YPI takes place in secondary schools in North America and the UK as part of a mandatory course, so that each student across the entire grade level/year is able to participate.
Students begin their YPI experience by taking part in an introductory workshop, forming teams, and working together to identify the social issues that are prevalent in their own community.
Through YPI, charities receive important funding from the youth of their community, and students - acting as young philanthropists - become powerful agents of social change.
YPI was developed by the Tuskan Casale Foundation (founded in 2001, by Frank Tuskan, Victor Casale, and Julie Tuskan-Casale), a family foundation situated in Toronto, Canada, that is dedicated to supporting and strengthening local, community-based social service agencies.
In 2009, the YPI launched in New York City, and through 2010 and 2011 began to be run in Atlantic Canada and Northern Ireland.
[4] In 2011, YPI's president Julie Tuskan-Casale was honored with the first-ever Premier's Award for Philanthropy in Education.
[6] In 2014, YPI celebrated over ten million dollars donated internationally to community-based, social service charities.