Host Young Gamechangers in Your Community

Young Gamechangers’ success is dependent on support from the Host Community. GeorgiaForward brings Young Gamechangers to communities that are forward-thinking, curious, and receptive to out-of-the-box thinking.

GeorgiaForward encourages community leaders to select the most promising proposals and work to bring them to life. Our goal is to see one or more of the recommendations implemented. It is up to the local community to prioritize and implement the recommendations. We are proud that at least one recommendation has come to fruition in almost all of the communities in which we’ve worked.

A successful Young Gamechangers program is built on three pillars: broad community support and buy-in; a strong and collaborative relationship between city and county government; and an openness to big new ideas. Host Communities are responsible for raising a minimum of $65,000 in sponsorship dollars for the program. $15,000 of in-kind donations in the form of hotel rooms, meeting space, meals, and transportation are also encouraged to offset the cost. Depending on the size of the community, location, or specific Host Community needs, additional funds may be required and can be secured through sponsorship.

Cities interested in hosting a Young Gamechanger program are encouraged to submit a Letter of Interest to Sadie Krawczyk . Please include a community overview, recent efforts to address local challenges, potential partners to help implement the program, and the anticipated impact of having Young Gamechangers focus on your community.

Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on communities across Georgia, the Georgia Young Gamechangers program was not conducted in 2020 or 2021. The program resumed in 2022.