Anael is the Co-founder of SYAH Seychelles, a youth-led NGO working to advance youth-led initiatives in the area of sustainable development. She is an avid advocate for the sustainable development goals and volunteers a lot of her time for causes which will further attain these goals. Her main areas of interest include social, environment and health issues.

Anael’s project is a sustainable tourism project called “Sea You In Seychelles” that aims to equip unemployed youth with entrepreneurial skills by advancing green business ideas. The project is part of SYAH Seychelles’ wider aim to achieve environment conservation. SYAH Seychelles successfully led a nationwide campaign to ban plastic bags and the ban took effect in July 2017. The association has then found the need to provide the population with alternatives to help reduce the negative impact on the environment and ocean. “Sea You In Seychelles” fittingly tackles SDG 1- Poverty, SDG 14- Life below water and SDG 15- Life on Land.

The pilot phase was launched in September 2017 with six candidates aged between 16 and 23 years old. They produced 100 reusable bags with the “Sea You In Seychelles” label and these were sold with a local hotel partner, raising SCR25,000 (approximately £1,400).

"Anael currently works in the Performance Audit unit at the Office of the Auditor General in Seychelles. She aspires to become a Chartered Accountant. Her dream is to use her skills obtained professionally and through civic work to sustain the SYAH Seychelles NGO and develop the association to grow independently.

With regards to the project, she hopes that it will encompass smaller projects such as job fairs and recruitment/entrepreneurship training programmes to effectively get young people to take an interest in green business ideas, as well as tackling youth unemployment."

Global champion and advocate for sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for the underserved, Costase Ndayishimiye is a Medical Doctor and Principal co-founder of "Strive for Health-Rwanda", a youth-led organisation advocating for inclusive healthcare delivery to poorly served adolescents, indigenous communities, and people with disabilities.

Strive for Health-Rwanda conducts advocacy activities for the aforementioned groups of people, as they are statistically more likely to face health inequalities. Many grow up with a lack of knowledge about their bodies, which can later cause further challenges including violations of their SRHR, gender based violence, and sexual reproductive health injustice.

"I am ambitious about closing current gaps depriving inclusive health service delivery to underserved. Similary, at Strive for Health-Rwanda, we are very concerned about the healthcare delivery to people with disabilities, especially those with hearing loss (PLHDs)."

Dan is the co-founder of Digitech Group, a consortium of companies with interests in technologies ranging from fintech companies, research, and AI driven technologies for healthcare. His project, Pathfinder, is a hand-held technical device that assists and improves mobility for people living with visual impairment. This gadget serves to encourage a greater degree of contextual awareness and navigational freedom in both personal and shared spaces.

"I wish to see of the people I work with, thrive in their respective careers and personal lives too."

Felix is an award winning social entrepreneur who believes in the universal right to healthcare and social protection. He’s passionate on working with rural communities in technology and entrepreneurship, with a focus on health projects and poverty reduction in developing regions.

After losing his aunt during childbirth, Felix began to focus his work on reducing maternal mortality rates. He founded MAMA Plus, a mobile phone health education service using low cost technologies to improve the healthcare of pregnant women and newborn babies in Tanzania, by providing live-saving, medically accurate health information.

"The long term goal for our initiative is to improve the health outcomes of pregnant mothers using technology and ensuring that no mother should die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and child birth."

Glenn is the founder/Lead Product Engineer for AwezaMed. AwezaMed is a mobile app which addresses communication and language barriers between medical professionals and patients in South Africa. The app allows medical professionals to speak to patients in their mother tongue, using speech recognition and text-to-speech synthesis. The current focus is on women’s sexual and reproductive health, and is currently at the end of its first year of a 2.5-year pilot.

This project was inspired by the harsh reality of language barriers in South Africa, which has 11 official languages. Language barriers negatively impact many South African’s access to jobs, important information and vital services such as education and healthcare, often resulting in inaccurate diagnosis and poor patient experiences.

"Language, culture, and technology have always been passions of mine, and through this, I came to dedicate myself to use my skills and experiences as a digital product engineer to address these language barriers.

AwezaMed has an exciting roadmap for the way forward. This includes supporting translation in more African languages (French, Swahili, Portugues, Arabic) and curating content which deals with domains such as disease control and emergency relief, as well as an educational element for healthcare practitioners to build cultural competence in their own time.

Up until now, this project has been self-funded, at times with great difficulty. It is my hope to receive the funding necessary to support this technological growth and expansion across Africa and beyond."

Kaene Disepo is the founder and Chair of an NGO called Inspired Horizons Association, that serves to redefine the concept of academic ‘excellence’ in a way that advocates and encourages the development of well-rounded and passionate young leaders, while fostering tools that promote skills development. He has pioneered a number of initiatives within the NGO such as Young Mothers Support Programme, After-School Clubs, Business Mentorship and recently, the country’s first ever International Universities Career Fair and Networking Forum.

He is a Botswana Top Achiever, and an MSc in Development Management graduate, with a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He specializes in education, skills development training and consulting for international development and management. Kaene currently serves as the youngest Board Member of the Department of Tertiary Education Financing’s Top Achievers Review Committee and Board Member of the Botswana National Youth Council. He has represented Botswana in numerous international forums and is the country’s youngest TEDx Speaker holder. In 2017 and 2018, Kaene was recognized as Britain’s Young Future Leader, ‘Rare Rising Star’ Second Best Black Student and the LSE’s Young African Leader, respectively.

Kaveto is an alumnus of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, a flagship executive-style programme started by former U.S. president Barack Obama. With a strong background in Finance and Accounting, he co-founded a social enterprise to tackle the global sanitation crisis.

After almost 30 years of democracy, 49% of Namibians practice open defecation - statistically one of the highest rates in Africa, following Somalia and South Sudan. Growing up, Kaveto believed it was normal for people of colour to not have toilets in their homes. During apartheid, there were signs on the beach that reserved toilets for whites only.

A monumental trip to his home village in 2014 opened his eyes to the harsh realities of people at the base of the pyramid, as he watched his grandmother walk 7 kilometers to find some privacy. As a person of color, he felt challenged to work as a social entrepreneur to ensure the basic human right of sanitation is met for Namibians.

“We hope to provide a waterless toilet in every home that needs one, starting with my grandmother and then reaching the 2.4 billion people.

For now, we have very modest milestones over the next two years. Our go-to-market strategy is to firstly introduce the NEST through a B2C (Business-To-Consumer) model for households and gain acceptance of the system at scale.”

A forensic scientist by profession, Mathaba is co-founder of Butha-Buthe Athletics and Education Club in Lesotho. Since 2016, he has worked with youth in the local community as their trainer in the district athletic club, which sees a yearly average of 20 athletes aged 10-30+ take part.

Butha-Buthe Athletics and Education Club deals with youth development through educational programmes and sports to empower youth. With high unemployment rates and often a difficulty accessing quality education, Mathaba is motivated to help youth use their talents as a career, help them realise opportunities around them, and encourage them to make informed decisions.

"We aim to see our youth more developed and making a mark in their sports careers. Already the feedback is very promising. We have seen a number of our athletes advance to national championships and some even getting a chance to compete internationally.

As well as sports, I have been running an initiative within the club that empowers youth on education issues and gives help to those who struggle financially to have access to funding in the country from the government and non-governmental organisations. We therefore intend to secure more resources for the club and mostly for our educational programs. We will possibly make the academy a social enterprise for it to sustain itself while promoting education and skill development in the community."

Coaching for Hope and Transformation (CHT) is a community engagement programme that combines sports and education with life skills training to make lasting changes in the lives of young people in Ghana.

Innocents is a soccer coach with a drive to create positive changes in society using sport. In 2011, whilst volunteering as a teacher in a new community school in his village, Innocents witnessed how a lot of children roamed the streets after school whilst waiting for their parents to return home from their farms. These children were exposed to negative environments which led to school absences and more.

Driven by his passion for sports, Innocents started an after school sports club to create a platform for children to play, learn and be mentored in a safe environment, whilst building a sense of community.

"My vision is that, one day, all children will wake up in communities that believe in them and provide them the chance to play, learn, experience, dream, grow, succeed and thrive.

We are looking at designing a capacity building programme to develop youths in marginalized communities to be local coaches. Integrating sports-for-development approach into their training and their skillset, they would serve as life coaches that have the ability to support youth in their communities."

Jacqueline is a Chemical Engineer turned entrepreneur. Her project, Jay’s Creations, exists to train vulnerable women/girls as well as young unemployed graduates in several skills that can generate income.

Jay's Creations trains them participants in making local hand-made crafts, such as yarn crafts and shaggy mats. Jay's Creations also empowers women in business management skills to help them efficiently run their businesses. They are taught how to up-cycle materials such as used wine bottles, plastic bottles, old clothes and polythene bags and turn them into beautiful craft items. At the end of each training cycle, Jacqueline hires some of these ladies to work with her, whilst the others have developed skills to support them in the future.

"My ambition for myself and Jay’s Creations is for us to expand our market and the products we make, to allow us to export to other countries. I also want to be able to expand and create more jobs for trainee retention. For those trainees who go on to form their own business, we would like to give them support by helping them access bigger markets for their products, and also access seed capital for their venture. I would also like to set up a loan fund where trainees can access capital which they pay back over time with a small interest that will be used to loan more trainees."

Matthew works for Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation. Towards the end of his higher education studies, Matthew became engaged in a sports programme designed to support refugees with their education, and where both children and youth are engaged in running in the Kakuma refugee camp. This programme is part of the Higher Education project of the University of Geneva, called InZone, and is designed to support the social-emotional learning skills of the participants, while at the same time ensuring that children and youth further their education. Matthew coordinates the sports program locally and collaborates closely with the team at the University of Geneva.

"My own inspiration came from the advocacy of sports for refugees and refugee empowerment. I am an athlete, I run short distances - 100m and 200m. Being in the Refugee Olympics Team in 2016, although I did not make it to Rio, did not just motivate me to do more for my sports career, but also to try and share the knowledge I have about athletics with my fellow refugees. It became my dream that if I do not go to the Olympics then I should train refugees who will go and participate in the Olympics some day.

My ambition is to become a sport manager who does not just focus on the success of athletes but also nurtures upcoming talents and ensures that they achieve their dreams; I am convinced that we can use sports as a tool to promote peace and unity among different nationalities in the refugee communities."

One of Swaziland’s most recognizable activists, Melusi Simelane is a name synonymous with human rights. As the founder of Eswatini Sexual & Gender Minorities (ESGM), Simelane uses his voice to bring awareness to the conditions under which the LGBTI community and all minority groups live in Swaziland.

As a passionate scholar and activist, he is an invaluable resource in driving the fight against discrimination forward through education, dialogue and capacity building. This was first demonstrated in the hosting of the inaugural Pride Celebrations which took place in June 2018. In April 2019, he founded this new organisation with the intent of moving forward the LGBTI movement in Eswatini. ESGM is the first and only organisation in the country to explicitly form to advocate on both legal and policy matters, as well as social issues.

"Our mission statement is: 'Eswatini Sexual & Gender Minorities is focused on advancing the protection of human rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex persons in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The organisation is further working on reducing harm that affects the well-being of Emaswati based on sexual orientation and gender identity & expression.' This is going to be achieved by a continued community mobilisation and consultations with the members of ESGM, who are the lifeblood of the LGBTI Movement itself. We hope to first and foremost achieve the decriminalisation of same-sex intimacy."

Muhammed is a young mental health professional who co-founded community based organization No Health Without Mental Health - The Gambia, which is supporting mental health service efforts in all regions of The Gambia.

The project was initiated in July 2016 following a national training programme on a local mental health treatment guide, that was intended to curb the huge service capacity gap in the country. He realized from his early college days that a very small percentage of healthcare professionals wanted to go into mental health as a profession. This was due to non-prioritization by the key stakeholders, a lack of motivation, and the myths and stigma attached.

NHWMH is benefitting Gambians with mental health service needs, including women, children and adolescents - irrespective of race, ethnicity, religious backgrounds or socio-economic status. The project also seeks to empower mental health service providers and advocates for key issues affecting mental health service users and providers.

"A major long term goal for this project is to help establish and retain mental health and psychosocial rehabilitation centers in all regions of the country. There is barely a psychiatrist to provide the mental health needs of the total Gambian population, with only few trained psychiatric nurses mainly situated in the Urban setting. NHMH-GM seeks to reduce and meet the mental health needs by establishing a rehabilitation or mental health unit with inpatient capacity in each region.

Personally, I will like to develop my expertise in terms of primary care mental health as this is one of the major solutions to bring mental health service to the doorsteps of every Gambian, with the increased efforts of The Gambia Government towards primary health care."

In October 2018, Moringa Women Project was born. The project exists to empower rural women with sustainable economic skills, whilst at the same time building healthier communities and a greener planet through local Moringa Production. The project is promoting organic production of moringa through greenhouses, whilst are also raising community voices to raise awareness on healthy living.

"In five to ten years, Moringa Women project envisages empowered communities - especially women and young out-of-school adolescent’s girls - in the production and processing of Moringa. With more Moringa trees planted, we want to open a low-carbon Moringa factory to add value to our products and grow the supply chain to end users world wide.

Through the factory, we will raise money to engage more community groups and schools in growing moringa and other trees. We will also support our girls and women in education and agribusiness respectively. Personally, I wish to upgrade my studies to learn more about permaculture and agribusiness to fully support the project."

Patu Ndango is a zerowaste activist and promoter of circular economy. Her educational background cuts across environmental science, international relations and sustainable development. She is a 2019/2020 Chevening scholar, an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society, a 2016 Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneur, a 2017 Techwomen fellow, a 2018 Obama Leader, a 2018 Youth for Africa and SDGs Ambassador, and a fellow of the African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative.

In 2016, she founded Closed-Loop System Ventures, a social enterprise which turns different types of waste into valuable consumer goods. Her initial focus was on organic waste matter, which is transformed into natural fertilizer. This later expanded to include other wastes, such as tyres and old clothing.

Patu is equally the founding President of CLSV Foundation, a not-for-profit organization established in 2018 with the main objective to promote circular economies and contribute in reducing the amount of waste that ends up within the environment, in open dumpsites and landfills.

She strongly believes in the ability of the youth to be solution providers and agents of positive change by turning challenges into opportunities.

“I wish to have the largest waste valorization company in Africa as well as a top leading organization promoting circular economy, innovative waste management practices and environmental protection as a whole.

By 2022, CLSV should be implementing an innovative compensation model which promotes education for all. Through this model, we will establish several waste collection points where people can bring in their waste in exchange for points. The cummulated points can then be exchanged for a reward in cash, kind or education sponsorship.”

Samantha is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) young leader and a project director for Girls Mentorship Program. In her country, sports is male dominated, with culture and region hindering girls from participating or staying in sports.

As women’s participation on and off the field of play kept decreasing, Samantha knew she had to come up with something that could help improve female participation in sports. So, inspired by her personal journey of mentorship, she started Girls Mentorship Program.

Through this project, she invited high-profile Zambian women from the sporting world — such as National Director of Sport Bessie Chelemu, Executive Director of the Zambian National Olympic Committee Brenda Chipande and head coach of the women’s football team Enala Phiri — to serve as mentors to a group of young female leaders in sports, discussing topics like leadership, ambition and empowerment. These girls participated in workshops that covered topics indluding financial literacy, nutrition, professional development and HIV/AIDS prevention, amongst others. Additionally, they were trained to become mentors themselves, so they were equipped to transfer their learnings to other young girls in their communities and build a positive cycle of female education and empowerment.

"My ambition for myself is to turn my project into a social business that will address the SDGs Zero poverty and Gender Equality. Using the same concept of mentorship, I plan to empower girls in sports with small business loans that can help them become economically sustainable."

In Nigeria, access to education for women remains a challenge. In 2017, Sandra founded Fempower Africa, an innovation hub that serves female tech entrepreneurs in Africa.

Sandra had seen how technology was transforming businesses by positioning them for funding and growth. She wanted to teach technology to every female entrepreneur in Nigeria, so decided to set up a team. Together, they developed a model where they were able to connect women with people who had technology skill-sets for hire or learning purposes. Fempower Africa also organised workshops, conferences, and learning sessions seasonally. It wasn't long before they were expanding across five countries in Africa, training over 2000 women on tech and supporting a community of over 20,000 supporters and participants collectively. For sustainability, Fempower Africa offers paid internship placements for beneficiaries, providing female technical talents for companies.

"We plan to scale our impact at Fempower Africa to reach 2 million women and equip them with knowledge on how to build a transgenerational global technology enterprise, and also establish more funding opportunities for women-owned initiatives.

Personally, I plan to further my education, gain work experience at an International female-focused non-profit organisation, which will enable me acquire leadership skills to improve our work."

Sarvesh is the founder of Grand River South East Youth Circle (GRSEYC), which focuses on children and youth development, empowerment and engagement through numerous educational, environmental, cultural and sports projects in the community of Grand River South East and the neighbouring region.

Recipient of the National Youth Excellence Award in the field of Leadership and Community Work in 2015 (Ministry of Youth & Sports), Sarvesh was presented the Most Outstanding Young Person of Mauritius Award by JCI in 2017. He is also the Secretary-General of Mauritius Gymnastics Federation, a national sports federation connecting 11 sports clubs in Mauritius, and works to promote and develop gymnastics in the country, advocating sport as a positive outlet for good.

"With regards to my project, we firstly need to keep the momentum with our ongoing and existing activities and projects. In a view to reach more youth, we are structuring the Youth Circle Network of Mauritius with youth from all around Mauritius. So far, we have set up branches (youth circles) in three different regions as we inspire to become the largest youth-led NGO in Mauritius, uniting the Mauritian youth and propagating the works we are currently doing. We intend to activate more youth circles in different areas in Mauritius and create a greater national impact. This will excitingly involve more projects, more leaders and more resources."

Yasmine Bilkis Ibrahim is an educator, feminist, social entrepreneur and blogger. As an embodiment of all four, she believes in nurturing and stimulating young minds and that no act of change is too small; everyone has a role to play in their community. This is reflected in her social business 'Ori from Sierra Leone', which produces unisex shea butter based products for skin and hair, as 5% of proceeds goes to support Girl Up Vine Club Sierra Leone, where Yasmine has served as Founding Director since 2016.

Girl Up Vine Club Sierra Leone (Girl Up) is the first UN Foundation Girl Up Club in the country that aims to promote the health, safety, leadership and education of adolescent girls aged 11-17. Girl Up’s main projects are Menstrual Hygiene Management, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, digital rights and Sexual and Gender Based Violence, which are initiated through community outreach, advocacy and public speaking workshops.

“For myself, I would like to obtain a master's in Public Health with a concentration in Mental Health of Adolescent Girl Heath and expand my social enterprise through crowdfunding. For Girl Up, I would like it to become an adolescent girl training center in West Africa for girl child capacity building. The administration of Vine Memorial Secondary School for Girls donated a two storey structure to us. Though dilapidated, we would like to raise funds to create a resource center and office space downstairs and upstairs to have a short stay dormitory for out of town visitors/interns to run the center but also for a place to stay for girls in need who are facing unsafe domestic issues in their various homes.”

Adeline Ng is passionate in the area of sustainable fashion and social development. As a fashion enthusiast, Adeline Ng loved styling different clothing pieces. However, when she learnt about the damage the fashion industry was causing to the environment, she could not bear to consume fashion in the same way.

Her current venture, Revofa, is a community-driven movement that encourages women to rent clothes through an online platform, with the mission to support the reduction of textile wastage in landfills, and water pollution in clothing manufacturing.

As a social project, Revofa also contributes to clothing donation initiatives, offering pre-loved garments to those in need, and providing school essentials to Indigenous communities in Malaysia.

"I hope to be a contributing factor and impact maker through the work that I do. I want to empower lives through the projects that I create.

My vision for Revofa is for it to be replicated in many other countries around the world as I believe the communities and the environment will benefit from it. I hope that this platform could provide an extra income to the users to help them enrich their lives and at the same time save tonnes of textile waste in our landfills and water from being polluted through clothing manufacturing."

Gulnahar Mahbub Monika (Monika) has played Basketball for her National Team since 2015. She is also a Computer Science and Software Engineer, currently working in an IT Company as a Software Quality Assurance Engineer.

Since July 2018, Monika has been working on her project “Deshi Ballers”. Despite developments in recent times, Bangladesh still struggles with gender inequality. Through her venture, Monika is aiming to reduce this discrimination, especially in the sector of sports.

As a female athlete herself, she faced a lot of problems and prejudice in her sporting life, due to the gender disparity in society. Her frustrations and experiences have ulimately inspired her to drive positive change.

Deshi Ballers helps women in Bangladesh to play basketball at a competitive level, by providing opportunities and a foundation in the many skills required to be a strong basketball player. Their mission is to teach, develop, organize, manage and offer female players in Bangladesh opportunities to learn and play basketball, while instilling life-lessons and values such as character, teamwork, discipline, respect, and sportsmanship. Monika also sees Deshi Ballers as a way to motivate and inspire girls to take sports more seriously than just a hobby.

"Our project only focuses on female basketball players so our long-term goal is to shrink the margin between men and women in the perspective of opportunities, facilities, growth and especially in financial status. Further, through sports we have plans to encourage rural girls to come out of their shells and participate more in these activities, as sport is the best way to shape one’s personality while growing up. We are also helping some organizations to build playgrounds for women as they often do not get the opportunity to play, due to lack of grounds or male dominance on the court. We also have plans to organize coaches and referee training sessions for those who want to pursue their careers in these sectors, as Bangladesh doesn't have any local, national or international female basketball coaches or referees yet.

Additionally, by 2024, our target is to inaugurate the first-ever national women’s basketball league in Bangladesh. I am determined and passionate to do something for my country in the field of sports. I believe sport is not only about medals, it teaches us how to compete, learn how to win and lose. Moreover, my ambition is to gain knowledge about how the sports industry works as other countries are much ahead of us in this segment. In the long run, I want to absorb and put that wisdom into practice for my country and want to inspire others through my experiences."

Hafiz is a chemical engineer turned social entrepreneur, and a climate policy enthusiast who believes in the power of sustainable technological interventions to solve the global issues. He is the co-founder of PakVitae.org, a clean water initiative that has impacted over 11,000 people thus far.

In 2015, one of his close friends, who is also the co-founder of PakVitae, almost lost his life due to chronic diarrhea, which made Hafiz realize the hardships and pain some people in underserved communities have to go through in Pakistan. As he and his team took a deep-dive into the problem, they came to learn of the graveness and severity of water-borne diseases.

Hafiz and his team decided to leverage their technical background and started a journey of exploration and lab experimentations, with a mission to come up with a solution that could defy the challenges of affordability and accessibility to provide clean drinking water to the masses locally and globally.

PakVitae was founded with a goal to reach 10 million people living in underserved communities by 2020 and provide them with access to affordable clean drinking water.

"I want to innovate disruptive technological solutions and more importantly want to learn that how I can successfully integrate these solutions in the modern society for the deliverance of substantial positive impact. I want to make my project into a successful global effort towards solving the problems of water scarcity and water drinkability by turning it into a sustainable and impact-oriented social business, and an organization that thrives for innovation and practices aligned with the first principles of sustainable development agenda."

Parbhath started STEMUP Educational Foundation with his office colleagues back in 2016, with the mission of inspiring and engaging students to become interested in pursuing STEM careers, and to become innovators and problem solvers rather than consumers.

With a focus on disadvantaged children in rural areas, Prabhath's organisation carries out several initiatives to allow children to become more familiar with STEM, problem solving and design-thinking skills.

"The key ambition is to become the national model for STEM education in the country and to expand the program across other South East Asia countries."

Queenie Chong is the co-founder and CEO of Memori, a holistic digital legacy-planning platform that simplifies will-writing, insurance planning and acting as a hybrid commerce for bereavement products and services.

The idea of Memori started when Queenie was grieving for her late uncle and grandparents a few years ago. During this time, she noticed her region had a lack of end-of-life planning services and support options to help families coping with grief. This would often reult in family disputes over the estate, and any other issues that split the family or community.

After delving into the problems, Queenie discovered that it is estimated that more 80% of the population in Southeast Asia do not have wills, due to the taboo surrounding end-of-life discussions and a perception by economically disadvantaged people that the cost of these services is out of reach.

"We aim to disrupt the bereavement industry by simplifying the process of preparing end of life and demystifying a topic that is considered taboo in Asia, to enable everyone to leave a better legacy behind for their loved ones.

We want to create a space to create conversations about social taboos on the end of life. Using questions or workshops to prompt people to reflect and open their hearts to the inevitable reality of death, which stimulates a sense of urgency about living. With that, we also hope that they would clarify their life values and live without regrets."

Sebastian is a student from the Singapore University of Social Sciences and has spearheaded a number of mental health awareness and support campaigns in his country, creating an inclusive and sustainable community. He serves as a youth ambassador, bridging peace and goodwill particularly in ASEAN and Asia-Pacific.

Currently, his work involves advocating for the vulnerable and championing various issues such as mental health, persons with disabilities, digital equality, social justice and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Since 2017, he has been actively involved as a Youth Leader of the Youth Corps Singapore.

"I aspire to serve my country and community in the socio-legal sector. I would advance social justice for the people of Singapore and contribute to our global humanity via global partnership for sustainable development.

I will continue to bridge peace and harmony in my community building work. I am working on building an inclusive society, not only in the rental-flat community but the whole of Singapore. I am looking forward to contributing in my region such as in ASEAN, Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific Region."

Siddhant is a documentary film-maker, fundraiser, social-activist, and writer committed to educating, rehabilitating and empowering youth in speaking up and taking direct action against social injustice.

In 2008, Siddhant accompanied his father (a social worker), to the Saharsa district of Bihar, who was there as a flood relief and rehabilitation worker for the Bihar flood, one of the most disastrous floods in the history of Bihar state of India. Working there on the ground, Siddhant faced the reality of life for the very first time. It inspired him so much he started working for humanity, and produced work on climate change.

Siddhant also started the 'Youth Frontliners' project in 2014 with his school classmates, with the objective to protect the environment and train young people as activists. Using their pocket money, they published monthly environmental magazine 'Nature Lifeline', which raised environmental issues, and organized many tree plantation drives whilst attempting to stop encroachments on nearby ponds by property dealers.

“The long-term goals for the 'Youth Frontliners' are to reach out to 1 million students and young people up to the age of 18 years before 2020, to train them about environmental problems, causes, and the solutions an individual can take at a small level to solve a massive issue. Our project wants to use the asset of young people to turn them into Climate Champions. To fast-track this movement, we are also in the process of appointing one Country Ambassador to Youth Frontliners from each country to work on our behalf in their nation and propagate our message to save the environment.”

As an avid youth and community activist, Amanda enjoys activities that are hands-on and require active engagement. Her organisation, Firefly, is an all-girl community organisation that focuses on the holistic development of the girl child. The name of the organisation was inspired by the nature of the insect. The element of light, literally or figuratively, is imperative in any developmental process. Moreover, Amanda believes female empowerment is central to the development of modern societies.

“First and foremost, my ultimate life goal is upward mobility. I firmly believe that growth must be constant. I have a fervent interest in policy making, so therefore, I'm aspiring to venture into such realm. I envision that my organisation would expand with sub-organisations in both the rural and urban areas in my country. Most importantly, it is a leading catalyst for female empowerment and development.”

Benedict Bryan is Trinidad and Tobago's 2018 Queen's Young Leader, and advisor and founder of the youth-led Humanitarian Association of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. He is also currently a Programme Officer working with UNHCR partner project 'Living Water Community' to build resilience and promote integration amongst the migrant community in Trinidad and Tobago during the Venezuela Crisis.

"My ambition is to have a long lasting impact that will not only assist lives but promote a whole society approach to development within my country and the region. I hope initiatives I implement continue to assist with the recognition of rights for all."

In 2007, aged 16, Christaneisha created The United Youth Leaders of Barbados (UYLB) and later The Caribbean Youth Leadership Retreat (CYLR) to change the thinking that young people cannot contribute to the development of their country.

Through UYLB, they provide a platform to give young people a voice on issues affecting them and arm them with the skills to make a difference in their communities. Some projects include PSAs and campaigns on social and health issues, feeding the homeless, building libraries, community service projects, entrepreneurship and self-development workshops. In addition, members of the charity are key resource personell for youth policies and programmes at a Government and Non-Governmental level. Likewise, CYLR was created with the collaboration of an amazing team of youth leaders for the same purpose - but for the wider Caribbean.

Professionally, Christaneisha is a Clinical Psychologist working with marginalized populations, specifically those who have experienced trauma, those who are living HIV/AIDS and young mothers.

“My ambition is to have a sustainable project and create a social enterprise that will help achieve this goal. We rely heavily on donors and without their support we cannot do the work we are doing. I hope we can expand the retreat to over 100 participants so more teenagers can benefit from this project. I am driven by the need to be the change I want to see in the world! This is my calling!”

Dentrecia is the Founder of Sugar For Your Heart (SFYH) - a non profit focused on creating content, campaigns and community programs to help young persons on the island of St. Kitts to manage their spiritual, emotional and mental health.

SFYH started as a personal blog in which Dentrecia shared inspirational messages and has since expanded to mental and emotional health.

Currently, SFYH hosts monthly safe spaces for young women to unpack self development, self care and mental health challenges, and will soon be hosting the very first session for men. Dentrecia believes these safe spaces are a necessary outlet for young persons who may be silently battling with emotional and mental challenges, giving them the space and freedom to not only share their own stories and experiences but to receive the right education and skills to help them shift their mindsets and futures.

Dentrecia also creates content and social media campaigns around emotional and spiritual wellness, and, when possible speaks on mental health and self development topics to different groups in her community.

"The main goal of SFYH is to continue to provide high quality sessions for young persons on St. Kitts to take charge of their emotional and mental wellbeing and support them beyond the sessions with professional, affordable therapeutic help.

We’re also focused on partnering with other health care programs, groups and organizations that are just as dedicated to making mental and emotional health care more accessible and community-focused as we are.

We also want to continue to journey with young persons through their pains and traumas through similar sessions across other countries within the Eastern Caribbean and connect participants with clinicians and therapists within their country."

Eber Ravariere is an internationally recognized young leader and entrepreneur with a passion for sustainable development, value-added agriculture and leadership.

He is the president of SOUL Youth Agriculture Cooperative Society and the founder of The Pomona Demeter Initiative. Eber dedicates his efforts and resources to changing the socioeconomic landscape for youth, women and families to generate income, create resilience and empower them to become business leaders and innovators within their communities and across their nation.

In the wake of the devastation left by hurricanes in Dominica, Eber joined a national mission to plant a million new trees to aid with the island’s agricultural and floral self-sufficiency regeneration.

Eber has a background in Psychology and Project Management and is also the co-founder of Above Sky Business and Project Support Services. He is a musician and has distinguished himself in areas including youth leadership, youth development, mentorship and strategic planning. His diverse expertise has led him to serve in leadership positions involving high impact development initiatives over the last 10 years.

In recognition of his humanitarian and philanthropic contributions over the years, Eber has been recognized by several prestigious bodies including Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who awarded Eber with the Queen's Young Leader award at Buckingham Palace in 2017. He is also a Professional Fellow of President Barak Obama Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative.

Eber also champions and endorses initiatives focused on volunteerism, meaningful youth engagement, countering violent extremism and child rights.

Geion was established in December 2018 by Jasmine Duncan, whose goal is to reduce the amount of non-biodegradable waste in Saint Lucia's two landfills.

The driving force behind this initiative was the proximity of the Vieux-Fort landfill to the largest mangrove reserve on island and St. Jude’s Hospital. In 2013 the Vieux Fort landfill caught fire, the source being the tyre pile. This repeated itself in 2016, affecting the residents and again resulting in the closure of schools in that area. In 2013 St. Lucia also experienced an epidemic of Dengue Fever type four and in 2019 was placed on alert. Tyre piles are prime grounds for mosquito breeding and these are vectors for such diseases.

Geion seeks to reduce the amount of tyres in the landfills by recycling them into furniture and tiles, consequently reducing the spread of diseases by mosquitoes, as well reducing as underlying impacts such as ground water contamination and fires, both of which can negatively impact the mangrove area.

"The future plan for Geion is to become the primary agent for recycling tyre waste on the island. This will be done by shredding the tyres and creating tiles that can be used for many different projects such as playgrounds, commercial flooring and sidewalks.

The ultimate goal is to remove every tyre that is there and to be in a position to recycle those sent to the landfill. In October of 2019 the Vieux Fort Landfill will reach its capacity and Geion’s plan is to step in and help get rid of these piles. In turn this will reduce the mosquito population and the disease associated with it."

Jason is a thirty-year-old blind individual with a degree in Media and Communication (specialising in Radio), a minor in International Relations and a masters degree in Communication for Social and Behaviour Change (CSBC) from the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus.

Jason's work involves aiding blind and visually impaired individuals to particpate in the sport of blind cricket. Through this avenue, many of the players have represented their country at a regional level, and the West Indies on the international stage.

Jason considers himself a living testimony of the project's positive impact, as his involvement in the sport for the last 14 years has seen an improvement in his self-esteem, self-confidence and leadership potential.

"A primary ambition of mine is to complete the educational pyramid by obtaining a PhD.

Pertaining to the project I’m involved in, it is my hope that it will grow and impact the lives of many more persons who are at risk of becoming self-destructive. We also envision an organization that caters to the holistic development of blind and visually impaired individuals by creating employment for persons who are unable to ordinarily do so."

Founded in 2016, the Guyana Animation Network Inc. (GAN) was created to raise awareness and to advocate for youth opportunities and skills training in digital media, animation and other STEAM career fields. The absence of such opportunities and training has resulted in many young people unable to channel creative and digital skills.

By providing skills-training opportunities to those aged 5 - 35 in digital media, animation and other associated S.T.E.A.M fields, GAN is tackling the low-level of innovation recorded in Guyana. This training is made possible through the strong local, regional and international collaborations built with 86 experts and stakeholders. With a young, vibrant and small team, GAN has trained over 200 youth collectively in digital and creative skills, and 196 girls in ICT in entrepreneurship and innovation, over a 3-year span.

"The long term goal for our organization is to develop various virtual and physical locations in other parts of our country, the Caribbean and within South America. By expanding, we will be able to train more children and youth to fill the digital and creative innovation gap and to prepare them for the future of work.

Our immediate short term goals are to build a strong technical support team; to own its own equipment and/or facilities; and to scale its growth and impact."

Kirkland McIntosh is a 22-year-old certified Youth Leader with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of the Bahamas. Kirkland represents the organisation, Young Life, which seeks to teach life principles to secondary school children by using the Bible, and providing opportunities for them to develop themselves as indiviudals. Furthermore, the organisation helps with education and the mentoring of young people.

Kirkland first joined the organisation in 2016 because he became aware of the amount of children and young adults dropping out of school and turning to crime. He was inspired to become the change he wanted to see and now helps high school children (young men in particular) become their best selves.

In coordination with two high schools, Kirland hosts club meetings once a week and engages with young people in their own settings.

"My ambitions are to become the first practicing Sport Psychologist within the Bahamas, introduce and teach the subject at the University of the Bahamas, and open my own practice. I want to effect change in my country through sports and bring more awareness to the importance of mental health.

My ambition for the organisation is to help it expand into the other islands of the Bahamas. We are currently in Nassau and Freeport. I want to expand to Abaco, Exuma, Eleuthera and Long Island within the next 5 years. I am hoping to train more than 200 new leaders in 5 years to lead Young Life College and YoungLives, to cater to young adults in college and teenage mothers."

Lance has been recognised throughout Canada for his advocacy for opportunity for Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth alike.

As a student, Lezli didn’t feel satisfied with the sexual health information she received. After expressing her concern to teachers and administrative personnel, she was made aware that many schools are managed by the Belize Council of Churches, meaning that most only promote teachings that do not infringe on the issues of conscience – including sexual education.

Wanting to learn more about sexual health, Lezli was referred to Belize Family Life Association where they offer counselling and healthcare education and services. She then joined BFLA’s youth arm, Youth Advocacy Movement and was elected to serve as vice president a year after.

Currently, Lezli is part of a team that is developing strategies to provide comprehensive sexual education and subsidized healthcare services to anyone between the ages of 14-24. As a certified peer educator, Lezli facilitates presentations on sexuality and reproductive health to high school students and has participated in many public and school outreach programmes, sharing key information and advice.

“My future goal is to work jointly with the Minister of Education to revise all primary and secondary school curriculum so that it includes a Comprehensive Sexuality Education course. It is important that children and teenagers become aware of their sexual and reproductive health at an early age in order for them to make educated and responsible decisions as they mature.”

Rickisha has dedicated her advocacy to building platforms and raising the awareness of disability education in her home country, with a particular focus on dyslexia. Her passion to support children with learning disabilities derives from personal experience, having lived with dyslexia and throughout her life dealt with the challenges of learning in classrooms not equipped to deal with these specific needs.

Through the work of her local dyslexia centre, Rickisha learnt to cope and thrive with her challenges. She now helps give other children the tools they need to reach their fullest potential, regardless of learning disabilities.

Rickisha became one of the youngest Past Presidents of the Rotaract Club of Antigua, where she now holds a director position and two district positions. As well as this, she has created and executed a Dyslexia awareness campaign and enhancement incentive by partnering with a local non-profit organization – Project Sync. Rickisha has also launched a "Dyslexic not dumb" campaign featuring herself, a young woman successfully living with the challenges of dyslexia.

“Upcoming for my Dyslexic campaign is to establish dyslexic centres in every Caribbean island. I plan to embark on a career in sociology where I hope to change the social system in Antigua and Barbuda then move on to changing the social system in the wider Caribbean.”

Trained in law and international trade, Ruth strives passionately for equitable access to education and opportunity for all people, regardless of background.

Aice is Head of Invisible (Manchester) - a global social enterprise that trains people who have been affected by homelessness to become walking tour guides of their city. The purpose is to give people a voice, when they haven't had one before, putting them at the center of the attention and challenging the stigmas that exist around homelessness.

Alice's interest in social impact was first ignited whilst on placement as a business consultant to Rwanda's preeminent arts social enterprise in 2017. In 2019, she was awarded the title of G20 Young Global Changer and also delivered a TEDx talk titled ‘People, Places and Power; Connecting to See Things Differently.’

Alice is committed to pursuing social and creative enterprise as an innovative solution to tackle society’s biggest injustices.

"I want the project to grow in capacity; more guides, training, tours, staff and revenue to reinvest in social impact. We also have plans to scale internationally and currently working on our social franchise model.

As for my own ambitions, in the short-term I want to return to academia by doing a masters (topic yet to be discovered). My long-term plans are to continue working in social enterprise and developing this sector in the UK."

Eman Borg is a 24-year-old human right activist, founder and President of Gozo's first LGBTI+ organisation, which works on creating safe spaces and self belief. Numerous educational campaigns, online guidance, social events and social services put this NGO as a highly regarded institution on the island.

Borg is also the secretary-general of the National Youth Council of Malta, responsible for all administrative and directional planning of the youth council. He is the mind behind the first 'SDG Youth Champions; in Malta. He sits as the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sexual Characteristics officer within the Commonwealth Youth Gender Equality Network.

"LGBTI+ Gozo has grown from a single idea to a living organism with an operation that has directly reached over 3000 individuals in 4 years. The organisation has been working tirelessly for the opening up of a GU Clinic (Sexual Health Clinic) in Gozo, in order for the Gozitan population to have basic health rights on the island. Additionally, LGBTI+ Gozo is now venturing onto having its own physical space. This will aid the logistical operation of the organisation and aids professionals in offering their pro bono services. Eman hopes to finish his undergraduate degree in Social Policy and embark in a Master in Diplomacy within the next 2 years."

28-year-old Maria is a political and environmental activist based in Cyprus.

Maria saw a gap in proposing alternative practical ideas on what to use after the banning of single-use plastic items, and has created an environmentally-friendly, reusable bamboo cup for cold and hot beverages.

Within her campaign '#Ferto', there is the business sector aspect, where Maria has reached out to different cafeterias, shops and universities to be a part of the project, and creates incentives for their people to embrace her project.

"The long-term goal of #Ferto is to be in every house in the country and abroad, as a concept. Our aim is not to sell the reusable cup as a product but as an idea to resolve the single-use plastic pollution. We want people to realize that using your own cup in cafeterias and restaurants saves money and resources, and makes people more conscious about their environmental footprint.

We want businesses to realize that embracing this concept, they will be more inclusive to people and act as a good example for others to follow in the matter of banning the single-use plastic items. #Ferto is made with love for either hot or cold beverages, to keep our beaches, streets and conscience clean."

Human Rights activist Cedric received an internship to support Oxfam on a project on Disability Inclusion in DRR and gender issues in 2016. His thirst for gender advocacy became stronger because of the increasing discrimination, stigma and violence in Vanuatu.

Cedric also recently launched The Gender Equality Network, a space to gather people from different backgrounds to discuss gender issues.

"I already have a team of young gender advocators that I work with who have become inspired and join the team and grow everyday. For the future I would like to create a big network for youths interested in gender equality to work and collaborate, because we young people are open to new things and can adapt well. This a future that we want for ourselves and the future generations - one that is free from all forms of violence, and where everyone can access services and become economically independent."

Nauru’s biggest major health concern is obesity, with the small island nation being named the “World’s Fattest Country” by Forbes in 2007. With 94.5% of Nauruan’s classed as overweight, growing up, George could see the effects of this health concern on family and friends.

In 2014, George started to develop, implement and facilitate health and nutritional programmes in an attempt to combat the growing epidemic of obesity-related diseases in Nauru. George also felt it important that Nauruan’s were educated in the food they were consuming and how to transfer this knowledge to make better health and lifestyle decisions.

“My long term goal to inspire students in schools and community members to learn the important of being healthy and participate in physical activity, through development sustainability engagement to interaction with others and promote health awareness.

I will also link to agriculture programmes to educate in growing fresh fruit and vegetables, using traditional diet food from land and sea once provided everything for people. Traditional food is common for most people, but traditional food remains an important source of many nutrients.”

In 2016, Lisa co-founded Yuludarla Karulbo, an Indigenous youth and community led human-centred design platform, which brings Indigenous youth and communities together to share culture with schools and organisations through interactive workshops and technology.

Lisepa Paeniu has been passionately involved with the Fusi Alofa Association (FAA), Tuvalu’s only Disabled Persons’ Organization (DPO).

In 2017, Lisepa conducted consultations and drafted the Constitution for FAA. She also assisted with the consultations for strategic planning and provided legal advice to all members pro bono, as well as attended board meetings as an advisor.

"I hope to ensure the disability rights movement in Tuvalu takes off and is accepted in all communities and spheres. Also, I sincerely hope that the Fusi Alofa Association will branch out into providing more services and assistance throughout Tuvalu, as well as ensuring that people change their outlook in the treatment of people with disabilities."

Megan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication & Development Studies from The Papua New Guinea University of Technology. She initiated Pes Na Ples, an eco-tourism project for her community to empower women and girls to take the lead in environmental conservation and economic empowerment, whilst protecting the endemic plants and animals of the indigenous communities.

The project came to fruition after she volunteered to trek the land mass and document the flora and fauna of 2 of her communities (Ana-Pose, Ward 9 & Eipa, Ward 4 – Morobe LLG). After the scoping, documenting & assessing of the land mass, she saw that potential for an eco-tourism project to make significant positive contributions to the social, cultural and economic well-being of the local community, whilst taking into consideration the environmental aspects as well.

"My ambition is for indigenous communities to be aware of the importance of sustainable development. Development that is conducted not at the expense of depleting resources. Many of the landscapes where indigenous communities live are of extraordinary value, not only for their beauty and the ecosystem they sustain, but also for their biodiversity. Some of these areas are situated in landscapes that will be experiencing social and economic change resulting from factors such as excessive gardening, cutting of trees and alluvial mining.

Pes Na Ples pledges to operate on the 6 principles of Eco- Tourism, identify and protect Papua New Guineas endemic animals in the indigenous communities and encourage local participation in sustainable environmental conservation."

Millicent is a social entrepreneur from the Solomon Islands operating three enterprises, and is also Chair of the Young Entrepreneurs Council Solomon Islands.

Her core initiative, Millicent Designs offers a communication service to tackle adult illiteracy (17% literate) using structures of traditional oral history to effectively translate development projects to our rural communities. This service is called Kastom Stori Taem and it is also a project to mobilise young Solomon Islanders to collect and preserve traditional history before it dies out.

Market Basket is a recent social enterprise launching in November with a garden-to-door delivery concept. Market Basket is passionate about improving the market experience for local farmers and wider-community providing better access to local produce.

YECSI (Young Entrepreneurs Council Solomon Islands) is established through a PPP with Solomon Islands Government and Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is a membership driven organisation existing to support Young Entrepreneurs with capacity building, skills and mentorship opportunities to grow their businesses.

“My ambition for myself is to become an effective serial social entrepreneur growing businesses with a social impact to build resilient communities in the Solomon Islands.”

In 2015, Pania and her cousins established the SOUL Campaign, leaving behind her career in law and health to dedicate her life to the preservation of Ihumaatao – a rare cultural, historical, and ancestral landscape.

Rinesh Sharma is the founder of Smart Farms Fiji, an entity to develop and launch Fiji’s first automated farm that cultivates crops using technology-based sensors, combined with the art of hydroponic farming techniques.

The intiative will help to grow crops all year round, allowing more plants to be grown in any given area. This will result in increased yields, and assure sustainable food production and biodiversity preservation.

"I plan to have multiple farms around the pacific."

Saia Mataele is passionate about enabling and connecting people, and achieving equitable outcomes. His social enterprise, Navigators of Success, is dedicated to inspiring and connecting Māori & Pacific people.

The project's mission is to increase the representation of Māori & Pacific people in influential and leadership positions through digital storytelling and hosting career focused/thought leadership events.

"My personal ambition is to enable and connect more people, create an environment whereby everyone is given the opportunity to prosper in life, and make a difference.

For Navigators of Success, our ambitions are to inspire the new generation of Māori & Pacific leaders, drive change in our communities, increase the representation of Māori & Pacific leaders in influential and leadership positions, and bridge the gap between familiar and unfamiliar for Māori & Pacific people."

Seutatia’s passion is providing safe and nutritious food for her island home. Her family’s farm – Purpose Plantations – strives to make fresh and healthy food affordable, as well as providing their workers and other youths in the community with the guidance to run their own #ChemicalFreeFarms.