YOUNG ACTIVISTS SUMMIT

The Young Activists Summit seeks to empower young changemakers advancing sustainability or human rights, and helps them achieve concrete results through visibility, networking, training, and fundraising. Every year, the summit honours a lineup of young activists from all around the world and their outstanding achievements.

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2019

2020

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YAS19 LAUREATES

Antoine Tardy/Young Activists Summit

Advancing good governance

REBECCA KABUO

Democratic Republic of Congo   |   30 Years Old

In 2019, Rebecca joined Goma Actif, a collective that helps people who have been displaced as a result of the conflicts in eastern DRC. Together with other volunteers, Rebecca distributes warm meals to approximately 2,000 people per day, including children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with disabilities and health issues. She also runs a free mobile clinic with a doctor and two nurses.

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Thiancle Fotografia

Defending Indigenous people’s rights

Hamangaí Pataxó

Brazil | 27 years old

Hamangaí Pataxó defends territories, advances Indigenous women's rights, promotes university access, and advocates for climate justice. In 2015 she made her mark by participating in Acampamento Terra Livre, Brazil's largest Indigenous mobilization, where she engaged in peaceful protests. Joining youth-led organization, Engajamundo, in 2016, Hamangaí amplified young voices in decision-making spaces globally, championing Brazilian forests and Indigenous people at international forums. Today, she works on reforesting her people's ancestral lands.

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Amy & Ella Meeks/KAP

Fighting plastic pollution

Amy & Ella Meek

United Kingdom | 21 & 18 Years Old

Amy and Ella developed the Plastic Clever scheme, which aims to foster a smarter approach to single-use plastic usage and includes a litter logging app to track and calculate collections done globally. The scheme has grown to engage more than 1800 schools, alongside cafes, businesses, festivals, and many more sectors. 

Along with their family, the two sisters have picked up over 100,000 pieces of plastic litter.

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Antoine Tardy/Young Activists Summit

Fighting against child marriage

Memory Banda

Malawi | 27 years old 

Memory Banda has played a pivotal role in addressing issues affecting the well-being of girls in Malawi. Her advocacy has helped reduce harmful cultural practices and even influenced the law in her country. Her campaign helped raise the minimum legal age for marriage from 15 to 18 years.

In 2018, she founded Foundation4GirlsLeadership (F4GL), a female-led nonprofit that provides training to girls and works to strengthen their rights, promote their access to education and reproductive health services, and end early marriage.

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Nadia’s Initiative

Fighting sexual violence and empowering women

Nadia Murad

Iraq | 31 years old

Nadia Murad founded Nadia’s Initiative, which is dedicated to rebuilding communities in crisis and advocating globally for survivors of sexual violence. 

Nadia’s homeland, Sinjar, Iraq, was destroyed by ISIS to prevent the Yazidi’s return. Nadia’s Initiative aims to empower women and restore education, healthcare, livelihoods, water and sanitation infrastructure, and culture in the region. For example, it has helped female survivors build businesses and support their communities through livelihood training.

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YAS20 LAUREATES

Sam Rock Photography

Ocean conservation and climate protection

Finlay Pringle

United Kingdom  |  16 years old

Finlay Pringle has led many successful marine conservation campaigns. In 2020, he launched a national movement to ban shark fin soup in UK restaurants. This effort contributed to the introduction of the Shark Fins Act, which bans the import and export of all products containing shark fins. 

Finlay has created global teaching resources on sharks and climate change, which have been used by over 10,000 schools to date. He continues to campaign against marine plastic pollution resulting in the removal of over 12 tons of plastic from Scottish beaches. 

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Esther Ruth Mbabazi/Reuters

Advocating for climate action

Vanessa Nakate

Uganda | 27 years old

Vanessa leverages her platform to champion climate justice for all communities, and focuses on those hardest hit by climate change. She established the Rise Up Movement to amplify the voices of African climate activists. Vanessa also initiated a project to equip rural Ugandan schools with solar panels. Additionally, Vanessa authored ‘A Bigger Picture’, a manifesto advocating for inclusive climate action.

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Locate Victims Beirut

Supporting victims of the Beirut explosion

Emma Sleiman & Zahraa Issa

Lebanon | 19 & 24 Years Old

The explosion in 2020 left many homes without windows, doors, water, or electricity, and some suffered significant structural damage. Hospitals in the city were destroyed. In addition to this catastrophic event, the Lebanese people were facing an economic crisis, political unrest, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In response, Zahraa and Emma engaged in several fundraising efforts to provide victims of the explosion with resources such as free shelter, humanitarian aid, and psychological support.

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Fashion Revolution Guatemala

Revolutionizing the fashion industry for the planet

Alexandra Cerezo

Guatemala | 28 years old

Alexandra Cezero is Guatemala’s Coordinator of Fashion Revolution, the world’s largest fashion activism movement. She leads campaigns for a clean, safe, fair, transparent, and accountable fashion industry. 

Since 2017, she has carried out research on textile innovations that aim to facilitate the transition to sustainable fashion for both designers and manufacturers. Through research, education, and advocacy she is mobilizing citizens, brands, and policymakers to make the necessary changes for a viable and eco-conscious industry. 

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Isaac Otwii/Young Activists Summit

Fighting sexual abuse and empowering girls

Fiona Amony 

Uganda | 28 years old

In her mission to fight gender-based violence, Fiona Amony hosted a radio program that lifts the lid on violence against women and discusses solutions to tackle it. 

She supports police and health workers in conducting community dialogues on gender violence and holds meetings with religious and cultural leaders on the topic.

To reach a wider audience, Fiona publishes information, education, and communication materials on sexual and gender-based violence. 

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Jakob Polacsek/World Economic Forum

Providing education to refugees

Mohamad Al Jounde

Syria | 23 years old

Today, Mohamad Al Jounde is based in Sweden where he launched an NGO, Gharsah Sweden, to support child education and raise funds for the Gharsah School in Lebanon.

As a skilled filmmaker, he is also finding ways to use games and photography to help children heal and learn, all while amplifying their stories. Leveraging his expertise and personal journey, he inspires them to express their emotions and work through difficult experiences using visual arts.

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YAS21 LAUREATES

The Restorers

Female genital mutilation (FGM) prevention

Stacy Owino

Kenya | 24 years old

Stacy Owino is one of the founders of the Uncut Gems Anti-FGM foundation, led by five young women whose passion lies in using technology for social good. 

They run a call center to support girls at risk of FGM. In addition, they train girls in mobile app and business development in an effort to spark their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) interest, and build a community of self-starting problem solvers.

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Killian Domingo/Coral Gardeners

Super-corals for ocean conservation

Titouan Bernicot

French Polynesia | 26 years old

Coral Gardeners, of which Titouan Bernicot is the CEO, started as a team of 50 members and has grown into the largest and most advanced reef restoration program in the world. Its mission is three-fold, to raise awareness, restore, and innovate. Over 100,870 coral reefs have been replanted thanks to their work, but they aren’t stopping there. They aim to plant one million corals by 2025.

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UN Environment Programme

Sustainable farming & climate resilience

Louise Mabulo

Philippines | 25 years old

The Cacao Project, founded by the Filipino environmentalist, aims to shorten the gap between farming production and consumption, ensuring that their work benefits both people and the planet. 

They provide farmers with cacao seedlings and training to responsibly and sustainably produce cacao beans at a quality standard. To date, they have worked with over 200 farmers, planted more than 150,000 trees, and reforested at least 160 hectares of land.

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Lual Mayen

Video games for peace

Lual Mayen

South Sudan | 30 years old

Lual developed ‘Salaam’, a video game where players adopt the role of a refugee and must flee falling bombs, find water and gain energy points to ensure the character’s survival. Through in-app purchases, players can support NGOs working on the ground to provide basic necessities for refugees living in camps. 

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Alexei López Postigo/Young Activists Summit

A bank for children’s education

Jose Quisocala

Peru | 19 years old

Through the Banco del Estudiante Bartselena, Jose Quisocala and his team collect 5 tons of paper per month, saving trees from being felled for paper. The vision of a 7-year-old boy has become a triple-impact project: social, economic, and environmental. It has grown from 20 members to 8,000 ranging from 7- to 18-year-olds, and has garnered attention from the likes of VISA, as well as countries around the world who’d like to replicate the model. 

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Gitanjali Rao

Technology for good

Gitanjali Rao 

USA | 18 years old

Gitanjali Rao is on a mission to introduce simple tools and innovation processes to millions of students worldwide who are eager to learn but have limited resources. She hosts innovation sessions and workshops for students around the globe to inspire them to design their own creative solutions to world problems. 

To date, Gitanjali has inspired over 85,000 students across 6 continents and 46 countries, and has raised over USD 100,000 to enable education equality in rural areas and create maker spaces in refugee camps.

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YAS22 LAUREATES

Andri Tambunan/Global Citizen

Making classrooms safer for LGBTQI+ students

Sameer Jha

USA | 23 years old

The Empathy Alliance was created to make schools and communities at large more inclusive of all students, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. To advance message of inclusivity, Sameer decided to prioritize ‘educating the educators’ on the imporance of inclusivity and how to achieve it. Through keynotes, workshops, op-eds, radio shows, panels and events, Sameer Jha is reaching millions of people across America with a message of love and empathy. Their book ‘Read This, Save Lives’, is a guide to help teachers create more inclusive classrooms. 

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La Voix de l’Espoir

Protecting street children

C'est Prévue Lusila

Democratic Republic of Congo | 23 years old

There are an estimated 20,000 children living on the streets of Kinshasa. Sadly, their life expectancy is only 25 years and they are at high risk of being raped, starved, and abused, as well as coming into contact with diseases.

C’est Prevue is on a mission to protect these children. In addition to providing support to the children at her orphanage, she distributes water, food, and medicine through her health center to every child in need. She also works tirelessly to reunite street children with their families or find suitable orphanages for them.

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Nalani Hernandez/Global Citizen

Promoting disability rights

Keely Cat-Wells

UK & USA | 28 years old

Disney and Google Pixel are amongst the Hollywood studios that are using C Talent. The company, which was founded by Keely, was acquired by Whalar in 2022 and is the largest known investment made in talent with disabilities in the creative industries. 

Today, Keely works on Making Space, a talent acquisition and learning platform that develops accessible pathways to employment and career advancement through employer-backed courses. The platform bridges the education-employment gap and enables companies to access untapped and underrepresented talent pools. 

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Salvador Parra

Fighting pollution & protecting environmental defenders

Sebastian Benfeld

Chile | 23 years old

In 2019, Sebastián Benfeld launched Escazú Ahora, a movement that rallied over 34,000 people and 450 organizations to call for the Chilean government to adopt the Escazú Treaty. It’s the first international agreement to recognize the right to a healthy environment in Latin America and requires individual states to investigate any attack against environmental rights defenders.

Thanks to pressure from Sebastián’s movement, Chile overwhelmingly adhered to the treaty.

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Zulaikha Patel

Fighting against racism

Zulaikha Patel

South Africa | 21 years old

In 2021, Zulaikha Patel wrote ‘My Coily Crowny Hair’, a children’s book that aims to ensure black children feel pride rather than shame about their hair. One year later, she founded Dare to Change, a non-profit organization dedicated to children's literacy. The organization provides access to books for children in disadvantaged rural and township communities across South Africa. To date, reading corners have been built in 4 underprivileged schools nationwide, reaching 8,000 children. 

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Olivia Falcigno/Global Citizen

Giving girls access to education

Pashtana Durrani

Afghanistan | 26 years old

When the Taliban took over in 2021, Pashtana fled to the US, where she continues to educate girls in underground schools in Afghanistan and provides them with the skills needed to earn an income – thus avoiding being trapped in child marriage.

LEARN has supported over 7,000 Afghan women and girls by providing resources, professional training, mentoring, and access to technology. The organization offers classes in various subjects and has developed an app for offline learning, including access to games, books, and videos.

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YAS23 LAUREATES

Amit Rudro/Young Activists Summit

Rohingya people’s rights

Maung Sawyeddollah 

Myanmar & Bangladesh | 23 years old

Maung Sawyeddollah is actively involved in campaigns to bring those responsible for crimes against the Rohingya to justice. He has engaged with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He is also a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Meta, which he alleges helped facilitate the spread of hate speech and misinformation that contributed to the violence against the Rohingya people. 

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Nisreen Elsaim

Climate action for peace

Nisreen Elsaim

Sudan | 29 years old

As natural resources are becoming increasingly scarce, Nisreen advocates for the need to invest in renewable energies, which will help prevent future conflicts. 

She currently creates English and Arabic language climate change advocacy content that is accessible to blind and deaf people. Her project aims to promote climate literacy and advocacy globally, ensuring equal access to information and resources for action on this critical issue.

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DOAMBA Roland/Young Activists Summit

Peacebuilding

Maïmouna Ba

Burkina Faso | 28 years old

Maïmouna Ba teamed up with a group of young women from the Sahel region, to create an organization called Women for Dignity in the Sahel, which is dedicated to supporting women and children displaced by violent extremism in Burkina Faso. They educate children affected by conflicts, offer psychological support, empower women through income-generating activities, and ensure access to healthcare for children and pregnant women.

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Abhishek Madhukar/Young Activists Summit

Child marriage prevention

Roshni Perween

India | 26 years old

Roshni takes a multi-pronged approach to reducing the number of child marriage cases. She integrates children into regular education systems; organizes groups of child champions who know to alert authorities when a girl is missing school; and develops awareness and advocacy campaigns that call for the ban of child marriages in collaboration with local authorities and community leaders. In areas where child marriage is more prevalent, Roshni supports victims to reclaim their rights and access sustainable livelihoods so that they’re less at-risk. 

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Francisco Vera

Environmental protection

Francisco Vera

Colombia | 15 years old

In 2020 Francisco founded Guardians for Life, a movement of over 500 Colombian children promoting new leadership, environmental awareness, and civic, climate, and environmental education. In 2022, he drafted the ‘Joint Declaration of #EcoHope’ advocating for children’s participation in climate change decisions. The declaration has been circulated to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the EU Vice President. His book, ‘Ask Francisco: What Is Climate Change?’ aims to help kids understand the climate crisis and remain hopeful about the future. 

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