FEBEA Working Group on Youth

FEBEA is launching a Working Group on Youth to address generational renewal and boost young participation in ethical finance. Inspired by successful examples this group will bring together FEBEA members under 35—professionals, shareholders, or informal members—for exchange, learning, and advocacy. All FEBEA members are welcome to join or support this initiative, which will organize regular meetings and activities aligned with the network’s priorities.

Open

Start date:

June 27, 2025

Finish date:

Countries covered:

All EU Countries

Funding organization:

FEBEA

Why: identified needs

FEBEA members, like many other Social Economy organizations, have often expressed concerns about the challenge of generational renewal among their shareholders, and the related need to involve young people in their activities. Many members, including Crédal, Cooperative Bank of Karditsa, and Hefboom, have shown interest in how to engage with and mobilize youth. They have looked to Jóvenes por Fiare (JxF) —an organized youth group from the FEBEA member Fiare Banca Ética in Spain— as a successful example within the network.

Successful initiatives: the case of Jóvenes por Fiare

Jóvenes por Fiare, an organized group of Fiare Banca Etica, has successfully mobilized approximately 60 young participants, towards ethical finance. This group has not only attracted younger clients and shareholders to the bank but also actively advocates for ethical finance among other youth groups in Spain.

The bank in Spain has managed to identify a gap and invest in the necessary resources to engage young people. By attracting young members as both clients and cooperators, the bank encourages them to act as multipliers of its mission and promote ethical finance among their peers in their regions. This approach also helps diversify the age profile of the bank’s membership.

FEBEA aims to inspire and guide other members facing similar challenges by sharing the successes and strategies of JxF, involving their workers and shareholders in an active group at European level and inspire local youth groups around Ethical Finance. The secretariat would like to launch an initiative: a space for participation, exchange, mutual learning, and mobilization as a starting point.

Objectives

FEBEA is launching a new initiative aimed at addressing the generational renewal challenge within FEBEA. Our objective is to:

Foster the development of a new generation of social finance practitioners.
Include the youth perspective in some advocacy activities of FEBEA.
Provide members with proposals and initiatives that can enlarge and reinforce their young social base.

Activities

In order to pursue the stated objectives, FEBEA’s secretariat will:

Create a working group around youth, composed of members under 35 years of age, coming either from the professional teams of FEBEA members or from their shareholder/member base.
The groups will foster a space for exchange, mutual learning, inspiration and activities to promote ethical finance at European level.
Activate methodologies for the creation of youth groups in different European contexts, supporting FEBEA members in fostering generational renewal.
Actively participate in youth summits and initiatives related to social economy (SE) and ethical finance (EF) across Europe as a group.
Hold online meetings to support advocacy on youth-related topics as needed.
Share the progress and activities of the working group with other FEBEA members, and ensure that these activities remain aligned with the network’s priorities.

Yearly activities

The group will have one kick-off meeting after its composition is finalized. There will be at least one in-person encounter held in the context of the FEBEA Annual Conference each year, with additional opportunities for meetings as needed. Members of the working group will attend at least two events—either in person or online—involving other social economy or alternative finance groups with young participants, focusing on related topics to strengthen outreach and build alliances. Additionally, the group will hold at least three online meetings to coordinate ongoing topics and priorities.

Group Coordination and Composition

Coordination: The group will initially be supervised and supported by Darío Gómez-Cornejo and María Elejalde from the FEBEA Secretariat.
Membership: The group will be open to all young people (under 35) from FEBEA member organizations—whether as professionals, informal group members, or shareholders/members.
Diversity: We aim for a diverse group, representing multiple nationalities, and operating in an international, European environment.
Working Language: English will be the working language of the group.
FEBEA members will support the working group as far as their capacities permit (in terms of time, resources, expertise, etc.).

To participate

If you are interested in knowing more or participating, please send an email to maria.elejalde@febea.org and let us know who from your organization will be taking part. If your organization is interested in participating but uncertain about how to proceed, please do not hesitate to contact us; we will be glad to support you throughout this process.

We encourage all FEBEA members to join this exciting initiative and help shape the future of ethical finance in Europe!