Impact Fellows past recipients

Passionate about scaling social solutions using technology and innovations, Ajay is a consultant with earthday.org where he has managed projects to plant millions of trees and help restore 160 hectares of degraded mangrove sites in the fragile Sunderbans in West Bengal, India. He is also on the Stakeholder Council for the WEF’s 1t.org project in India which aims to conserve, restore, and grow a trillion trees by 2030.

The spearhead of the Kolkata Clean Air campaign, Ajay is a qualified Climate Reality Leader in Brisbane, recognised by the North American Association for Environmental Education as a 30 Under 30 Leader 2019, and honoured as a Water Hero by the Government of India for his efforts in water conservation.

Ajay is a 2024 recipient of the Lead2030 Challenge for SDG 3 supported by AstraZeneca and has been awarded $50,000 to help Kolkata Clean Air Network. Formed by One Young World and powered by some of the world’s leading businesses, Lead2030 finds, funds and accelerates SDG solutions created by founders under 30.

Specialising in child health, Alisha is passionate about increasing access to health, rehabilitation and essential services for children. A member of PLAN International Canada’s youth council, she advocates for issues important to Canadian youth, and assists with research into rehabilitation, examining barriers to accessing important care services for children with disabilities.

Her experiences with the Canadian Association of Global Health’s MentorNet programme have fostered her understanding in global health challenges, and areas for development.

Alisha believes attending the One Young World Summit will provide her with an opportunity to learn from global change-makers and discover ways to improve health equity in her community.

Witnessing inequities and being inspired by changemaking leaders led Astha to become a passionate advocate for gender equality and health equity.

To address the impacts on young women’s health in Nepal, she co-founded the Shequal Foundation which she uses to help dismantle patriarchal norms, ensure women and girls have access to education and can pursue their aspirations without discrimination. She also advocates for policies that support women's rights and opportunities.

Through targeted programmes such as KISHORI and Aarambha, she provides rural adolescent girls with comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education. By challenging traditions, Astha helps equip girls with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions.

Motivated by alarming cervical cancer rates and a personal loss, Dr. Adewumi strives to reduce health disparities. His advocacy campaigns have reached millions, emphasising cancer prevention and early detection.

Dedicated to making healthcare services, particularly breast and cervical cancer screening, accessible to all, Quinta Health has screened over 8,000 women for cancer, vaccinated 500 people against Human papillomavirus (HPV), and treated 750 women for cervical dysplasia.

Committed to strengthening the healthcare workforce, Dr. Adewumi trains nurses and mentors medical students. In collaboration with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the government, Quinta Health has established screening centres across Nigeria, making services accessible to under-resourced areas.

Devi Pathak, a Medical Biosciences student at Imperial College London, is passionate about the development of her innovative lung cancer diagnostic tool. PulmoGuard aims to democratise healthcare by making early lung cancer detection accessible and affordable globally.

Growing up with Indian and Dutch parents, she witnessed significant disparities in healthcare access across different countries. Her dedication to this cause was fuelled by observing the devastating effects of late-stage cancer diagnoses during her time shadowing in an intensive-care unit in France.

Her journey from academic researcher to entrepreneurial innovator embodies her vision of a world where lung cancer no longer steals lives due to late detection.

From medical student to youth health advocate, Duy has always believed in nurturing the next generation of health equity champions through meaningful participation.

As co-founder and supervisor of the Network of Health Students Vietnam – a non-profit organisation that advocates for medical students’ voices in the health sector – and founder of Health Alliance for Diversity, Equity and inclUSion Vietnam (HADEUS), Duy puts young people at the centre of promoting health equity.

Duy believes that it is only through working with community-based organisations that a clear understanding of a community’s needs can be developed.

Growing up in Latin America, Eliezer developed an unstoppable passion for providing development opportunities to young people in vulnerable communities who could become agents of social change. Eliezer has implemented projects that identified, trained and developed over 2,000 young people to become leaders in health education, noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention and integral management. He’s particularly proud of helping to shape public policies related to the accessibility of health services, especially for immigrants, women and children.

By partnering with local government authorities and international organisations, he has implemented over 35 community health programmes from waterborne diseases to food security and human rights.

Eliezer is a 2024 recipient of the Lead2030 Challenge for SDG 3 supported by AstraZeneca and has been awarded $50,000 to help Health Horizons International. Formed by One Young World and powered by some of the world’s leading businesses, Lead2030 finds, funds and accelerates SDG solutions created by founders under 30.

Dedicated to promoting the health and wellbeing of young people, Eman is President of the Youth Advisory Council at Al-Shorafa Association and a member of the Youth Advisory Council in Cairo Governorate.

Alarmed by the impact of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), responsible for 85% of total deaths in Egypt¹, and witnessing family members suffer from diabetes has fuelled Eman’s commitment to bridge health knowledge gaps within the community.

Eman raises awareness about NCDs and risk factors such as lack of exercise, tobacco smoking and air pollution. Through seminars, workshops, and theatre, Eman has inspired many to adopt healthier lifestyles and improve their overall health.

With lived experience of sickle cell anaemia, Fatumata is passionate about advocating for equity in health systems for young former refugees and marginalised individuals with disabilities or health conditions.

She is a Policy, Advocacy and Research committee member on the Commonwealth Youth Health Network – a youth-led team that partners with the Commonwealth Secretariat and member countries in achieving health-related development goals, especially for adolescents and young people.

The network amplifies the voices of young people from across the Commonwealth on issues affecting their health and wellbeing; from the development of an antimicrobial resistance youth engagement toolkit to promoting equity on World Health Day.

Hiroaki is a graduate student studying a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Social Epidemiology, exploring the relationship between how social and structural inequities affect health.

His current university project investigates how education mitigates the negative impacts of low socio-economic status at birth from a life-course perspective. Hiroaki specifically focuses on causality, interaction, and mediating pathways to identify points of intervention and promote the development of effective preventive strategies to reduce health disparities.

In collaboration with experts in educational economics and developmental psychology, Hiroaki aims to provide evidence on the impact of early childhood education and care on the relationship between early childhood adversity and health.

Driven by the goal of early detection of preventable diseases, Jose, a Colombian data scientist, is passionate about education and transforming healthcare through artificial intelligence (AI). He is the co-founder of Arkangel AI, a start-up that turns medical data into AI solutions to improve health equity and access. To date, they claim to have impacted over 68 million patients, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and operational performance of the healthcare system.

Through partnerships with healthcare organisations, Arkangel AI designs tools adaptable to current health systems that meet community needs, even in remote areas, aiming to improve diagnoses, accessibility, and patient outcomes. The support from the YHP Impact Fellowship will help support Jose as he aims to scale Arkangel AI’s designs and solutions, increase their global presence, and reduce medical errors.

Julio volunteers with the Young Health Programme (YHP) in Brazil while continuing his academic studies, working to raise awareness about the risks of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Engaging with young people through various teaching activities, he uses the skills he’s developed to support participants socially, physically, and mentally. He’s also often on hand to help mentor people who have recently joined the YHP.

Quoted in a Brazilian government’s book on the rights of children and adolescents, Julio has always believed in youth engagement in health activism. He aspires to help young people learn more about NCDs within his community and plans to utilise his role in the YHP to spread the message of health equity around the globe.

LaShyra “Lash” Nolen is a nationally renowned writer, speaker, and physician activist. She is an internal medicine resident physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital where her work centres on increasing access to medical care for marginalised populations and antiracism in medical education. Her writing has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and Teen Vogue, among others.

Dr. Nolen is also the founding executive director of We Got Us, a Boston-based youth and student-led grassroots community empowerment project with the mission to increase access to education and healing for marginalised communities. She is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a Fulbright scholar, and Forbes “30 Under 30” in Healthcare honouree.

Before joining Fundation Balia, whose mission is to promote the social inclusion of minors at risk, Laura honed her skills working with young people at risk of exclusion, helping them grow through activities based on health, equality, teamwork, ecology and climate change.

With a firm belief that adolescence is a key life period for developing character, she works hard to ensure that important causes and a sense of community are incorporated into daily tasks.

The YHP Impact Fellowship will offer her the opportunity to gain experiences, meet new people and hear inspirational stories. She believes her participation in the One Young World Summit will provide an unforgettable experience, learning from people from around the world.

Originally from Lebanon, Léa founded Aïda (named after her grandmother) and became Europe’s youngest charity president. A non-governmental organisation created to help adolescents and young adults in their fight against cancer and rare chronic diseases, Aïda was the first non-profit organisation in France to enable young people to be involved in hospital work.

In the 10 years since its foundation, Aïda has grown to 30 employees and worked with 80,000 young people. The charity trains 2,500 youth volunteers each year with the volunteers working daily in 70 partner hospitals across France.

Léa has received numerous awards and is listed among Forbes France’s ‘30 under 30’ and Top 40 Women lists in 2023.

As a medical doctor with an entrepreneurial spirit, Momen is committed to advocating for digitalising the quality healthcare process and making it more affordable.

To achieve this vision, he founded Eyiada – a medical platform that simulates family-medicine specialisation using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. It can therefore cultivate connections between patients and specialised doctors for their needs.

The YHP Impact Fellowship will allow Momen to participate in a worldwide community of impact-driven entrepreneurs and mentors. He believes his impact can be increased through the social and business skills training and networking opportunities it will offer.

Raised in Kibera, Kenya, Naomi witnessed numerous health inequalities in access to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) care. Now, her organisation’s mission is to increase access to diabetes and hypertension care in impoverished areas.

Afya Carecomm works in communities to raise awareness about NCDs and the risk factors associated that will help with prevention. By winning Aspire Institute’s Social Impact Seed Funding (SISF) 2024 and through a partnership with another community organisation, Afya Carecomm is conducting free mobile clinics in Nairobi settlements. These clinics provide free services including screening for diabetes and hypertension, health education, medical consultation, mental health support, and prescription refills.

Nilashis is determined to revolutionise Health Tech. He leads a dedicated team striving to enhance healthcare quality for millions by utilising advanced, data-driven artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.

Nilashis’ mission is to make healthcare more accessible, efficient, and effective through the innovative application of technology. He has been at the forefront of combating malnutrition with his innovative application, ‘MAAP’, which can detect malnourishment.

Participating in the One Young World Summit, Nilashis hopes to showcase his work, as well as collaborate and network with global delegates.

Ronan is leading efforts to empower young people in shaping health system decision-making. Committed to harnessing innovation to expand healthcare access, he is the founder of SurgReady, a digital prehabilitation app aimed at improving surgical outcomes and enabling healthy lifestyle changes.

Internationally, he advocates for the health rights of young refugees, while in New Zealand he works to provide healthcare and mental wellbeing support for young people who have newly arrived as refugees.

Ronan is also a UNICEF Young Ambassador, and a member of the Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Working Group at the World Federation of Public Health Associations.

A missed cancer diagnosis set Sandeep on a mission to transform India’s primary healthcare system, using technology to make healthcare services affordable and accessible for rural communities.

After intensive research, including discussions with hospitals and government officials, Sandeep conceived an e-telemedicine clinic which he named DigiSwasthya (Digi = Digital, Swasthya = Health). The hybrid medical consultation facility offers a safe, hygienic space for patients, hires trained nursing staff, works with doctors from prominent city hospitals and fulfils prescriptions from nearby pharmacies.

Sandeep has ambitions for a network of similar standardised clinics across India.

Childhood experiences of public health programming has instilled in Shannon an understanding of the importance of providing equitable and meaningful services that mitigate barriers to a healthy life for those who need it most.

A passionate public health professional who is driven to advance health equity, Shannon is a Certified Health Education Specialist who has worked extensively in the Maternal Child Health field.

Based in southeast Pennsylvania, USA, Shannon helps to implement the AstraZeneca Foundation’s operations, communications and programming, including its health equity grant-making programme and the Employee Disaster Relief Fund.

At COP27, Sophie was inspired by young people involved in Egypt’s Young Health Programme (YHP) as they challenged leaders on their actions to advocate for a youth-centred approach to solving the climate crisis.

Her portfolio covers projects in Egypt, Thailand and Vietnam, where Sophie is passionate about platforming youth voices and applying a gender transformative approach. With health equity at the core of YHP, she is involved in assessing the needs of young people and providing health services tailored to their specific needs.

Sophie is excited to engage with young leaders at the One Young World Summit and work together to address the multifaceted challenges of today’s world.

Recognised as one of Business Daily Africa’s Top 40-under-40 women, Winnie is an eco-activist focusing on climate change and youth mental health.

Following post-election violence in 2007, she began advocating for children's mental health, counselling traumatised children while she was still a teenager herself.

Delivering solutions for societal issues, Winnie campaigned against open garbage dumping and initiated My-tree-My-Confidant to transform dumping sites into community parks. She has established three parks in Mathare – an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya – promoting mental health and providing recreational spaces for children. She uses her acting skills to lead Peer Educator activities within YHP Kenya in Mathare.

Yu Liu has dedicated herself to the training of rural doctors, rural revitalisation, and health equity.

With a deep understanding of the significance of primary healthcare in public health, she actively organised and participated in numerous training programmes, enhancing the medical skills and service quality of rural doctors to improve health equity in rural areas.

As a YHP Impact Fellow, she hopes to exchange ideas and learn from global youth leaders, gaining more advanced concepts and methods in health promotion to help improve her future work.

Alejandro is committed to promoting sustainable environment policies that address air pollution and climate change through campaigns, civic spaces and dialogues. He is currently completing a master’s in public administration at Columbia University in New York.

Rising to President of the Board at El Derecho a No Obedecer, Alejandro has worked to develop and promote social advocacy around issues such as air pollution, refugee rights and peaceful mobilisation.

As a founding member of both the Latin American Coalition for Clean Air and the National Citizen Network for Clean Air in Colombia, his purpose is to promote climate justice and the right to a healthy environment for young people across the globe. Alejandro is also a UNICEF consultant on issues of youth participation and air quality in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Discover more about El Derecho a No Obedecer’s environmental projects on their website

Leaving his Tojolabal community to pursue a Pedagogy degree in Mexico City, Alexis was inspired to reconnect with his indigenous identity.

He now encourages young people to play an active role in the transformation of their lives and communities, actively preserving their cultural richness and indigenous identities. 

Alexis is Coordinator of Monitoring and Evaluation at IDEAS Ch'ieltik, an organisation that aims to prevent non-communicable diseases by improving the health and wellbeing of Mayan youth living in the Altos and Selva Regions through social-emotional learning. He analyses and interprets data to assess the issues faced by Mayan youth, as well as monitoring the impact of outreach projects. 

Discover more about IDEAS Ch’ieltik and their outreach projects on their website

Influenced by her own personal experiences with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) during her first pregnancy and the lack of resources available to her, Daisy works to improve the support networks in place for young people living with NCDs.

Daisy is a Programme Coordinator at the Uganda Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance (UNCDA), an organisation which strives to empower youth and prevent the development of NCDs in underserved communities.

The UNCDA seeks to educate young mothers to help nurture, reduce and prevent the exposure of children and young people to NCD risk factors, as many young people learn and adopt behaviours around them through empowerment, education and community support.

Discover more about UNCDA and their work on their website

Committed to advocating for policies and regulations that promote public health, Daphine’s passions include gender politics, community development issues, non-communicable diseases, and alcohol harm control & regulation.

Daphine is a project officer at Uganda Alcohol Policy Alliance. She is also currently pursuing a master's degree in gender studies at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, where she works to implement evidence-based policies and regulations to empower marginalised communities, especially women and youth.

Daphine volunteers as a social worker at Kawempe Youth Development Association where she provides invaluable social work services to vulnerable youth and their families.  

Discover more about the Uganda Alcohol Policy Alliance on their website

Dungrila is passionate about enabling a healthy community and brighter life chances for the youth of Cameroon.

He is the founder of Integrated Agricultural Association (IAA), which uses an evidence-based approach to prevent the harmful use of alcohol and tobacco by building knowledge for medical students and community health workers.

To help shape the future of his community, he aims to raise awareness of non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors by leading mobile NCD therapy interventions and health ambassador training workshops to build the capacity of community health workers.

Discover more about the Integrated Agricultural Association on their website

After leaving Venezuela as a child due to civil unrest, Dr. Eliezer Lappots-Abreu developed a passion for supporting young people. He is a former diplomat, and for the past 15 years has led non-profit and community-based organisations, public policies and international projects aimed at guaranteeing access to health services, education, employment, housing, and political participation.

Eliezer has held roles in international and non-profit organisations and holds a doctorate in Jurisprudence in International Law with a focus on human rights from Harvard University. His credentials include concentrations in international cooperation, conflict and peacekeeping, and diplomacy.

Eliezer partners with local governments and international organisations to deliver effective community health programmes to help prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with a focus on immigrants, refugees, women, and children. His work has spanned across 16 countries. Eliezer has implemented many programmes related to NCDs, infectious and waterborne diseases, food security, social justice, and human rights. Eliezer has participated in lobbying to recognise health access as a universal law.

Discover more about Health Horizons International on their website

Frank believes that empowering communities to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs) through local participation must ensure project sustainability and adaptability, while fostering a sense of community ownership.

He is an Environmental Health Scientist with Innovations for Development, a non-profit organisation which leads projects that promote the use of energy-efficient systems to reduce air pollution, such as the Integrated Indoor Air Quality Improvement initiative. 

Frank addresses health issues through locally tailored solutions promoting youth engagement in tackling NCDs, by addressing common risk factors such as air pollution, tobacco smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and unhealthy diets.

Discover more about Innovations for Development’s work on their website

Gabrielle’s own experiences with poverty instilled in her the importance of improving public health. She leads the technology team at ImpulsoGov, a non-profit organisation that leverages data and technology to radically improve Brazil’s healthcare system.

She has a technology and neuroscience degree and has achieved numerous accolades, from representing Brazil at the International Youth Summit in Pakistan to becoming a semi-finalist in the Crossroads Emerging Programme at Harvard University.

After witnessing the barriers to education faced by her mother and grandmother, Gabrielle now encourages other women and girls to excel through national conferences and contributions to media outlets such as the Malala Foundation Magazine.

Discover more about ImpulsoGov and their work in Brazil on their website

Kamal-Deen is the CEO of Hinata Energy, a renewable energy start-up that retails biofuel-powered cookstoves and biofuel to communities that rely on heavy pollutants such as kerosene and wood fuel. 

Hinata Energy aims to leverage technology to provide safe and affordable clean energy solutions to households, thereby reducing health threats such as lung, cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases caused by household air pollution.

His interest in clean and safe energy is drawn from personal experience with the threat to public health faced by young people, especially women and children, due to dependency on polluting fuels.

Discover more about Hinata Energy’s sustainability on their website

After her own personal experience with cancer, Kateřina is committed to raising awareness of primary prevention, including the importance of nutrition, sport, smoking cessation and reducing alcohol consumption to help prevent diseases that can occur later in life.

Kateřina is the Founder of Loono, a non-profit organisation which has launched four awareness projects in the last eight years. The projects help to improve health literacy and disease awareness related to cancer and cardiovascular disease among young people.

In recognition of her contribution to the field of cancer prevention, she has been listed in Forbes 30 under 30. She is also a board member of multiple non-profit organisations and has been a TEDx speaker.

Discover more about Loono’s projects on their website

Maria is an eco-activist, campaigner, and a committed Climate Action Network EECCA region board member and public figure. Her advocacy work for clean air led to the development of a green Governmental Action Plan, which is now being implemented in Kyrgyzstan. 

With a background in leadership communications focused on environmental topics, Maria believes in the need for a more comprehensive understanding of environmental and health education, particularly in advocacy tools and techniques.

As chairwoman of MoveGreen, Maria was invited to speak at the UN House in 2018 on the importance of open environmental data for citizens, using the examples of MoveGreen’s air quality monitoring network. 

Maria is the recipient of a UN Award in the environment protection sphere, the Champion of the Earth, and has received the 2019 ARGO ‘Amazing People’ award for a civil society initiative and the 2018 Dmitriy Tereshkevich Central Asian Environmental Prize.

Discover more about MoveGreen’s work on their website

Martha has dedicated herself to working for gender equity in education and believes that this can positively impact the world’s challenges.

Martha is the Co-Executive Director of MAIA, a non-profit organisation led by indigenous women. MAIA is redefining education in Guatemala through a holistic model that combines academics, culture, wellness, emotional intelligence, and personal development to create a generation of empowered women to lead transformational change.

As a Maya Kaqchikel woman, Martha understands the systemic inequalities and discrimination faced by women living in indigenous communities, and the invaluable impact education can have in improving their life and healthcare trajectory.

Discover more about MAIA and their projects on their website

Ruth is the Project and Administrative Officer at the Slum and Rural Health Initiative (SRHIN), where she leads the non-communicable disease (NCD) department.

As a physiotherapist in Nigeria, her experience managing patients with various NCDs stirred her interest in behavioural modification for NCD prevention. Her first-hand experience with patients led her to pursue her work with SRHIN on NCD prevention and risk reduction.

She is a member of Women in Global Health and led the Global Youth Health Mobilisation Project in 2022 across multiple disability centres in Ibadan. Ruth has led multiple NCD prevention projects with over 12,000 young internally displaced people (IDP) living in camps, hard-to-reach communities, and rural locations in Nigeria.

These initiatives include the Brave Heart intervention programme, which provides mental health support and trains community members to provide interventions for young people living in IDP camps. She is also involved with the STREEM project, which provides mental health and drug abuse education for homeless children in Nigeria through organised sport and games.

Discover more about the Slum and Rural Health Initiative on their website

Shristi is a medical doctor with a master’s degree in public health and is passionate about research and evidence-based healthcare interventions to bring better health outcomes.

Currently serving as the PEN-Plus Project Coordinator at Kathmandu Institute of Child Health, she focuses on addressing severe and advanced chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at the first-level referral hospitals of Nepal.

Shristi works to decentralise care, build capacity in low-resource settings, collaborate with stakeholders at national and international levels, and promote healthy lifestyles for NCD prevention. She utilises her clinical expertise to address health disparities and to contribute to the development of more effective, sustainable and evidence-based interventions.

Discover more about KIOCH’s projects on their website

Driven by his goal to affect change in the health field, Tareq raises public awareness of the risk factors of non-communicable diseases including tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets and exposure to air pollution.     

As Programme Manager at Youth Vision Society, a civil non-profit association operating in Gaza, he utilises technology to improve the quality of life for young people. He works to establish and lead initiatives that contribute to ensuring that vulnerable communities have access to essential health services.

Tareq partners with experts and social media influencers to build effective awareness-raising campaigns that target grassroots communities in Gaza.

Discover more about the Youth Vision Society on their website

Abdulhammed is passionate about reducing preventable causes of death in Africa through innovation, research and advocacy. Over recent years, his involvement and accomplishments within these areas have consisted of the following:

• In 2020, Abdulhammed led his team to win the ITEST Designathon 2020, where they designed a solution to increase HIV Self-testing and linkage to health facilities among Nigerian youths.

• He co-founded a social enterprise to reduce maternal and childhood mortality in Nigeria, which won $25,000 at a global social entrepreneur competition.

• He founded the Healthy Africans Platform, a youth-led organisation that seeks to educate young Africans about healthy lifestyles.

• He is a director at SmileBuilders Initiative and a member of several non-governmental organisations

• He has volunteered in over 10 community outreaches and impacted over 2,000 people within Ibadan

• He has published 14 global health research papers in international peer-reviewed journals intended to influence health policies in Africa.

Instagram: @hopeyemibabz

Twitter: @hopeyemibabz

SmileBuilders Initiative website: https://smilebuildersinitiative.org/

As the founder of "My Empowerment Packs," Aditi provides wellness kits for youth facing homelessness and women facing violence. Each wellness kit contains sexual and reproductive health products and a comprehensive resource booklet including information on mental health and pregnancy support. It is known that gender-based violence affects one in three women across the globe and takes the life of one woman every six days in Canada.

During the pandemic, she created a web application called the “My Empowerment Platform”, which provides education and resources for women and children facing violence in Canada. She also founded “Everyday Essential Express”, a Contactless Delivery Service for Domestic Violence Shelters in the Ottawa-region.

Aisling has been living with type 1 diabetes for the past 26 years. She qualified with a Bachelor of Education in 2017, and works as a Primary School Teacher.

In 2020, Aisling completed the IDF Europe Youth Leadership Lab. Amongst her other advocacy roles towards the diabetes cause, she is also a member of the Global Heart Hub Advocacy Group, IDF Blue Circle Voices Network and the Yourah Diabetes Leadership Network. In addition, she provides continuing professional development courses for school staff via the ‘Diabetes in Schools’ programme.

Aisling strives to improve the lives of both children and adults living with diabetes by raising awareness of the condition, advocating for the rights of people with diabetes, and helping them to find a support network.

Facebook:@Type 1 on the Run

Instagram:@type1_on_the_run

As a Programme Specialist, Aleena supports the development and implementation of the YHP in Thailand and Vietnam. Her work focuses on empowering young people to make healthy life choices by building their knowledge and skills on NCD prevention, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality and emotional wellbeing. The programme also encourages young people to make informed decisions about their own health.

With long-term conditions such as cancers, diabetes, respiratory and heart diseases, and mental ill health being on the rise globally, and prevantative action being limited, efforts within these areas are much needed.

As part of Alex’s work as a Clinical Researcher at Arthritis Research Canada, he coordinates a multi-province study to evaluate the effectiveness of the “Making it Work” online self-management program, towards prevention of work disability.

Arthritis is a leading cause of work disability in Canada and many parts of the world. Work disability is not only costly for the individual, but is also associated with reduced quality of life and poor health.

Alex also played a role in building an online program which has gained interest from universities in Scotland and the USA, who are looking to utilise it locally.

Amisa is a counselling psychologist and mediator, specialising in peace building and trauma healing, that centres her work on trauma-informed resilience for community building.

Aiming at reducing conflict and violence in her community, Amisa is the Founder and Executive Director of Nivishe Foundation. She was also the only Kenyan chosen to participate in the 2021 Orygen Global fellowship for young Mental Health Advocates. Additionally, she is a board member of SIASA PLACE, Young Women Leadership Institute and RHIZE. She is the youngest Global Board of Directors member at Restless Development and Amrell international School.

Amisa, who is also a YALI alumni, was recognised among the 100 influential Yong Africans in 2021, 2021 African Youth of the Year, the 2021 Second Finalist for the Positive Role Model category in Eastern Africa in the 9th Gender Mainstreaming Award, and the 2021 Finalist in the Spirit of Philanthropy – Individual Award –for the East Africa Philanthropy Awards (EAPA), among other awards.

Twitter - @nivisheF

LinkedIn - Nivishe Foundation

Instagram - @NivisheFoundation

Facebook - @NivisheFoundation

Youtube - Nivishe Foundation

Andi started his career in community building. He was working for Southeast Asia's leading e-commerce company to build a community in more than 15 cities across Indonesia. Afterward, he joined one of the Indonesian conglomerate portfolios to form community and social initiatives from scratch, to back its social business strategy. During his tenure, he managed to increase community participation to more than 80%.

Currently, Andi is a Founder of Social Connect. After several years of battling with his own mental health, he then decided to dedicate his time to building a solution for millions of Indonesians who have mental illnesses.

Social Connect is a youth-led community-based organisation that focuses on providing a safe space for people with mental illnesses. They offer free education, training, and support to increase knowledge around mental health. Over the last three years, Social Connect has impacted more than 5 million people through their program.

Website: https://www.socialconnect.id/

Instagram: @socialconnect.id

LinkedIn:Social Connect

Bruno started Running for Diabetes to encourage other people living with diabetes to take up regular physical activity as a tool to promote their health and social inclusion. It has already impacted five countries and over twenty cities around the world and advocates at national and international level to promote meaningful engagement of youth and people living with NCDs in the decision-making processes that impact their lives.

The work of the organisation recognises that diagnosis of a chronic condition such as diabetes is distressing, often resulting in feelings of loneliness and social exclusion. Staying motivated plays a pivotal role in helping the sufferer to take action.

Website: www.correndopelodiabetes.com

Instagram: @correndopelodiabetes

In Cameroon, health service capacity is limited, and so almost all healthcare is reactive or disease responsive, with only a limited public understanding of the underlying issues and how behaviours can affect medical outcomes.

As a medical doctor, Christabel set out to remedy this by setting up MT-JAM Health using social media, radio, and television to debunk health myths, provide wellness and nutrition information and advice on safety measures.

She is also piloting the Fight Against Substance Abuse Project (FASAP) to educate students aged 13-20 about healthy lifestyles with a focus on reducing substance abuse.

Twitter: @moredanjustanmd

Facebook: @moredanjustanmd

Instagram: @morethanjustanmd

Diana is a social innovator with over ten years’ experience harnessing the power of entrepreneurship and technology to build sustainable solutions for rural development, access to healthcare and sustainable food production systems.

She co-founded Bive, a social enterprise facilitating access to healthcare for 60,000+ rural people in Colombia, and coordinated their expansion to other Colombian regions. After eight years leading her enterprise, Diana moved to Malawi to work at Mothers2mothers (m2m), an international NGO, empowering women living with HIV to eradicate paediatric HIV/AIDS, where she coordinated a partnership with the government to strengthen the country’s Community Health Strategy and organisational development projects.

Diana recently graduated from the Master of International Development Policy at Duke University. Currently, she works as a researcher and consultant in sustainable agriculture (rural health), in order to encourage the adoption of innovation and technologies to facilitate development opportunities for rural communities.

LinkedIn: Diana Carolina Quintero

Across his roles at Aya Psicologia and BEC, Douglas helps to make mental health treatment accessible to low-income people, as well as enabling black entrepreneurs to connect and grow. He also leads a network with more than 1500 businesses in Brazil as a community manager for Cariocas start-ups and Shell's Youth Iniciative Network.

Douglas is also a speaker and mentor at several events, such as Campus Party, Bossa Summit, Four Summit and Rio Webfest, Hacking Rio, Edumi and Start-up Weekends.

Instagram: @aya.psicologia

LinkedIn: Aya Psicologia

Edith is on a social mission to help the most disadvantaged and disconnected in society. Starting with the orphanages of her native Tijuana in 2016, Edith co-founded Create Purpose to help Mexico’s 400,000+ children who live without parental care and are at risk of violence, human trafficking and exploitation.

These vulnerable youths are also likely to take up NCD risk behaviours, prompting Edith to orient her work around educating them on how to improve their nutrition. This extends from teaching them to work together to produce healthy food organically, even in challenging urban environments, to ensuring that they receive healthy food in the orphanages.

Inocul8 partners with community pharmacies to establish vaccination hubs/walk-in clinics, provides a mobile on-demand screening and vaccination service, and offers free screening and subsidised vaccination services for the poor and underserved through the CBPI Foundation.

Young people face challenges accessing vaccination services against diseases due to reasons such as lack of awareness, cost implications, busy work schedules, and long waiting times.

In Nigeria, cervical cancer is the second leading female cancer - with over 50 million Nigerian women between the ages of 15 to 49 years at risk, and an estimated 14,000 dying each year. 24 million Nigerians are also infected with hepatitis B.

Website: www.inocul8.com.ng

Breathe Mongolia-Clean Air Coalition, a non-profit organisation which Enkuun co-founded, are working to eradicate air pollution in Mongolia. In order to strive towards this, they offer educational services, collaborate with stakeholders, and are pushing for the development of equitable and accountable policies.

The team at Breathe Mongolia created a bilingual, interactive website with accessible air quality monitoring data and information, a collaboration platform for air pollution stakeholders in Mongolia (Agaar Neg), and an educational interface (Take Action) that displays simple actions everyone can take to reduce their exposure to and emissions of air pollution.

Breathe Mongolia are also a LEAD2030 Challenge Winner for SDG 3, for which they are receiving 12 months of mentorship and a $50,000USD grant from AstraZeneca to carry out community air pollution workshops to reduce households' dependence on fossil fuels and promote health equity.

Enkhuun is in her senior year at McGill University pursuing a Joint Honours BA in international development and environment. Her research interests and experience include evaluating air pollution improvement policies, and using the social determinants of health lens to advocate for undocumented migrants' access to healthcare.

She is also the Communications Coordinator at the Consortium on Analytics for Data-Driven Decision-Making (CAnD3), an international and interdisciplinary Consortium delivering an innovative training program to support evidence-informed decision-making in aging societies.

Eseosa is a final year Pharm.D student, Founder of Chronic Disease Mate for Africa (CDMA), and Team Lead of 'CHRONmate', the first telehealth solution in Nigeria designed especially for the prevention and long-term management of chronic diseases in Nigeria. Her team made the top 5 at the BeChangemaker Africa Accelerator Program in 2021 out of over 500 start-ups.

Eseosa is a 2020 Millennium Fellow, LEAP Africa YLP Fellow and ONE Champion. She has led and volunteered with organisations pursuing equitable healthcare, disease prevention, youth development, entrepreneurship and leadership. She is also a published writer in reputable journals, such as the International Journal of Health Planning and Management (IJHPM), and has earned certifications in Global Health, Business, Human Capital Strategy, Research, Non-Profit management and Health Policy.

Eseosa aspires to revolutionise healthcare, particularly in underdeveloped and undeserved regions, with a focus on public health and people-centred pharmaceutical interventions.

Across his 10+ year career, Gonzalo has undertaken several roles across a variety of industries, including combining corporate experience in companies like HSBC & Telefonica, NGO Strategic Advisory (AG Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing), consulting roles (leading MarTech & Metaverse Business Projects), as well as adopting an entrepreneurial mindset as healthcare start-up founder.

Gonzalo has an International Masters in Finance from Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (Argentina) and Warsaw School of Economics (Poland), as well as a Certification in Disruptive Strategy from Harvard Business School (United States).

In 2019, he was selected for the World Economic Forum’s Global Shaper initiative, which enables young leaders to work together to address local, regional, and global challenges.

In 2020, Gonzalo was elected as a Young Leader of the Americas Fellow, a professional fellows Program from the US Embassy that empowers entrepreneurs across the region.

Website: www.usound.co

As a young researcher, Guillermo helped develop a robotic exoskeleton to assist a paraplegic young man to walk again. With Prothesia, he is working on a digital platform to manufacture tailored devices digitally much faster, more cost-effectively, and with fewer errors than traditional techniques. This approach has already helped dozens of children.

For his research he is working on novel neural interfaces to enable users to control paralysed muscles in a natural way.

Guillermo’s work helps people with cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, stroke, and many other conditions, who often have no access to affordable rehabilitation devices that would enable them to live far fuller lives.

Twitter:@Guillermonics

Instagram: @guillermohra

As Co-Founder of non-profit, HILPPharma, Hilda addresses the growing problem of substance abuse in Cameroon through promoting medication safety and providing assistance to those with substance disorders.

The organisation educates its audience of about 10,000 people via regular online posts and outreach. These efforts are executed via the HILPharma-designed ‘Youth Against Drug Abuse’ (YADA) curriculum, which provides on-site training to secondary school students, equiping them with life-skills necessary to resist the pressures of substance use.

Hilda also serves as hospital pharmacist with Cameroon’s Ministry of Health and is currently working on setting up outpatient clinics to assist persons who want to quit smoking and drinking.

Website: www.hilpharma.com

Ishani is currently completing her Masters of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, focussed on studying Tok Pisin.

She has extensive volunteer experience in healthcare, human trafficking and sustainable development, and has developed a strong relationship with Papua New Guinea as a volunteer doctor and medical educator.

Ishani is also the Australian-Papua New Guinea Liaison Officer for “Project Yumi - Bush Dokta” – an NGO improving access to healthcare and resources in rural and remote Papua New Guinea. Her passion lies in health policy and minimising health inequalities in low resourced environments within the Indo-Pacific region.

Growing up in Kibera, Kenya, Jackline faced many challenges which she had to tackle herself, such as a persistent lack of education, sexual violence, child marriage, violent crimes, alcohol, drugs, and poverty.

Jackline has spent most of her adult life helping girls and young women to gain confidence in themselves and enabling them to realise their full potential. She also creates safe spaces in Kibera where girls and young women can speak freely, share information and support one another.

In 2016, Jackline joined the YHP as a Peer Educator and now, as the lead Peer Educator in her community, enjoys working with her peers and community to promote a healthy lifestyle.

As a medical doctor, Joanne has identified that patients presenting with a physical disease often present with some change in their mental health, also.

Joanne formed Ya Respondiste (I Responded) upon this knowledge, which seeks to address mental, physical and nutritional health together, in order to encourage balanced wellbeing. The organisation also focuses on population education towards neglected health-related issues, through strategic alliances between organisations, companies and schools.

Ya Respondiste Initiatives have included Comedor Rodante (The Rolling Dining Room) providing balanced meals for patients’ family members in public hospitals, and Prevención a través del Juego (Prevention and Treatment Through Games), where children and young people learn about public health issues through play.

Jordan’s ambition is to empower young healthy people to take control of their health for the betterment of themselves and society at large. At present, healthcare systems focus on disease treatment rather than working with healthy people to maintain their wellbeing.

He is a medical doctor with an academic background in medicine and neuroscience, a Schwarzman Scholar and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, dedicated to delivering meaningful change that empowers others.

In the past five years Jordan has founded and managed two businesses in healthcare and education, and currently serves as Strategy and Business Development Lead at Holmusk working to drive smarter healthcare.

Twitter:@Jordan_Abdi

Juliana founded TAHMEF to improve community health by bridging socio-economic gaps in accessing quality healthcare services. The concept came about due to the lower life expectancy, higher maternal and child mortality, and increased risk of disease faced by underserved communities in Tanzania.

She works with her team to deliver outreach programmes in underserved areas, mobilising free health education and screenings, and promoting community health insurance coverage. These activities improve access to quality essential healthcare services and to safe, effective and affordable vital medicines and vaccines.

Twitter:@JulianaBusasi / @TAHMEF_tz

Instagram: @julianabusasi / @tahmef

Website: www.tahmef.org

Corporate Partnerships Executive, Plan International UK The specific needs of young people, especially during the current time of profound change, are frequently not being met or even recognised. This disadvantage can be compounded by factors such as gender, race, sexuality, socio-economic background and disability. Lucy manages the partnership between AstraZeneca and Plan International to deliver the Young Health Programme UK; which aims to support young people to realise their right to good health and wellbeing. Plan International believes that young people themselves have the answers and that they should be empowered to design solutions that work for them.

In Bangladesh, 105 million people live in rural areas, but there are only 1200 ambulances to serve them. Most of these don’t work properly, and only 7% have paramedics on board.

Mazbahul and his team at Safewheel have designed tricycle ambulances that cost one tenth as much as conventional ambulances and are more manoeuvrable. The organisation also trains local youths to be ambulance drivers and paramedics, and this affordable and sustainable mini-ambulance system delivers doorstep medical care and takes community members to hospital.

Mazbahul is working to change the economic structure of rural Bangladesh and create a world of three zeros: zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero carbon emissions.

Twitter:@mazbahul_islam

Facebook:@safewheellimited

Instagram: @safewheellimited

Melissa holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, as well as a master’s degree in Conflict, Security and Development from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, where she was also a Rotary Peace Fellow. In addition, she has a Master of Management in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, where she was a Schwarzman Scholar.

The knowledge gained from her education enabled Melissa to establish A Global Voice for Autism, an international non-profit organisation that equips conflict-affected communities to support and include children on the autism spectrum, as well as children with developmental disabilities.

To date, A Global Voice for Autism has helped nearly 17,000 children, caregivers and teachers develop skills and obtain support to participate in healthy, inclusive communities.

Melissa’s leadership in support of the health and well-being of children with disabilities in refugee and conflict-affected communities has been recognised globally, including by the Global Conflict Medicine Congress, the Blossom-Hill Foundation and the United Nations.

Instagram: @aglobalvoiceforautism

Facebook: @AGlobalVoiceforAutism

LinkedIn: A Global Voice for Autism

Twitter: @AGVFAutism

Mohamed Taha is a 21-year-old third-year medical student, and a Graduate of 42 Coding School in Silicon Valley, California, USA, for which he received is a full scholarship.

He is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tunisian-based healthcare initiative; SahtiCare/Vitah, which has the potential to impact over 15,000 students in Tunisia. Mohamed Taha’s goal is to create a mentally and physically healthy and safe school experience within the community, as well as across Africa as a whole.

Mohamed Taha’s motivation is to think globally and act locally. His mission is to help young people take control of their health, with a particular focus on non-communicable disease prevention.

He was awarded a National Innovation Award by the Tunisian Ministry of Industry and GIZ. Additionally, he was recognised as one of the 15 Best Young African Health Innovators in 2021 by IFPMA and Speak Up Africa, as one of the top 10 start-ups for the Youth Entrepreneurship Forum by OIC, as well as one of “Africa’s Next Unicorns” by the African Union at the Expo 2020 Dubai.

LinkedIn: Vitahtn

Facebook: @Vitah.Health

YouTube: Vitah

Oduor is a Public Health Specialist with considerable experience in the health care sector. At present, he is working for Stowelink Inc., a youth led organisation that focusses on addressing the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Besides this, Oduor is the Secretary for NCDs Patient Led Organizations under the NCDs Alliance of Kenya (NCDAK). Oduor is experienced in Project Management, having worked with Population Services International-Kenya (PSK) as member of the National Coordinating Committee for “Kitu Ni Kukachora project.” In addition, he also served as the Campus Director of Kenyatta University from 2019-2020, where he coordinated various SDG projects under the auspices of Millennium Fellowship.

Oduor Kevin is also a public health consultant. He has consulted for WHO and AU. Alongside other consultants, Oduor developed the Safe Return to School Guidelines during and after COVID-19 to be used by AU Member States. This document is designed to guarantee the health and safety of children in schools during and post-pandemic.

Twitter: @stowelink_inc

Facebook: @stowelinkINC

LinkedIn: Stowelink inc

Instagram: @stowelink.inc

As a young man living with disabilities in Kibera, one of Kenya’s largest informal settlements, Peter has to grapple with discrimination and the limitations caused by his condition.

His ambition is to create a society where no-one’s potential is limited by where they come from. He encourages young people in Kibera, especially those living with disabilities, to be resilient, work hard and achieve their dreams.

Peter joined the YHP in 2016 as a Peer Educator and visits schools and community spaces using his talent for comedy and art to inform young people and the wider community about NCD risk factors such as tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet, physical activity and air pollution.

Robinson is a Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator for the Young Health Programme, and is driven to ensuring that young people receive accurate information on NCD prevention so they can make informed decisions about their health. He recognises that for those living in low and middle-income countries like Kenya, it is difficult to adopt healthy lifestyles and access quality healthcare.

Since joining the Young Health Programme in 2018, Robinson has worked with young people, parents, teachers, community leaders and health professionals in the Kibera division of Nairobi, Kenya.

Twitter: @RobinsonObunga

Roy and #MentalHealthPH use social media and other digital technologies to improve access to information on how and where to seek help for mental health concerns, showcase what can be done and advocate for system change.

The need for a service like #MentalHealthPH provides is high, due to the difficulty that Filipinos, particularly young people have, when it comes to communicating their feelings and seeking help.

Besides the organisation’s digital efforts, #MentalHealthPH also extends their campaign work offline, having a presence in two key cities in the country.

Twitter: @rdahildahil_ Mentalhealthph

Twitter: @mentalhealthph

Facebook: @mentalhealthph

Instagram: @mentalhealthp

Ruqoyah is the founder of Sanemind, an organisation that has reached over 2,000,000 people across Africa and has developed a significant social media community. In addition, over 10,000 parents and school leaders have benefitted directly from her trainings, courses, products and services.

Sanemind’s resilience-building products help to build confidence and positive experiences in children towards promotion of mental wellness. These products are currently used across 3 countries in Africa; Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.

Through her role at Sanemind, Ruqoyah has made a significant impact in reducing the treatment gap for child mental health services, as well as increasing mental wellness in African children.

Ruqoyah holds a master’s degree in child and adolescent mental health, and has, through her free consultation service, helped over 200 families address the psychological and emotional needs of their children. She hopes to scale Sanemind’s activities even further to benefit children and adolescents from all backgrounds and communities.

Instagram: @sanemindng

Twitter: @sanemindng

Facebook: @sanemindng

LinkedIn: Sanemind

The mission of the Infants Health Foundation is to use microfinanced motorcycle ambulances to bring midwives and other health workers to Uganda’s hardest to reach villages on a monthly basis. Doing so provides access to a host of services from checkups and vaccinations, to information and counselling.

Sylivia formed the organisation to address the ongoing issues regarding healthcare accessibility in rural Uganda. These accessibility issues can be attributed to the vast distances people must travel in order to reach healthcare facilities. Women are found to be the most negatively impacted due to limited access to free government services that specialise in prenatal and postnatal care.

Website: www.infantshealthfoundation.org

Twitter: @KyomuhendSyliva / @IHF_Uganda

Facebook: @InfantsHealthFoundation

Instagram: @infantshealthfoundation

Nairobi has a serious problem with counterfeit drugs, which has led Towett to set up a network of certified retail points in the area, and develop an independent testing laboratory that reports fake products. In addition, Towett’s organisation also labels compliant products using blockchain IDs, and works towards building consumer understanding of the issue and how they can protect themselves.

In Kenya, the Ministry of Health has reported that 20% of drugs are counterfeit, with up to half of retail outlets providing health products also being unregistered, and selling products such as fake condoms, contraceptives, abortion pills and antiretrovirals.

Website: www.uthabiti.org

Twitter: @Uthabiti

Facebook: @Uthabiti

Tuan was a leader of the students at National Economics University in Vietnam. During that time, he reached out to the Young Health Programme, which gave him a clearer view of current youth health issues.

As an economics learner and researcher, what concerns Tuan is how the issues of young people's health will affect a country's human resources in the future. He currently works in a technology company, but the health issues of young people is still a matter that he really cares about, considering it a major social concern.

Vidyut is interested in biomass-based energy access and supporting rural livelihoods, due to the untapped potential in this area and close association with farmers.

This passion blossomed during his initial exploration and research for his master’s thesis at TU Delft, after which he returned to India to work with village communities in the Himalayas, to convert pine needle waste into a marketable charcoal-based product. This work led him to discover a way to dramatically scale farm residue utilisation through technology, as well as support farm-based livelihoods. This ultimately led to the formation of Takachar.

These days, Vidyut is the Co-Founder and CEO of Takachar, a social enterprise enabling farmers to prevent open burning of their farm waste residues, and earn extra income by converting the residues into value-added chemicals like activated carbon on-site. The organisation received the Earthshot Prize in 2021 for the 'Clean Our Air' category, and the Milestone Award in the X-Prize for carbon removal.

In the past, Vidyut worked with Simpa Networks, where he developed pay-as-you-go solar home systems for rural households in India. In 2019 he was also awarded the title “Echoing Green Fellow” and in 2020, “UNEP Young Champion of the Earth.

EasyHealth, an organisation that Zyh founded, is using basic digital technologies and community participation to improve the quality of health among persons living in rural and hard to reach communities in Cameroon.

Zyh believes that Africa will achieve universal health coverage, and that the use of growing technological advancements in digital health are invaluable towards this effort. She has 3 years’ experience working as a physician and focal person for mental health at the St Mary Soledad Catholic Hospital and Doctors Without Borders.

She is a volunteer at two other organisations, where she serves as a resource person for sexual and reproductive health programmes, and is a mentor to young girls interested in STEM careers.

Zyh graduated from the University of Bamenda where she earned her degree in medicine and is a member of the Cameroon Medical Council.

Ahmed is a medical doctor and public health practitioner who has been working in the sector for five years -currently as a consultant with the WHO to improve the quality of health care and patient safety. Earlier, he worked at Imperial College London as a researcher in public health, with a special focus on tobacco control and self-care.

Ahmed founded a youth initiative ‘School without walls’ which aimed to improve health literacy for youth aged 12-18 in Egypt. This was chosen as one of the most promising initiatives in the Arab world by the French Institute (Safirlab) program in Paris-2014 and Tunis-2015. Ahmed was recognized as one of the best science communicators in Egypt in 2014 by Famelab International Competition; has represented Arab youth in the First International Forum for Renewal of the Arab World in Paris-2015; and is a Chevening Award Alumnus 2017-18.

Alejandro is originally from Venezuela but now lives in Colombia where he studied Government and International Relations and volunteered widely, including for three years with AIESEC. 

He is the licensee and director of TEDxUExternado, the TEDx event of his university, and National Coordinator of The Right To Disobey, a social platform which aims to empower civil society in Colombia to create social change and influence public policy around issues such as clean air, migrants rights and citizen security.  

As a founding member of the National Citizen Network for Clean Air in Colombia Alejandro organizes
debates in public spaces and demonstrations gathering together activists, local governments, citizens and
academics to share their worries, knowledge and proposals to improve air quality in their cities and carry
out symbolic protests. Here you can see an example of our work. 

Andrea has been working for the past three years with FUNDANA, and she extended their services to vulnerable children by developing and launching the program that she now runs - NutriFamilias. The programme - which will be expanding this year through a partnership with UNICEF - operates in the Headquarters of FUNDANA, in an urban centre, and five rundown communities of Caracas.

As Head Dietitian Andrea’s role is to lead the team of dietitians and professionals working with vulnerable families by providing food rations and nutrition treatment for six months to children and pregnant and nursing women. 

Bagja started advocating for tobacco control in Indonesia in 2015, becoming a member of the Youth Movement for FCTC in 2016 when he ran the Children’s National Funwalk and a march with children and youth to commemorate Earth Day at his university with a focus on tobacco control.

Bagja went on to run FCTC shadow puppet shows in 25 cities to promote tobacco control to government officials. He also worked on the successful “Letters for the President (Surat untuk Presiden)” campaign.

Citra is part of the Youth Movement of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and hit the headlines in 2016 when she was filmed protesting to the Jakarta governor for allowing tobacco sponsorship in child-friendly parks. That worked and the sponsorship stopped in all 306 parks. From then she has gone on to other anti-tobacco advocacy, gathering over 11,000 signatures from young people to encourage the government to sign the FCTC and enforce tobacco control.

In addition to her work in YHP Indonesia Citra co-founded the Traditional Games Returns Community, a nationally acclaimed campaign to preserve traditional local games and so promote healthy outdoor physical activity. Around 10,000 people have been encouraged to play these games and so reduce their risk of contracting NCDs.

David is an international footballer from St Lucia and the senior youth coordinator at the Sacred Sports Foundation Inc the only non-profit organisation of its type in the Caribbean. The Foundation uses sport as a tool to promote inclusion and to tackle issues confronting youth today such as drugs and alcohol consumption, gender equality, employment, skills training, bullying and harassment, child rights, equal activity and poor mental health.

David has trained over 50 junior youth mentors island-wide to deliver all-inclusive sports sessions and to reach out to vulnerable youth living in remote and often violent communities. He has also pioneered partnerships with a wide range of organisations and as a result 30,000+ more young people are participating in physical activity and exercise on the island.

David trained as a primary school teacher, an IT specialist and expert mentor who also works as a peer-educator in Kibera and has been a very active member of the local community - enabling 250 children to go to, and stay in, school through his fundraising efforts.

David now uses his IT skills to reach out into the wider community with health-promotion messages and is very keen on the power of repetition to encourage understanding and long-term behaviour change. Not a day goes past without reminders about how to avoid NCD risk behaviours.

In Tijuana food in orphanages tends to be either scarce or poor quality – canned or processed foods high in sugars, fats and sodium and low in fibre. For the last three years Edith has been working with a group of individuals to create a successful, replicable and sustainable Garden-Based Learning Programme to teach orphans and vulnerable children living in orphanages about urban agriculture and nutrition, while helping them also to develop life skills that will help them thrive after they leave the orphanage at the age of 18.

The orphans, however, were not able to change much about their own diets because they were not allowed to choose their own meals - so Edith has also helped to create a Caretakers Programme, to teach orphanage caretakers and kitchen staff basic nutrition and gastronomy principles and how best to use the food they have available to them at their orphanages.

In 2018 Edith helped to set up Create Purpose Mexico AC to take this work forward and in 2019 received the "Valuable Citizen" Award by the Kybernus Collective for the work she has done in Tijuana.

In 2008, Ferdy’s beloved aunt died from complications of diabetes and he helped to carry her corpse for burial in the village. 

Ferdy was inspired by the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs (2008 -2013) and, with his Director’s support, started building the first comprehensive national NCD Prevention and Control Program in Cameroon. 

Ferdy leads an awareness and screening campaign in ten health districts in seven regions of the country that has now screened 50,000 people for NCD risks, and persuaded the Ministry of Health to complete the National NCD strategic plan, deliver a statement at the 3^rrdd UNHLM on NCDs and run a national STEPS survey in 2019 

Children and the youth will determine the future world - and mobilising healthcare policies for them paves a smooth route towards future healthy communities across the world. 

Our non-profit,  itetero iwacu, strives to provide a preschool education in vulnerable areas of the country, refine nutrition, advocate for people with NCDs, and mobilise NCD prevention and control policies especially for children and young adolescents.

I also help run NCD Child Youth Voices Connect, an online conversation among young advocates interested in getting more involved in Non-Communicable Diseases advocacy for children, adolescents, and young people.

For the last three years Kalaumari has been leading a research group of students in projects including novel biosensors for diabetes monitoring and nanostructured systems for the delivery of cardioprotective and antitumoral nutraceutical compounds.

Whilst at the CIDETEQ, a Mexican research centre, he participated on the coordination of two research projects to develop a system for the destruction of biological and chemical pollutants in water in rural communities.

As a PhD research student, he is working on the development of a novel device to deliver more precise diagnosis and monitoring of cancerous cells in patients. If this device is successful, it could improve the quality of life of a large number of people with cancer. He is also research trainee in BWH, Harvard Medical School.

Kamal-deen Kassim holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, is an alumnus of Young African Leaders Initiatives (YALI), a Mandela Washington Fellow and a 2018 UNLEASH multi-awardee. He is also a member of the Global Shapers Community, Lagos hub, an initiative borne out of the World Economic Forum where he currently serve as the Regional Lead (West Africa), Climate and Environment Steering Committee.

At Project Gaia Inc., a multinational non-profit organisation which focuses on bio-renewable energy projects in Africa, he has been working to improve indoor air quality by developing and promoting clean cooking technologies.  The pilot project has led to a partnership with Shell Nigeria and Forte Oil PLC with 2,500 biofuel-powered stoves estimated to take 150,000 people in Lagos out of energy poverty.

Katrina is a Senior Writer at MindWise a mental health project which has become a hub for mental health advocacy in the Caribbean and an Executive Committee member in the Movement for Global Mental Health peer network.

For the last ten years Katrina has been involved in grassroots activism with her advocacy  focusing on inclusivity, particularly for people with disabilities and those along the LGBTQIA spectrum. With SOW Young Adult Foundation She has provided one-on-one mentorship, spoken word mentorship, concerts, worked in homework centres and developed and run peer building workshops

Laura is Estonian but lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. As a committed sportsperson she was Secretary-General of the Estonian Judo Association for three years whilst completing her Masters Degree in Law, and now works as a project manager at the International Sport and Culture Association, promoting physical activity through 200 member organisations.

Laura is also very active in her private life as an International Olympic Committee Sport and Active Society Commission member and Young Leader , and European Non-Governmental Sport Organisation Youth Young Delegate where she is responsible for magnifying the voice of youth in the grassroots sport sector in Estonia and Denmark.

Mary has grown up in the informal Kibera settlement in Nairobi, where she works as a peer-educator for the Young Health Programme, particularly using poems, plays, singing and sketch work to involve young people interested and involved in looking after their own health.

Mary draws on her own experience of sexual and gender-based violence to educate girls on this subject and on sexual and reproductive health, and is a human rights activist speaking up for the rights of young people.

For more than 10 years, Mbulelo has been the Master Coach at Kick4Life, a local organisation aimed at changing young people’s lives through sport, especially football, and equipping them with knowledge on HIV/AIDS issues and broader life skills.

Mbulelo helps to design the youth programming, recruits, trains and observes volunteers as they facilitate youth programming sessions in the communities and schools.

The curricula supports young people in three areas:

• Healthy mind: to help participants develop self-confidence and self-esteem
• Healthy body: to empower young people with knowledge about protecting and enhancing health.
• Healthy attitudes and behaviours: to support participants in developing values and positive behaviours around health, inclusivity, indiscrimination, respect and gender equality.

Rizqi Mahardhika (Indonesia)

YHP Project Assistant, Plan International Indonesia

Rizqi lives in Bogor to the south of the capital Jakarta in an area with a lot of youth smoking, alcohol consumption, teenage pregnancy, child marriage and depression. From a young age Rizqi got active organising three children’s youth groups to stand up for their rights, and now undertakes research qualitative and quantitative research on issues around childhood smoking, running workshops.

Rizqi is campaigning both online and offline to encourage the local government to adopt a long-term action plan to stop the distribution of tobacco products to children and young people, to restrict advertisements, promotions and sponsorship activity, and to enforce smoke-free regulations.

Sakina Abdul (Kenya)

Peer Educator, Plan International Kenya

Sakina has been working with the YHP as a peer-educator since 2016, in addition to her job as a social worker, with a focus on the marginalised Muslim communities of the Kibera townships where she visits the madrassas and mosques to carry the message about NCDs. Among her many messages is persuading Nubian women to reduce the amount of oil in their cooking – which they were afraid to do in case their husbands divorced them.

When she was denied a visa to attend a side event at the World Health Association 71^st congress in Geneva Sakina shot a video of herself challenging world leaders to engage seriously with young people – which was then played at the event.

Samuel is the founder of Food and Genes Initiative- a non-profit organization aimed at improving the wellbeing of humans through advocacy and research.

Samuel is currently the campaign director of 365 DAYS (Drug Abuse Youth Sensitization) in Nigeria and the team lead of the Teenager Against Drug Abuse Campaign going on across the country. He facilitated National Drug And Alcohol Facts Week  organized by National Institute on Drug Abuse across six states in Nigeria. He is a volunteer with sustyvibes, a member of Sustainable Development Goals group for Youths Corps Members in Lagos, Nigeria and the Project Manager of Get Education Get a Skill, Nigeria.

Samuel is presently taking a diploma course on Drug Addiction Management at University of British Columbia, Canada.

Siddhaarth co-founded LonePack, one of India's first youth-led mental health non-profits. His vision is to make mental health accessible to every young person in India and over the last three years he has facilitated mental health awareness and emotional well-being workshops at colleges, corporate offices and schools across India. Close to 7000 people have taken part in these events with attendance steadily increasing.

Siddhaarth has coordinated an awareness campaign, LonePack Letters in collaboration with Google, Uber Eats, Freshdesk and others which has reached over 70,000 people across India and beyond, and co-created LonePack Buddy, an online, anonymous, peer-to-peer support system.

Stephen is a Population Health expert and the founder and CEO of Stowelink Inc,. Stowelink is a youth-driven social enterprise using innovative and disruptive approaches to spread messages focusing on non-communicable diseases . It uses art for health, youth-led medical camps and technology for health through MyHeart_Ke and MCure Apps. Its messages have reached to an estimated 2.5 million people.

Stephen is a Young African Leaders Initiative fellow and a Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership programme fellow. In 2018 he represented East and Central Africa during the World Obesity Patient Summit organised by the World Obesity Federation in London.

Surbhi works on evidence-based advocacy, researching on sexual and reproductive health and rights, and non-communicable diseases. She is currently working on enhancing access to mental health services for sexual minorities by integrating gender in medical education in India. She understands the importance of actively engaging with the health system and has facilitated the training of nearly 60 health care professionals on the topic of 'Health and Human Rights'.

Surbhi believes that adolescent health is greatly influenced by social determinants and actively participates in advocacy by the India chapter of the People's Health Movement.

Victor Ugo is a 29-year-old medical doctor and founder of Nigeria's largest mental health peer network, one of Africa’s largest youth mental health networks, Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI). 

MANI won the 2017 Nelson Mandela-Graca Machel innovation award for the best civil society organization and Victor has been inducted as one of the 100 Sparks of Hope across the world by The Elders (an organisation of past world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela). Victor pioneered the setup of the most active distress hotline in the country with over 10,000 interventions in 18 months using only limited resources. He is also the Nigerian representative for the Global Mental Health Peer Network.

Vinicius is a fourth-year student at the University of Sao Paulo and has set up Meu Amigo Medico an online site that provides advice and support for young people, to help them to manage their own health through a series of short videos. These are mostly produced in cooperation with the academic staff at the university, with engaging and practical content.

Vinicius set this up as a result of his own experience of the Brazilian health system in which patients sometimes do not take responsibility for own wellbeing and care – the site explains why and how to do this and engages young people in a simple and familiar way. 

Effective healthcare for children and adolescents not only benefits an individual, but also benefit the countries’ prosperity and well-being from generations to generation. As a Medical Student I am passionate about this kind of “sustainable health”.

I run “CALM – Children and Adolescent Life Matters”, which comprises an online platform for youth to ask healthcare experts confidential questions; an online blood registry; a social platform promoting healthy lifestyles; and a constantly updated source of adolescent health information available in three languages (English, Sinhala & Tamil).

Gajarishiyan Rasalingam
Founder CALM
Sri Lanka

I have supported a project called Hayaan the aim of which is to raise mental health awareness in the Somali community. Mental health is still a taboo subject in my Somali community, so much so that a Somali word for mental health illness does not exist.

As a PhD candidate at the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London my primary interest lies at the intersection of global health and social justice. I have a particular interest in understanding the mechanisms of health systems strengthening in fragile states.

Hamdi Issa
PHD Student
UK

I know first-hand what it means to live with a mental illness. I got lucky. I got care, I got hope, I got love and I got support. But over 40% of youth are rendered unproductive because of mental, psychological and emotional health challenges.

So I started my organisation, “She Writes Woman”, a movement of love, hope and support for women living with mental disorders in Nigeria. This set up the first 24/7 mental health helpline in the country; Safe Place, a monthly women-only mental health support group; and Hope Visits providing support and skills for patients at psychiatric hospitals.

Hauwa Ojeifo
Founder & Executive Director, She Writes Woman
Nigeria

We will never have a progressive society when its majority population (young people) are not living healthily – managing this must be cost effective as a majority of the entire humanity come from humble backgrounds unable to afford/raise funds for treatment.

I am a volunteer village person in the Young Health Programme and a community health volunteer (CHV) with the ministry of health and myself own a blood pressure machine which I usually offer free screening services to my community, and through this a lot of people have known their blood pressure status and many more have been referred for further treatments. 

Ibrahim Hassan
Plan International Volunteer
Kenya

Poor access to emergency services causes one out of three deaths in Africa and other third world countries. I nearly died from a ruptured appendix and so set up Usalama, a mobile based platform that links victims of emergencies to service providers at the tap of a button. We now have thousands of downloads from more than 15 countries and have processed many emergency distress messages via our platform.
I believe that participation in the One Young World Summit will enable me to keep innovating and create better solutions to save more lives.

James Chege
Marketing Director - Usalama Technology Limited
Kenya

My dream is that no young man or woman ever faces an STI, sexual abuse, or teenage pregnancy that could affect their health and plans for the future.

In 2013 I co-founded the Student-Led Federation BIDESIDA UANL (Search, Diffusion of Information and Education about AIDS, is the acronym in Spanish) aiming to reach the 174,000 students of the UANL, the third largest university in Mexico.

Working alone is not enough - through the One Young World Summit I want to keep learning from other leaders who are making a change in their communities and implementing best practice. 

Jose Manuel Besares Lopez
International Health Consultant & Co-Founder of BIDESIDA UNANL
Mexico

Young people have all the energy, and innovative and disruptive thinking, needed to change the world.  But to create the world we want, they need to access their rights, especially the essential ones, such as health rights.

I am following what I believe by working for Plan International Brasil as Families That Take Care Project Coordinator  to help youth to access qualified public health services in the Capão Redondo and Grajau regions of Sao Paulo. 

I have been working in close cooperation with professionals, families and the most inspiring young people since I graduated in Public Administration in 2012.

I lost my Grandfather because of his addiction to cigarettes. It was heart breaking, especially as there are more like him, especially youth. So I co-initiated the Youth Movement for FCTC with the help of the Lentera Anak Foundation.

We work to break down the influences that cause youth to smoke: massive tobacco ads, promotion and sponsorship; cheap cigarette prices; loose regulation on cigarette sales and create smoke-free areas.

Our actions range from taking down hundreds of tobacco ads, gathering thousands of letters, playing shadow puppets, conducting theatrical street rallies, and compiling petitions to encourage our president to enforce tobacco control.

Margianta Surahman Juhanda Dinata
Co-Initator and Spokesperson of Youth Movement for FCTC
Indonesia

In developing countries health care could be drastically improved by leveraging existing technologies and practices.

I co-founded ADVIN, a social enterprise, with two entrepreneurs from Bangladesh to make primary healthcare accessible to all, particularly those in rural regions of Southeast Asia.

We have just signed a deal with the Bangladeshi government to roll-out 1000 centres across the country, to serve approximately 4.6 million people.

Using our digital devices we’re able to diagnose health problems sooner and more effectively than through traditional informal care providers or government hospitals, where patients face exorbitant “referral” fees and poor treatment.

Quinn Underwood
Co-founder ADVIN
Canada

As a social worker my passion and duty is to make young people aware of health risks and how to avoid them, so that they can live safely and access youth friendly health services as needed.

I am most passionate working on sexual and reproductive health, tobacco and the harmful use of alcohol.

I have been working in the development sector since 2006 on different issues but, since joining the YHP, I have focused on issues related to SRH - these are still the same for girls now as when I was their age.

Safeena Bano
India

75.7 % of Indonesians smoke before they are 18 years old. We have the third highest percentage of the population who smoke in the world, after China and India.

I have been collaborating with 30 schools in my hometown, with 60 teachers and 9000 students, to increase awareness about smoking or tobacco use being really dangerous.

I have facilitated groups of students who wanted to declare their school to be a “No Smoking Area” and to replace cigarette advertising with educational banners.

We declare that young people refuse to be a target of tobacco industry and now are campaigning with the government.

Siti Syifauún Nufus Zainuddin
Project Coordinator Young Health Project
Indonesia

Access to healthcare must be looked at with a systems-level approach.

For this reason, I have worked to interconnect healthcare with economic, education, and environmental advances that promote a sustainable world. Currently, I am Co-Founder of OSV, a non-profit social impact fund launching shortly that invests capital, resources, and mentorship in young social entrepreneurs working to improve healthcare, promote economic stewardship, and eradicate poverty.

Through this organisation, and other engagements, I look at healthcare as a structure-based system that requires support across all key entry points of medical delivery in order to ensure all individuals achieve their best wellbeing. 

Sohil
Co-Founder, OSV
United States

I am passionate about making information about women's health and bodies easily accessible to women in India. This is the first and crucial step towards healthcare, in which women are currently systemically blindsided and medically under-researched.

I started a FemTech platform, TheaCare: Women's Health Companion, and we use digital media in addition to on-ground work. We are also organizing FemmeCon, which is India's first women's health festival. 

I want to watch, listen and learn about healthcare conversations and innovations taking place around the world at the Summit and infuse fresh, brave thought in the women's healthcare space in India.

Swarnima Bhattacharya
Founder, TheaCare: Women's Health Companion
India

I am a public health enthusiast and am passionate about the prevention of diseases - and the social repression and stigma associated with being diseased. As a health advocate and mentor I run awareness campaigns for the prevention of NCDs and its risk factors (alcohol and tobacco use) for and by the youth in India.

I want to break down the stigma of being diseased. We need patients and health system actors to realise the importance of prevention and early detection even in young people. I want to work towards making people understand that it is the right of the patient whether old or young to get the correct treatment at the right time.

Vindhya Vatsyayan
India