Global Citizen’s Emerging Creatives Program provides a platform for emerging creatives in the Global South that are highlighting the need for open civic space worldwide. Through their art, they call for change, shine a light on social injustices, and advocate for the advancement of the Global Goals.
CLASS OF 2023
Onalerona Seane
Onalerona Seane calls himself a creativist, which he describes as being a hybrid between a creative and an activist. He uses poetry to address societal issues in South Africa, focusing mostly on gender-based violence (GBV). The young poet believes that creative work has the power to ignite conversations.
Oluwaseyi Moejoh
Oluwaseyi Moejoh is a Nigerian writer and the only African contributing editor for the youth-led climate publication OH-Wake Magazine. Despite challenges to media freedom in Nigeria, she launched the African chapter of OH-Wake and amplifies youth voices in the fight against the climate crisis.
Ruth Mutana
Ruth Mutana is a creative writer living in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, who uses creative writing to share stories of the disastrous impact of poverty and inequality on vulnerable communities. Mutana chooses to focus on climate-related issues that impact vulnerable people in her writing because to her they are deeply important issues.
Loïca / Angela Valenzuela
Angela Valenzuela believes that music can create hope and togetherness — themes she thinks are important in the fight to defend the planet. A singer-songwriter who performs under the name Loïca, the 29-year-old Chilean artist and activist has been part of projects that use music and art to tell the story of the impact of the climate crisis.
Collectivo Moriviví
Collectivo Moriviví is an all-woman artistic collective based in Puerto Rico dedicated to “democratizing art and bringing the narratives of Puerto Rican communities to the public sphere to create spaces in which they are validated.”
Simphiwe Molefe
South African-born Simphiwe Molefe, uses his photography to show the impacts of energy issues in the country. His collection of images titled, Impilo Iyaqhubeka, translates to mean “life goes on” in isiZulu and looks at how every day members of his community cope with South Africa’s ongoing power crisis.
Fred Mfuranzima
Fred Mfuranzima, a Rwandan writer, poet, artist, and activist, was born in Huye and raised in Kigali’s slums after his family survived the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Witnessing poverty, trauma, and hardship, he dedicated himself to his community’s healing through creativity. Inspired by these challenges, he founded Imfura Heritage in 2017, a multidisciplinary art center promoting peace, mental health, and human rights.
Global Citizen’s Emerging Creatives Program provides a platform for emerging creatives in the Global South that are highlighting the need for open civic space worldwide. Through their art, they call for change, shine a light on social injustices, and advocate for the advancement of the Global Goals.
CLASS OF 2024
Tariq Lawal
Tariq Lawal, an 18-year-old Nigerian artist and activist, uses his art—spanning writing and graphic design—as a tool to challenge societal injustices and spotlight issues like climate change, gender inequality, and corruption. His work reflects a commitment to activism in a repressive civic space.
Aynura Erejepbaeva
Aynura Erejepbaeva uses traditional Karakalpak embroidery to communicate the messages that she wants the world to see related to causes she deeply cares about. The young Uzbekistanian is an environmental, cultural, and gender equality activist from a small village in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region within the country.
Areesha Khuwaja (Pakkhee)
Areesha Khuwaja, known as Pakkhee, is a multidisciplinary digital artist from Karachi, Pakistan, using her art to address environmental and socio-political injustices.
Jean Baptist Mugunga
Jean Baptist Mugunga is a visual artist from Rwanda working with watercolor painting, pencil, and pen. The multi-talented artist adds that the Rwandan government can better support artists like him by “raising awareness about and increasing education related to art.
Thiha
Thiha, a self-taught artist from Myanmar living as a refugee in France, puts his feelings into their creations. He mainly conveys this emotional, artistic ability through painting and cartoons.
Tinaye Mabara
Tinaye Mabara is a storyteller from Botswana. She creates video content for social media with young people in mind. Mabara also facilitates art-based workshops on climate education for the youth.
Alex Nguyen
Vietnamese writer and cultural practitioner Alex Nguyễn amplifies marginalized voices through journalism and multimedia. As Thì Collective's co-founder, she uses art to address social and environmental challenges in Vietnam’s constrained civic space.