Charles Lipenga , Malawi
Charles founded Maestros Leadership Team to inspire young people to develop leadership qualities by increasing the quality of the education they receive and improving their future employment prospects. Maestros currently operates in 18 countries across Africa, reaching almost 70,000 young people across several project streams. Maestros Leadership Team is the social impact branch of Maestros Leadership Company, an organisation that specialises in professional training and development. The MaGREEN Project worked to reduce the damage caused by natural disasters by planting over 5,000 trees in flood-prone areas covering 20,000 square metres. Presently 31,100 people have benefitted from the reduced risk of future flooding, and 500 young people have been trained to campaign for climate action. 12,000 students have been mentored through Project Inspired. The Maestros Academic Armour Project (MAAP) provides primary school children with uniforms and school supplies which allows them to continue their education regardless of their circumstances. The Care4Girls programme provides reusable feminine hygiene products and training on menstrual hygiene to empower girls and keep them in school. Maestros Leadership Awards (MALA) grants awards to high performing schools to increase accountability and encourage schools to increase the quality of teaching. MALA also awards scholarships to students to increase access to quality education. Teach-AZ is a teacher recruitment, preparation and retention programme to develop leadership capabilities and increase education quality in a sustainable way. Maestros also works on reducing inequalities through the Beyond Phys-IQ programme which empowers students and teachers with disabilities to work towards sustainable development, with plans to reach 300 people each year. Springboard is a youth camp that prepares young people for higher education and for the working world. Maestros Fridays dedicates one day each month to a hack style event where young people work on creating changes in Africa by making knowledge and information universally accessible. Maestros Fridays are expected to reach 2,000 people in 2018.