$ 1 : 16
For every $1 of value invested, One Young World Ambassadors deliver $16 of social value, based on a Social Return on Investment analysis of 45 Ambassador-led initiatives addressing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2023
SDG Impact Tracker
Interested in supporting impactful initiatives led by young leaders? Search this database of over 430 projects from the One Young World Community to find out more.
Thrangu Phrende Clinic
Thrangu Phrende Clinic - Nepal
Wangchuk Rapten Lama
Ambassador-led Initiative
1:3
SROI
Wangchuk is a Buddhist monk and healthcare professional who is the medical director of Thrangu Phende Clinic, providing affordable healthcare to local communities. The Universal Healthcare Coverage index measures service coverage against “catastrophic health expenditure”, and Nepal ranks poorly with a score of 48, significantly lower than most of its neighbours (1).
Having been a monk since the age of seven, and studying healthcare between 2009 and 2012, Wangchuk was appointed as the Medical Director of Thrangu Phrende Clinic in 2016. He immediately moved to officially recognise the clinic in government legislation, and they have since served around 10,000 patients annually with three different categories of treatment: “Western” medicine; Traditional medicine; and acupuncture. From 2019, Wangchuk has been running a laboratory to help produce quick and accurate diagnosis of blood and urine tests. The clinic charges a highly affordable five rupees per visit.
Wangchuk also provides free healthcare access outside the clinic in particularly remote areas where provision is poor. They hold five to six camps per year, where they treat approximately 400-650 patients over a two day camp. They also hold longer camps which allow them to reach up to 800 patients per visit.
The next stage of Wangchuk’s work is to open an ambulance, to provide even better healthcare access to remote rural regions in Nepal. One Young World, and his selection as a Bill and Melinda Gates Goalkeeper, provided him with a network of individuals and organisations who support his mission.
Source:
(1) https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.UHC.SRVS.CV.XD?end=2017&locatio…
The Good Socks Initiative
The Good Socks Initiative - Jordan
Sinan Assaid
Ambassador-led Initiative
1:10
SROI
Sinan is the Co-Founder of The Good Socks Initiative, Jordan’s first food-impact social enterprise in the area of lifestyle products. Despite being based in Jordan, Sinan recognised that food insecurity and malnutrition are global issues which require an international solution. Despite this grand scope, Sinan identified that you don’t need a complex solution to what is ultimately a simple issue.
The premise of The Good Socks Initiative is appropriately simple - when a customer opens a can of socks, someone else in the world opens a can of food. Using a distribution partner, they fund a food donation to the most vulnerable and food insecure parts of the population in Jordan.
The project makes culturally and environmentally sustainable socks, designed and made by local producers. These are then packaged in recycled and recyclable tin cans to minimise their carbon footprint and contribute to the circular economy. This sustainability measure saves approximately nine tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of cans recycled (1).
They began the operation in January 2019, with a small team of full-time staff, contractors and volunteers. The organisation has received financial investment as an award winning social enterprise at a variety of social innovation competitions.
Still in its early stages, the team are already making a significant difference in the battle for “Zero Hunger”, reaching over 1,000 people with vital food donations and support.
Sources:
(1) https://alupro.org.uk/industry/local-authorities/environmental-benefits/
SIYSIFLA
SIYSIFLA - Solomon Islands
Nolan Salmon Parairua
Ambassador-led Initiative
1:3
SROI
Nolan created his organisation, the Solomon Islands Youth Strive Investors for Liberty Association (SIYSIFLA), in 2010. It was created to support, empower and protect vulnerable young people on the Pacific island with the ambition of preventing their participation in crime. In a country where 66% of the population is under 30 years of age, and only 17% of the working age population have formal jobs, this work is essential for the prosperity of the nation and its people (1).
SIYSIFLA have worked with rural youths on the Solomon Islands through a variety of initiatives designed to engage them in the local community, and reduce crime rates because of improved social inclusion and opportunities. Nolan works in collaboration with the provincial and national ministries, NGOs and youth groups to offer his programme in over 70 rural communities.
It offers opportunities and development projects in four primary categories. The spiritual programme includes youth festivals and fellowships to ingrain a community spirit in participants and increase their stake in society. The social program includes community service and fundraising initiatives with which participants invest in their own communities. An educational programme has raised civic awareness and taught vocational skills to participants. Finally, fitness and sports projects offer health and wellbeing benefits.
In total, 285 young people have received a formal or informal education as a result, 80 young people regularly engage in sports activities, and over 700 people have received both spiritual and social support.
Source:
(1) https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/09/30/supporting-vulnera…
Agribusiness TV
Nawsheen has a background in agriculture and youth empowerment, and twinned with her husband and co-founder’s journalistic experience they established Agribusiness TV. The organisation seeks to showcase and promote young agripreneurs in West Africa, a region highly dependent on agriculture for employment (60% of active labour force) and economic growth (35% of GDP) (1).
The initiative is based out of Burkina Faso, and works as a media outlet raising awareness and showcasing industry-leading case studies in agriculture. Agribusiness TV produces video content to promote socially impactful and innovative projects working to tackle SDG 2 through agripreneurialism. The team established various channels reaching 191,441 followers on Facebook and 42,900 subscribers on YouTube. The educational videos have been watched 12,000,000 times and average approximately five minutes in length.
Through this, it aims to encourage youth participation in agriculture to ensure the industry is not abandoned by a younger generation. Agribusiness TV runs events to fundraise and support the production of this content to ensure the organisation operates sustainably. As a case study, a cocoa farmer featured on their video channel has received 10x more orders, resulting in them hiring women to support their production, having a multiplier effect on the local economy.
In 2017, in conjunction with this project Nawsheen opened the Agribusiness shop in Burkina Faso, providing a responsible, retail outlet and economic inclusion for 100 products from 25 sustainable suppliers from Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire. The shop sells a sustainable packaging alternative to its suppliers and customers, to prevent the use of damaging, disposable materials.
Nawsheen attended the OYW Summit in London as part of the Dutch MFA “Enterprise for Peace” scholarship, and the pre-programme in the Hague cemented her commitment to seeing investment in agriculture as an avenue for peaceful and stable societies.
Source:
(1) https://www.usaid.gov/west-africa-regional/agriculture-and-food-securit…;
Visionary Education
Cecily joined Visionary Education in 2017, and has taken on the role of Managing Director. She supports its mission to transform education for children in rural China. Educational inequality is vast in China, as a result of a variety of socio-economic reasons including the rural-urban ‘hukou’ dichotomy and income inequality (1).
Cecily heads the Teach Rural Schools Program. Through this initiative, the organisation runs an educational summer camp. The ambition is not purely to improve academic performance, but to change the behaviour and empower the children who participate. The schools Visionary Education partners with are located in a rural area with high rates of poverty.
In 2019, it began the programme in Hebei Lutou Secondary School, an under-resourced school with high student-teacher ratios. The education her programme provides is wide-ranging, but has a primary focus on linguistics, story-telling and cultural understanding. The organisation trains 11 young, international volunteers.
Cecily and the volunteers then spend 150 hours developing the curriculum and the volunteers’ capacity to teach. Ultimately, the team deliver an 11 day programme, which in 2019 reached 330 children at the Hebei Lutou Secondary School aged between 13 and 15. Cecily and the volunteers visit each school for camps over two consecutive years, and share the learnings with the principal and management of partner schools to facilitate their innovation.
Cecily has been promoted to Managing Director at Visionary Education, also now overseeing an empowerment and educational programme for engaged, rural schools principals.
Source:
(1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4497582/#!po=57.5000
Damaan Humanitarian Organisation
Damaan Humanitarian Organisation - Syria
Mohammad Kanfash
Ambassador-led Initiative
1:2
SROI
The struggles of the Syrian people are well documented, but the struggles of healthcare providers is particularly shocking. A study by the Lancet medical journal concluded that “Syria has become the most dangerous place on earth for healthcare providers” due to the weaponisation of healthcare (1). Despite this, Mohammad Kanfash has grand plans for his organisation.
Founded in 2015, Damaan Humanitarian Organisation (DHO) supported schools, medical centres and communal kitchens in under siege locations. In 2018, the organisation folded to targeted violence after providing healthcare to 50,000 citizens, 250,000 family meals, clean water to thousands and was undertaking literacy elimination and employment educational programmes for young women and girls. From 11 clinics to none, Mohammad has since reinvigorated the organisation and they have a center with five functional clinics. In 2019, in these new medical centres, DHO reached 5,400 vulnerable Syrians with healthcare.
The work of DHO in the field of combating starvation and provision of aid was used by legal practitioners and academics and eventually contributed to the change of the Rome statues in December 2019 (2). This amendment will hopefully stop the use of starvation as a weapon of war in civil wars and will contribute to accountability initiatives. Mohammad is also contributing to a book bringing together leading academic minds on how to prevent and reimburse the crime of starvation.
In response to the unravelling situation in Idlib, Mohammad is working with ‘KUNO’ or the Platform for Humanitarian Knowledge in the Netherlands to advocate for an increase in aid and international support. The organisation continues to grow but faces the constant challenge that the larger it gets the more of a target it becomes.
Sources:
(1) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/15/syria-conflict-study-cond…;
(2) https://www.globalrightscompliance.com/en/news/vital-amendment-to-the-r…
My Mind Matters Too
Meg started "My Mind Matters Too" as an awareness campaign for student mental health, in reaction to Government pledges for investment into mental healthcare for people over the age of 35 and under 18. There was nothing for young people, transitioning into adulthood, despite the fact that three-quarters of adults with a mental illness first experience symptoms before the age of 25 (1).
The campaign evolved into an organisation. My Mind Matters Too became a consultancy for King's College London, helping them draft a five year strategic well-being plan of which Meg is a co-author. This has provided a support network to protect the mental health of over 30,000 students. They have since provided an equivalent service to University of Greenwich, Cambridge and Liverpool reaching an additional 50,000 students.
The consultancy also provides mental well-being guidance for various companies and non-profit organisations. Within King's College they have run weekly wellbeing sessions, started a women's mental health support group, and held educational lectures and events. These projects have reached over 1,000 young people in total.
My Mind Matters Too is the premier youth-led organisation researching the mental health needs for young people, and will produce a white paper in 2020 collecting insight from over 25,000 participants across London to provide essential, regional and age-specific data to further their work guiding government policy.
Sources:
(1) https://www.ippr.org/files/2017-09/1504645674_not-by-degrees-170905.pdf
TransFarm Ventures
Clarena founded TransFarm Ventures after returning to her local community having gained expertise and experience working in Nairobi for an organisation in the agriculture industry. This industry is central to the Kenyan economy, accounting for approximately 70% of labour and around 25% of the annual GDP.
In March 2019 she founded the organisation to boost the productivity and revenue of young, local farmers. She wants to use this project to protect and support the local economy. Additionally, it protects the local community from the impacts of famine by maintaining a sustainable and stable production of grain.
TransFarm Ventures has increased food production in the community by implementing greenhouse technology and other modern agricultural techniques. It enables producers to double production by growing produce all year round rather than over six months. It then sells to three local supermarkets each, bypassing middle-men to increase revenue.
Since founding, 10 young farmers have participated in the mentorship programme, five of whom have been connected directly into the economy. Additionally, Clarena has carried out information seminars for 60 youths, and has provided university seminars.
Clarena has connected with a fellow OYW Ambassador from the Dutch MFA delegation, and together they have established a relationship with schools setting up organic kitchen gardens. This project aims to make agriculture more attractive to the next generation.
FUMEBO
FUMEBO - Dominican Republic
Benjamin Bocio Richardson
Ambassador-led Initiative
1:75
SROI
Dr Benjamin Bocio Richardson founded FUMEBO to provide healthcare to the poorest regions and vulnerable Haitian population in Dominican Republic. He was inspired by his father who owns a dental surgery in Santo Domingo, and formalised the philanthropic work he already did in 2010 after in the wake of the earthquake. Once he qualified from his studies, Dr Benjamin took over the running of the organisation.
In particular, they focus their attention on the southern part of the country where healthcare provision is poor and the Haitian population is discriminated against. Partnering with governments and hospitals, they have established relationships with doctors and nurses who attend 11 annual treatment sessions in the 11 poorest regions in Haiti. During these sessions, they provide healthcare and dental checks for patients who have a monthly income less than $20 dollars and no medical insurance. Depending on the results of the check-ups they receive treatment or hospital referral, and all patients are given vitamins.
Since foundation in 2010, they have seen over 70,000 people and provided supplements to all. Of those patients, 276 have been treated for dental health issues, and 405 have received essential treatment for medical conditions. Alongside this frontline care, they have set up a foundation to provide educational support to students in middle-schools, including nutritional education.
Dr Benjamin attended the 2019 Summit in London where he established a connection with One Young World partner Johnson & Johnson, based in the Dominican Republic. Since returning, he has won deserved recognition, receiving the National Solidarity Volunteering Award by the Vice-President of the Dominican Republic.
R.A.W Biolage
Nour describes the 2014 Dublin Summit as a “wake up call” in his career that motivated and inspired him to create change. Dame Ellen MacArthur’s session on the circular economy stuck with Nour, and he used this thinking to develop a brand new product line with sustainable production at its core.
The Biolage R.A.W line uses ingredients that are up to 100% of natural origin and upwards of 99% biodegradable. The packaging is 100% Post-Recycled Plastic, making the R.A.W Shampoo and Conditioner range L’Oréal’s first Cradle-to-Cradle certified sustainable product line, with the formula validated platinum, which means it is in line with the circular economy and green chemistry principles. The #LiveRaw campaign helped to educate professional stylists and customers about sustainable hair care practices that can minimise their environmental impact.
Ishtar Handmade Soap
Ishtar Handmade Soap - Iraq
Zinah Saleh
Ambassador-led Initiative
1:7
SROI
Zinah founded Ishtar Handmade Soap to provide Iraqi women with opportunities to become self-sufficient and generate income.
Ishtar Handmade Soap trains women and girls to make their own soaps and detergents, and then supports them to sell the finished products in their shop in Baghdad and in bazaars across the country. Through these workshops, Ishtar Handmade Soaps has created employment opportunities for 12 full time and 25 part time workers. Ishtar Handmade Soaps focuses on providing these opportunities for women in need, such as refugees, widows, and young women pursuing an education. These women form different parts of the business, where some focus on production and packaging whilst others work as sales representatives in the weekly bazaars or market the products through social media.
Ishtar Handmade Soap prides itself on using fresh, natural ingredients that are kind to the skin and beneficial for your health. The organisation donates 30% of the profits generated to local people and causes in need. These funds have been used to support people suffering from cancer and in need of heart surgery, as well as a local animal shelter. Most recently, Ishtar Handmade Soaps helped to sponsor three Izidi girls through university in Mosul, since their families had no resources to allow them to study after fleeing ISIS.
In the future, Ishtar Handmade Soaps has plans to open a large workshop in Iraq where more women in need can be trained and supported in business to create their own products.
QueenB
QueenB - Israel
Yasmin Dunsky, Noga Mann
Ambassador-led Initiative
1:4
SROI
QueenB was founded by Yasmin Dunsky & Noga Mann to make computer programming and coding accessible and interesting to young girls. The organisation has taught 500 girls how to code and has reached 1,000 young people through running popup workshops and hackathons.
QueenB runs weekly coding classes for high school girls, who are taught the basics of computer programming by female undergraduate students reading programming at university. High school students go to classes based in four different university campuses across Israel. Classes consist of 15 students led by four mentors, with each class lasting for three hours per week. The class curriculum has been specifically designed to appeal to generation Z girls, encouraging them to pursue programming opportunities that they may not have considered otherwise. Girls learn how to code alongside peers from all backgrounds. Ultra orthodox Jewish girls learn alongside Arab girls for example, allowing them to become friends and learn about each other in a safe environment whilst acquiring valuable new skills. Students pay a small fee to reserve their space for the class, with 15% of all attendees accessing the class for free due to insufficient means. QueenB has established partnership with influential tech companies including Google. QueenB reports that 80% of girls who complete the two year programme have gone on to choose computer science as a major in their 10th grade education.
Yasmin & Noga are currently working on Frizzl, another joint venture that teaches children how to code using a mobile phone app
WaterROAM
Vincent co-founded WateROAM in 2014 to develop water filtration solutions that can be used in disaster stricken areas to give people quick access to clean drinking water. More than 70,000 people have benefitted from access to water filtering pumps in 21 countries across Southeast Asia.
More than 140 million people in Southeast Asia lack access to safe drinking water, while almost a billion have no access to basic sanitation. Waterborne illnesses are largely attributed to biologically contaminated surface water. Natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and landslides can also leave people without access to clean drinking water. WateROAM works to create innovative solutions to enable people living in low-income and disaster-prone areas to treat contaminated water. WateROAM stands by the four key pillars of simplicity, portability, durability and affordability. These principles ensure that the products developed match the needs of the target market. The organisation currently has three different filtration models in production, each catering to different needs and circumstances.
In 2018, Vincent and his team were awarded the Facebook Social Entrepreneurship Award, winning $5,000 worth of Facebook advertising credits and tailored mentorship from a Facebook executive working in the Asia-Pacific region. This helped the WateROAM team to better market their products on Facebook. The advertising campaigns contributed to a 90% rise in web traffic, resulting in more than 1,000 leads and almost 6,000 new followers.
Garden of Hope
Victor founded the Garden of Hope Foundation in May 2014 to develop the skills of underprivileged young people living in the Kibera slums in Nairobi. Garden of Hope Foundation has worked with 5,000 young people since its inception, helping them to develop their entrepreneurial and leadership skills. The foundation runs an entrepreneurial skills training programme for women and girls living in Kibera. It develops their business skills, and helps them generate new income streams that have the potential to help lift families out of poverty. This programme is primarily targeted towards those who have been victims of forced marriages or have dropped out of school at a young age. So far 3,000 women and girls have been equipped with entrepreneurial skills through this programme.
Garden of Hope Foundation also educates women on sexual health and rights, as well as providing sanitary towels to 500 girls each month to help them manage menstruation properly. This makes these products accessible for people who would otherwise be unable to afford them. Garden of Hope Foundation also works to improve the leadership capacity of young people through the Mentoring and Leadership Programme. Working with 20 high schools across Kibera, Garden of Hope Foundation links high school students with university students who then provide career guidance and personal development opportunities. The main purpose of this programme is to create behavioural change amongst at-risk young people. In the past year, 250 young people have benefitted from this programme.
After attending the One Young World 2018 The Hague Summit on the MFA Enterprise for Peace scholarship, Victor won the Pan African Award for Entrepreneurship in Education through a nomination from the MFA. This award included a $5,000 grant given to the foundation, as well as a three year incubator partnership
Gradesmatch
Unathi founded Gradesmatch as a platform for young people to access career advice and information, as well as to further educational opportunities across South Africa and Namibia.
Gradesmatch was founded after Unathi attended the One Young World 2013 Johannesburg Summit, and has impacted more than 84,000 people to date. Gradesmatch works to educate young learners about potential career paths that suit their academic strengths and interests. Gradesmatch helps students to make well informed career decisions by giving them information about the job market, higher education and scholarship opportunities.
The platform specifically caters to students from lower socio-economic backgrounds to help provide relevant career guidance to communities that are typically underserved. Although it primarily operates as an online platform, Gradesmatch also hosts career expos and teacher training sessions to further maximise its reach. Gradesmatch is zero-rated by Vodafone in South Africa, which means that Vodafone users can access the platform from their phones for free, without credit or data.
The organisation also offers recruitment services for southern African companies to source top talent. Gradesmatch provides monitoring and evaluation consulting to refine organisational education programmes as well as market research and advertising services.
Unathi was inspired to start Gradesmatch as a social business after hearing TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie speak about sustainable giving through for-profit business at the 2013 Summit
How to use to the SDG Tracker
Search for projects by the following case study categories:
- Ambassador-led Initiatives: qualitative and quantitative analysis of the social impact of projects which are led by young leaders in the Community.
- Business for Social Good: written case studies for initiatives ran by corporate partner organisations, led by young Ambassadors/employees.
- Leadership Biographies: short biographies of Ambassadors who are growing into influential leaders for social good in some of the world’s largest companies, organisations, and in government.
- One Young World Funded Projects: detailed case studies of grant recipients from One Young World's funding opportunities, including Lead2030, Rebuilding Communities, and the COVID Young Leaders Fund.