$ 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 42 Ambassador-led initiatives addressing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2022
SDG Impact Tracker
Interested in supporting impactful initiatives led by young leaders? Search this database of over 350 projects from the One Young World Community to find out more.
Carolina García Arbeláez, AB InBev
Carolina García Arbeláez, AB InBev - Colombia
Carolina García Arbeláez
Leadership Biographies
Carolina’s studies in international environmental law coincided with the failure of the Kyoto Protocol and the need for a new global agreement on climate change. She pivoted to a career in journalism before connecting with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) while covering the Colombian government’s recognition of the Fluvial Star of Inírida as a protected Ramsar site.
Carolina translated into Spanish ‘Corporation 2020’, a book by former WWF President Pavan Sukhdev, arguing for corporate engagement in tackling the climate crisis. This, along with her experience as a WWF delegate to the Paris Agreement, convinced her of the importance of the private sector in driving change.
In 2017, she joined AB InBev as Sustainability Lead at Bavaria, its Colombian subsidiary. She attended the One Young World Summit Bogotá, 2017, and immediately found a community of young leaders who inspired her to continue driving positive change through her career and within her organisation. Carolina was instrumental in launching a new programme with the retail team, helping women retailers through access to financial services, education, and entrepreneurship training. It has since become one of Bavaria’s largest social programmes.
Later, as Regional Sustainability Manager, Carolina led the development of Bavaria’s sustainable water projects in the Colombian Páramos. These wetlands account for 70% of Colombia’s drinking water and are at risk. Carolina worked with the local Water Fund to implement context-specific measures to help maintain the Páramos, such as reforestation and regenerative agriculture practices amongst local farming communities. In collaboration with the marketing team, Carolina helped launch Zalva, a new water brand, with most of the profits going towards helping save the Páramos. Carolina replicated this success in Mexico, Peru, and El Salvador with context-specific variations to create the greatest possible social and environmental impact and she helped bring international funding to increase the scale of the projects.
In her latest role as Global Sustainability and Innovation Director, Carolina works primarily on the 100+ Accelerator programme, a unique partnership between AB InBev, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, and Unilever, to fund and support sustainable innovation initiatives in supply chains. The 100+ Accelerator has worked with 116 startups across the world and has implemented pilots in over 30 countries, with one pilot even integrating into Carolina’s work in the Colombian Páramos and another into her water work in Mexico.
“Building a regenerative future is a massive challenge. One Young World gives you a community of like-minded, stubborn optimists, leaders that share common values. With them by your side nothing seems impossible.”
BIOVATEC
Karime is the CEO and co-founder of BIOVATEC, a biotech company focused on providing sustainable solutions to environmental problems. Their first project, NoPlastic, led to the creation of a biomaterial made entirely out of organic and nopal plant waste, designed to replace plastic in industries like disposable single-use, furniture and automotives. In addition to providing a sustainable solution, Karime and her co-founders also aim to create new economic opportunities for nopal farmers.
Karime attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021, and Manchester, 2022, respectively. During her first Summit, she developed a relationship with her sponsor, the Audi Environmental Foundation, and won their 2022 Hackathon on Sustainable Mobility and Circular Economy being the only woman from the Americas. Karime credits being a One Young World Ambassador as part of the reason that she has been named as an ambassador for Global Shapers, YOUNGO, winner of the State Youth Award 2021, and Youth Full of Life Award 2022.
BIOVATEC’s second project is called LOMTECH and consists of treating organic waste with a biotechnology process to create soil-enriching products for farmers and household orchards. The team aims to reduce the issues of soil loss, shortages in the production of food crops, and food waste. As part of their work through LOMTECH, the organisation has provided services to a sanitary landfill in the state of Mexico, with 16,800 kilograms of organic waste already having been transformed. In alliance with her other organisation, Socials for Science, they offer courses on how to treat organic waste and use sustainable technologies. BIOVATEC has also been active in both national and international climate and circular economy spaces, reaching over 30,000 people. In 2023, the organisation will be providing courses in schools on replicating their LOMTECH processes at home, in addition to starting with the sale of its KAMAPA brand, which are personal wellness products for daily use made from organic fruit and floral waste.
“Since the Munich Summit, there has been a lot of impact in my life, I created connections with other Latino Ambassadors, met people who can support my project and my working relationship with Audi has grown to include possible collaboration in the future, as well as strengthening personal skills becoming an international speaker and activist in my country.”
Sustentabilidad Sin Fronteras
Sustentabilidad Sin Fronteras - Argentina
Nasha A.C. Cuvelier
Ambassador-led Initiative
2
SROI
Nasha co-founded Sustentabilidad Sin Fronteras (SSF), after meeting her co-founder Mariano at the Youth Congress in Paris for COP21. SSF is a transdisciplinary group of professionals working together to raise awareness of climate change, by taking action in mitigation and adaptation measures. They do so through education, with courses, webinars and events in Argentina and online to reach young people across Latin America.
Nasha attended the One Young World Summit at The Hague, 2018, where she met One Young World Counsellor Christiana Figueres. Through discussions with fellow Ambassadors working on climate change and environmental issues, Nasha developed new ideas centred on establishing better practices to be implemented in Argentina. During their participation in COP26 and COP27, Nasha and her colleagues had the opportunity to speak to international media organisations and bring attention to their work, while also participating in One Young World’s sessions at those events.
SSF has so far organised over 15 courses, both in-person and online, directly impacting 1,500 people. It also hosted three events for more than 500 young people in each throughout 2022. The initiative publishes an annual report containing a multisectoral analysis of the present climate situation and outlook both nationally and internationally. SSF has partnered with the government of Vicente Lopez, a municipality in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, to first measure the possible impact of climate change, their greenhouse gas emissions and their vulnerability risks, and then create an adaptation plan to mitigate climate threats. The group is now working on a project to structure the future climate actions and budget of the government.
“I was inspired by the young leaders there and the discussions around better practices for environmental activism. I got the opportunity to meet one of the leaders that I admire the most, Christiana Figueres, at the Summit. And after chatting, we filmed a video together for my country that I still have. During COP26, I got the opportunity to participate in events organised by One Young World in partnership with other organisations such as the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and Mischon de Reya. ”
Axle International
Co-founded by Benazir, Axle International leverages technological innovations from the private sector to support development in Africa, by identifying socio-economic and governance risks and developing tools to gather accurate and real-time data. The company has also provided primary data and analytics on public opinion and consumer insights to uncover sociopolitical risks, and has assisted several peace processes across the continent.
Axle International launched the African Risk Compass on public perceptions of socio-economic and political risks. The initial consultations, which One Young World supported, brought together young people from every region of the continent and gathered insights, data, and thought leadership on topics relevant to human security and risk. Axle International is now building a data platform to crowdsource perceptions and offer open source, transparent, and interactive primary data and insights to humanitarian organisations and governments. The initiative maintains a predictive approach to crisis analysis, and the data comes from an African perspective.
Axle International has so far gathered 2,000 data points from 40 countries and identified 150 developmental risks. It has produced several reports that have been shared with African Union member states, and worked with more than 50 NGOs and universities across the continent. In 2020, Benazir and her co-founder, Nathaniel Jowitt, received the Top Innovation of the Year in Democracy and Governance granted by the African Union and COMESA.
Ecolotrip
Claude is the founder and CEO of Ecolotrip, an organisation aiming to empower young people in Africa and globally in the fight against climate change. It does this by promoting networking, capacity-building, and green entrepreneurship. After experiencing firsthand the limitations of English language climate discourse for non-English speakers, Claude decided to create an organisation that would help young people from francophone Africa engage in discussions on their own terms. The project has raised awareness about climate change and its consequences in local communities, and developed its eco-citizens programme, through which young climate activists share best practices on community organising and climate action.
Claude attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021. He has since become an active member of the One Young World Community in francophone Africa, regularly sharing his events and funding opportunities with like minded Ambassadors. Claude also attended the ChangeNow Summit in Paris as part of the Ambassador delegation sent by One Young World.
Ecolotrip’s most significant project is the Week-Eco, a summit organised for young climate activists and green entrepreneurs from francophone countries. The annual event has hosted 500 young people aged between 18 to 35 across four editions since 2017, as well as planted 100 trees during its last iteration. Through the Ecolotrip platform and other events beyond Week-Eco, the organisation has reached over 6,000 people and created 1,000 ecocitizens. Ecolotrip has also hosted clean-up events, removing 50 kgs of plastic waste, and sent a delegation to COP27. This delegation was composed of 15 young people to ensure that young voices were represented in the global climate conversation.
“Last year, One Young World shared the call for our Eco-Week event after I mentioned that I needed help sharing it. And we had some fellow Ambassadors apply to attend. It was a nice full circle moment for me, I got inspired by the people in the Community and how they lead their organisations.”
Olu Odubajo, KPMG
Olu has always had a strong passion for social mobility. Whilst working as a digital consultant at KPMG, he was involved in a focus group on Black heritage, diversity, and inclusion, through which he created a reverse mentoring programme that connected senior executives interested in supporting diversity, with employees of Black heritage who could provide insight and support. Olu was selected to mentor KPMG UK’s then Managing Partner, Philip Davidson.
The programme received a lot of coverage and has since been consolidated as part of KPMG’s diversity and inclusion team. Olu managed to connect with Lord Michael Hastings, who sits on One Young World’s Global Advisory Board, and who at the time was also KPMG’s Global Head of Citizenship. Lord Hastings was impressed by Olu’s work and introduced him to One Young World.
The One Young World Summit in Bogotá, 2017, was the first time that Olu found himself in an environment full of young, inspiring changemakers, many of whom worked for big corporate organisations like his own. This encouraged him to scale his work on Black representation and take it in a different direction, and he was invited back as a Delegate Speaker in 2018.
Olu was able to leverage KPMG’s resources to address the overlooked issue of the lack of access to capital faced by Black entrepreneurs. The Black Entrepreneurs’ Award held its first event six months after the 2017 One Young World Summit, with over 100 Black entrepreneurs applying for a 12-month accelerator programme and equity-free funding. The programme included mentoring with a senior KPMG executive, exposure through KPMG’s channels, and workshops with industry-leading experts.
Going into its 4th year, The Black Entrepreneurs’ Award has helped over 20 entrepreneurs as finalists and winners, and distributed over £140,000 of equity-free funding to Black-owned businesses. The Black Entrepreneurs' Award is now collaborating with Google’s Black Founders Fund and other companies to increase the accessibility of capital for Black entrepreneurs. Olu also promotes and inspires future leaders through his podcast series, Not Your Everyday Podcast, where he looks behind the scenes of transformational leadership stories. He has interviewed One Young World Co-Founder Kate Robertson, Lord Michael Hastings, and former Unilever CEO Paul Polman, with a new season planned for later this year. Olu is also completing a part-time Masters in Social Innovation at the Cambridge Judge Business School to help businesses become more socially responsible.
“The One Young World platform gave me exposure to a wider network. It gave me the ability to use that network to create a podcast, it gave me the ability to speak on stages including One Young World, and again that gave me a platform to just explain my story. I use the assets that One Young World has developed to support the positive stories I want to create.”
Eureka Tech Academy
Off the back of a visit to Silicon Valley, Afnan was inspired to do something for her country and her region. Her passion for education and technology, led her to found Eureka Tech Academy. She was selected as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) Best Tech Entrepreneur for 2020, and her work at Eureka has been recognised as one of the best social enterprises in the Arab World for its capacity to generate impact.
The Eureka Tech Academy is a tech-focused school for children and young people that aims to prepare them step-by-step to become engineers, innovators, and tech entrepreneurs. It is present in two cities in Jordan and has trained over 10,000 young people so far. Their curriculum is designed to teach children the basics of engineering so that they can make their ideas a reality. It takes around three years to complete the full Eureka Tech Academy programme, with students receiving a diploma at the end of the process. Afnan is now working with her fourth cohort of students. Students from earlier cohorts are now working with the initiative to give back to their communities.
Providing equal opportunities for access to education, regardless of economic status, is one of Afnan’s driving motivations. Following the pandemic, Eureka Tech Academy launched an online platform to reach students who are based in other parts of Jordan. As of 2023, Afnan’s goal is to increase their reach and launch franchises of the Eureka Tech Academy internationally.
Simien Eco Trek
Simien Eco Trek - Ethiopia
Wubetu Shimelash
Ambassador-led Initiative
9
SROI
Wubetu co-founded Simien Eco Trek in 2017, as a social enterprise that offers tour services in Ethiopia while empowering local communities. The tour company creates personalised itineraries and organises tour services across Ethiopia, developing local employment opportunities and supporting a more sustainable form of tourism in the country. In addition to Simien Eco Trek, Wubetu is a filmmaker, creating meaningful content to document his generation, challenge the status quo, and give a voice to those who have been historically underrepresented in the media.
Wubetu attended the One Young World Summit in The Hague, 2018, and was a Delegate Speaker at the Summit in London 2019. Since becoming an Ambassador, he has collaborated with One Young World, globally and regionally in Africa by participating in several panel discussions, including the #TogetherApart Series.
Through the work of Simien Eco Trek, Wubetu has impacted more than 12,400 people in Ethiopia. He has directly created jobs for 600 people thanks to his sustainable tourism initiative. In partnership with Watts of Love, Wubetu has implemented one of his landmark projects, Light and Hope for Ethiopia, through which 8,400 people in remote parts of the Simien Mountains have gained access to 1,200 solar lights. These solar lights are sustainable energy sources that do not require kerosene. He has worked to reduce stigmatisation of menstrual health in Ethiopia via national campaigns, while creating jobs in the production of reusable menstrual pads and distributing pads in remote villages. In total, more than 2,000 women have been impacted. Simien Eco Trek has also provided financial literacy and social entrepreneurship training to 1,400 people.
“I feel lucky to be part of this Community, and still I'm in touch with a lot of people. There's not any other organisation that I would rather be part of than One Young World, I feel proud. For me, One Young World has created what they say they wanted to create, which is connecting global leaders that are changing the world in different aspects.”
Integrated Agricultural Association (I.A.A)
Integrated Agricultural Association (I.A.A) - Cameroon
Dungrila Pascal Mbimenyuy
Ambassador-led Initiative
31
SROI
Dungrila founded the Integrated Agricultural Association (IAA) in 2017. Through a grassroots approach, the IAA helps women and girls access sustainable economic opportunities while empowering women-owned producer cooperatives. It educates Cameroonians on the importance of organic farming, food awareness, gender equality, and reproductive health. The IAA's key programmes are in sustainable agriculture, environmental protection and management, education, health, human rights, women’s empowerment, and water and sanitation.
Dungrila was selected to attend the One Young World Summit in London, 2019. He has stayed active in the Community, participating in training opportunities that have helped develop his leadership skills, such as the 2022 Lightful Learning Bootcamp.
To date, the IAA has trained more than 9,000 smallholder farmers in sustainable agriculture; distributed 16,000 vegetable seed packets; educated 5,000 girls in menstrual hygiene management; provided sanitary pads to 1,500 girls; and trained 1,200 young girls in STEM. The IAA has also planted 25,000 trees and restored 170 hectares of degraded farms, while training over 1,000 women in agroforestry techniques through their Economic Empowerment Programme. As part of their Youth Entrepreneurship Programme, the IAA trains and supports young people in agribusiness through the provision of material resources, impacting 100 young people. In addition, the IAA has trained 250 medical students and young community health workers on the risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and prevention strategies to promote health in their communities.
“Being a part of the One Young World Community has helped me develop my leadership and communication skills, I feel more inspired to do more because through my activities One Young World has been able to recognize my work and has nominated me for an international award, which inspired me and also other young people in Cameroon to start their own initiatives.”
Crystal Andrews, The Kraft Heinz Company
Crystal Andrews, The Kraft Heinz Company - United States
Crystal Andrews
Leadership Biographies
Crystal began her career in marketing at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago before transitioning to internal communications supporting employee events and campaigns. After much networking and research, she realised she could make a difference for her colleagues, organisations, and the world, by channelling and celebrating the unique differences of those around her. In 2008, the Dodd-Frank legislation in the United States mandated that all 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks had to create diversity offices, and Crystal was able to learn from the national conversation around diversity and inclusion to implement policies in her own office.
Crystal attended the One Young World Summit Bangkok, 2015, where she was able to discuss experiences of inclusivity with people from around the world. In particular, she sought out fellow Delegates from South Africa to better understand their lived experiences post-Apartheid. The diversity of the Summit influenced and reinforced Crystal’s objective of integrating inclusivity and accessibility into diversity and inclusion strategies she led.
At Ulta Beauty, Crystal worked to change industry beauty standards by helping make beauty welcoming and accessible for all. Her work had a dual focus; creating inclusive customer experiences while also ensuring employees experienced an inclusive and diverse workplace. Her team developed ‘inclusion in action’ training for every employee, amplified moments that matter to employees and customers and secured an organisational investment of $50M in diversity, equity and inclusion commitments in 2022.
At Kraft Heinz, Crystal is providing coaching and consulting to leadership to reimagine the company’s diversity, equity, belonging and inclusion strategy with a focus on people, business and community. This will introduce an inclusive design thinking and approach to support fair, equitable and unbiased people practices, celebrate the diversity of consumers and customers and empower communities. Internally, Kraft Heinz has 12 business resource groups divided equally between the US and international markets, bringing together employees from diverse backgrounds around central concepts like culture building, community outreach, professional development and brand partnerships. Crystal hopes that this new strategy will be transformative for Kraft Heinz, building upon the company’s We Demand Diversity value.
“I had never been in such a diverse situation as the Summit, with literally every country represented. And so I just found it fascinating. I remember the Opening Ceremony, and just how powerful that was to see all of the country flags come in and people in their native attire. It was a great introduction into being a true citizen of the world.”
Jonny Jacobs, Starbucks
Jonny Jacobs, Starbucks - United Kingdom
Jonny Jacobs
Leadership Biographies
Jonny has always had a keen interest in giving people opportunities to reach their full potential. In 2016, he was nominated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAS) to be their Young Chartered Accountant of the Year, a role which earned him a place to attend the One Young World Summit in Bogotá, 2017. At the time, Jonny was the Strategy and Transformation Director and an active mental health programme sponsor at his previous company. These experiences, along with his challenging upbringing, were the catalyst for Jonny to become an advocate for positive change in his career.
Jonny took on the role of an ambassador and executive sponsor for pladis Global’s mental health programme, elevating the initiative onto the strategic agenda of the business through his role in the executive team. The programme began with a small group of colleagues working to break the stigma of mental health in the workplace before reaching 4,000 employees in the UK and influencing globally through education and support. This led to McVitie’s first-ever social partnership with the mental health charity, Mind. The joint Let's Talk campaign leveraged the brand for social good to drive a national mental health conversation.
Now at Starbucks, Jonny influences the strategic agenda as the sponsor of a wellbeing programme, the Wellbeing Blend, with 200 trained ambassadors expanding across geographies. The programme’s three core components, physical, mental, and financial wellbeing, support colleagues to feel their best every day. Starbucks has enhanced its support tools for people experiencing tough times, with counselling, prevention services, training, and education, whilst at the same time enhancing policies to support its partners to thrive. During Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK, thousands of Starbucks baristas wore a green ribbon for mental health awareness. Jonny has successfully helped expand the scope, scale, and national impact of Starbucks’ wellbeing and D&I initiatives, leveraging the company’s strong foundations in corporate social responsibility.
Jonny is also a Board Member for the Mental Health Foundation, the UK’s leading charity for everyone’s mental health, and Mental Health at Work CIC who lead the Mental Health Allies Programme, which trains employees, including line managers, on how to spot the signs of mental ill health. Jonny has brought together his experience to also co-lead the Mental Fitness in Business strategy for ICAS, which is leading the mental health conversation amongst the profession.
“I wouldn't have built the confidence to share my story if it wasn't for One Young World. No question. So everything that I do now One Young World has touched in some way. I've got the confidence, because I've seen other people allow themselves to show vulnerability. It’s the network as well; coming back and speaking on the main stage in 2019 and again in Manchester this year has helped me shape my story, find a route to give back and hopefully inspire others.”
Oceanmar Project
Nathalie was inspired by her experience as a diver and her familiarity with the challenges of ocean conservation to co-found the Oceanmar Project in 2020. The project was first online, launching as an Instagram account through which the Ocearmar team shared information on ocean conservation. Noticing a demand for ocean education, Nathalie and her co-founder, Mariana, began offering online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, before launching their work in-person. In addition, the team has also worked on sustainable tourism projects.
Nathalie attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021, and she participated as a digital workshop facilitator at the Summit in Manchester, 2022, on the topic of Sustainable Blue Tourism. As a One Young World Ambassador, Nathalie was part of the Global Youth Inquiry, an initiative between One Young World, Mishcon de Reya and the Democracy and Culture Foundation, that took evidence of 23 One Young World leaders working in the climate space globally.
The Oceanmar Project has communities in Spain, Germany, South Africa and Mexico that support their work and activities. They organise educational events with local communities, hold online courses and have participated in conferences in various universities throughout Latin America. Thanks to their educational initiatives, they have reached over 1,800 students on topics ranging from ocean literacy and marine biodiversity to zero waste living. They have carried out over 20 beach and underwater clean-ups in Spain and Mexico, removing 100 kg of trash. In South Africa, they worked with townships on education and recycling to make sustainable eco-bricks. By the end of 2023, Nathalie and her co-founder aim to create an ocean conservation and educational centre.
“During the Summit, I realised that there are a lot of people working to make the world better, and it inspired me to dream bigger, to not stay small with my ambitions. After the Summit, I did some leadership courses with One Young World that helped me develop my communication and leadership skills to be more effective.”
European Association for Law and Finance
European Association for Law and Finance - Montenegro
Katarina Bošković
Ambassador-led Initiative
23
SROI
Katarina is the Founder and President of the European Association for Law and Finance (EALF), an organisation that brings together young people, civil leaders, war victims, and peace experts to reflect on the aftermath of conflict and rebuild communities in the Balkans through respect and trust. Their work prioritises groups that are traditionally underrepresented in peacebuilding discourses, including victims of war who are also victims of sexual assault.
Katarina attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021, and spoke on a panel with fellow European Commission Peace Ambassadors on the challenges of being a peacebuilder. Following the Summit, she contributed to the “Declaration on the Future of Peacebuilding and Leadership” and participated in One Young World’s Action Accelerator programme, as a result of which she developed her peacebuilding apps. Katarina will participate in the UN General Assembly in 2023, on account of learning about the participation opportunities from fellow Ambassador Ramiz Bakhtiar.
The European Association for Law and Finance has impacted more than 20,000 young people and over 1,000 civil leaders, war victims and peace experts. Their education programme, Peace Talks, has reached 800 teachers from six countries in the western Balkans and provided them with resources and tools to both learn about peacebuilding and teach the topic in classrooms. Katarina and her team have also developed a pilot programme connecting victims of war with psychologists to help tackle post-traumatic stress disorder, impacting 40 people with plans to scale further. Their peace app, made for students, has over 20,000 users and offers eight hours of regularly updated interactive content on peace and conflict resolution, including live lectures. In 2023, they want to expand their policy and legal frameworks project, through which they produced a recommendation that was implemented in June 2022 by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina to give state benefits to war victims.
“Both the Summit experience and the post-Summit programme have been very useful for me. I gained a lot of knowledge and expande my leadership skills. I connected with other Ambassadors from other countries and we are working together on a project for the United Nations. Additionally, this project came out of my participation in the One Young World Action Accelerator programme.”
Elvis Martin, National Youth Commission of Australia
Elvis Martin, National Youth Commission of Australia - Australia
Elvis Martin
Leadership Biographies
Elvis began his advocacy work as an international student who noticed the myriad gaps in Australia’s mental health support system. He began by helping international students navigate the country’s legal system to better protect their rights and access vital services. Since then, his work has expanded to cover multiple areas, while his own lived experience continues to provide the foundations for his role as a social justice campaigner. Elvis raised $1M to build a youth refuge and became heavily involved in the Mental Health Compliance Commission. He also co-founded co-health youth action council, a community health organisation that strives to improve health and wellbeing for all, with a particular focus on young people experiencing mental health challenges.
Elvis first attended a One Young World Summit in The Hague, 2018, and found the experience to be like no other. He discovered One Young World is a universal hub for advocacy through which young leaders like himself can tap into resources and support. Elvis implemented his learnings from the Summit, particularly on sustainability, into his advisory roles in government bodies and actively encouraged their implementation.
Elvis scaled his advocacy work and became Principal Ambassador for the National Youth Commission of Australia. He also became a diversity and inclusion spokesperson, sitting on various boards related to mental health, homelessness, family violence, and technology. Elvis was appointed the National Chair of Red Cross Youth. His approach to advocacy is people-centric and emphasises the lived experience of people experiencing hardship. He became the youngest member appointed to Victoria’s LGBTIQ+ Taskforce, and the youngest member to be appointed to the Victorian Government’s Anti-Racism Taskforce. He is also the first male to be appointed to the expert advisory panel of Safe and Equal, a family and domestic violence peak body. This has involved one the biggest wins for his advocacy career, as Australia's newly instituted domestic violence paid leave has come out of the work done by Safe and Equal.
Following the Summit in Manchester, 2022, Elvis returned again to Australia to scale his advocacy work. He was elected Deputy Chair for the State of Victoria’s peak body for mental health. In this role, Elvis hopes to bring more diversity and break stigma around mental health challenges, and advocate for a system without barriers and gaps especially for the most marginalised in the community.
“Being a One Young World Ambassador not just elevated my advocacy work, it also gave me a better understanding of the world around me. It gave me a platform, it's like a universal stage for advocacy and for passionate young people. That's how I see it. A global hub that young people can tap into for resources and support.”
Peace in Our Schools
Ramiz’s childhood was significantly impacted by the conflict in Afghanistan, and these experiences led him to discover constructive ways to resolve conflicts peacefully. During a visit to the United Nations in 2018, he met his co-founder, Lika Torikashvili, with whom he founded Peace in Our Schools as an interfaith initiative teaching young people about peacebuilding. Ramiz is an Afghan Muslim, and Lika is a Georgian Jew; they lead Peace in Our Schools, a non-profit organisation together to build a more peaceful, just and inclusive world.
Ramiz attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021, which gave him an opportunity to connect with other young leaders in peacebuilding and speak on a panel about his work. The Summit gave Ramiz access to a network of contacts that have since helped promote and develop his work. One Young World Ambassadors have also participated in Peace in Our Schools’ Youth Diplomacy Talks, in which community leaders and experts from different faiths discuss peacebuilding, bringing a uniquely diverse perspective to the programme.
Peace in Our School’s Peace Camps last for three days with approximately 20 participants in each camp ranging from school children to young adults. The Peace Camps, which have been held in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Indonesia, centre on skills-building, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and involve direct support from certified psychologists. Over 600 students from 10 schools have engaged with the programme so far, while 12 online Youth Diplomacy Talks have reached over 2,500 people through direct participants and livestreams. For their work with Peace in Our Schools, Ramiz and Lika received a PACEY award from the Basel Peace Office in 2023. Following this, Peace in Our Schools plans on working with Ukrainian refugees and Russian immigrants through its Peace Camps in Georgia.
"Leadership involves mobilising people to work towards a common goal. Without a network of supporters and the necessary tools to connect with these individuals, it can be challenging to effectively exercise leadership. My experience at the Summit proved to be invaluable, as it provided me with a network of collaborators and young leaders who have supported and facilitated my journey in exercising effective leadership."
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 Stories: short biographies of Ambassadors who are growing into influential leaders for social good in some of the world’s largest companies.
- Covid Young Leaders Fund: detailed case studies of grant recipients from One Young World's 2020 funding opportunity for projects tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Lead2030: detailed case studies of the Lead2030 award winners and how their projects have generated impact from participating in the programme.