The Winter Warmer seeks to protect children against the cold during winter by providing them with either blankets or beanies and scarves. Founded in 2010, The Winter Warmer provides clothing items to children to help them keep warm and feel safe, which in turn allows them to focus on their school work.

Maxine and her team of 50 volunteers spend roughly four months each year planning and implementing the project, and have reached over 10,000 people to date. The 2018 campaign prioritised providing children and adults with polar fleece beanie hats and scarves to help them battle the elements on their commute, which can often be long and exposes them to the harshest weather conditions. The Winter Warmer teamed up with 44 beneficiary organisations including various crèches, community centres, charity organisations and shelters to help distribute the donated items. Funds were raised through individual and corporate donations as well as through a competition in collaboration with an online shop. Maxine developed a partnership with a polar fleece manufacturer called Blue Motion through a fellow One Young World Ambassador. Blue Motion agreed to manufacture the hat and scarf sets and sell them to the Winter Warmer team at highly discounted prices, maximising the impact of each donation.

The Winter Warmer is part of “imagine.nation”, a nonprofit in conjunction with fellow One Young World Ambassadors in South Africa that focuses on social entrepreneurship and technology education.

Maria founded Lidera El Cambio alongside 15 other One Young World Ambassadors following the 2017 Bogotá Summit. Lidera El Cambio is a leadership development platform for young Colombians to come together and work towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The 2018 Lidera El Cambio conference had 300 attendees from across Colombia, with 40 speakers and panellists sharing their expertise with the delegation over two days. Participants also attended 10 practical workshops lead by top non profit organisations, public institutions and corporations.

More than 700 people applied to attend the conference, of which 300 were selected. Lidera El Cambio, which means ‘Lead the Change’, helped to support ambitious young people eager to drive social change to connect with each other and further increase their impact. The event was held at the Universidad El Bosque in north Bogotá, and covered topics including gender equality, eradicating poverty, education and health. Lidera el Cambio attendees formed a community, thus leading to the establishment of the National Network of Young Colombian Leaders for the SDGs.

After attending One Young World 2017 Bogotá, these Ambassadors were so inspired by the event that they wanted to recreate a similar forum for young people across Colombia to be similarly inspired to start their own social action projects.

Luis founded Youth Centre “Perspektiva” to empower young people through educating them about human rights and democracy. Youth Centre “Perspektiva” helps young people to develop their skills through training sessions and workshops, educating 500 young people to date. The organisation was the first to focus on combating and preventing hate speech through non-formal education at the national level. Participants are trained on how to become multipliers and activists of the ‘No Hate Speech Movement’, learning how to combat and prevent hateful messages both online and offline.

Hate speech continues to be a problem in Albania due to the lack of data on the issue and the difficulty of prosecuting perpetrators due to insufficient provisions in the law. Access to justice for victims of discrimination remains difficult, and minority groups continue to face hostility and discrimination. Youth Centre “Perspektiva” organises activities with and for young people in Albania and in the Western Balkans to raise awareness about human rights, promote intercultural dialogue, peer-to-peer education and empower the youth to be active and responsible members of the community. Youth Centre “Perspektiva” uses a range of mediums including street art, music and the visual arts to increase awareness and education about the dangers of hate speech and sectarianism. The ARTivism for Human Rights project follows the UNICEF methodology of human rights education through art

Kennedy founded the Calabar Youth Council for Women’s Rights to advocate against female genital mutilation (FGM) and gender-based violence in Nigeria. To date, Calabar Youth Council for Women’s Rights has directly impacted 2,000 people, educating them about the dangers of FGM and the harm that it can cause victims.

Despite being outlawed, FGM continues to take place in southern parts of Nigeria, with 24.8% of women in Nigeria having undergone the practice1 . Calabar is the main city in Cross River State, where the rate of FGM is higher at 32%2 . The Calabar Youth Council for Women’s Rights works with communities to dispel myths around the practice, and to better inform them about the health implications and social effects of FGM for victims. The Council deploys strategic social change communication to help turn perpetrators and future practitioners of FGM away from the practice. Women and men are educated about gender-based violence and the harm it causes wider society, with the aim of creating a positive cultural shift.

Kennedy attended One Young World 2017 Bogotá, where he was awarded a Resolution Project Fellowship for his work with the Calabar Youth Council for Women’s Rights. The Fellowship came with $2,000 to support Kennedy’s work, plus specialised mentorship and support. Kennedy has plans to set up a new initiative to help support 5,000 displaced people in Calabar over the coming year.

Juan founded the Warriors Zulu Nation Honduras in 2011, with the goal of creating a safe space for young people in Honduras to express their artistic talents and reject gang culture. The organisation has impacted 1,576 young people through cultural programmes and events.

Honduras has one of the highest rates of violence in the world, with 43 people per 100,000 murdered annually. The country also has high rates of extortion and other forms of gang violence. There are currently more than 10,000 active gang members in Honduras2. When Warriors Zulu Nation Honduras was first founded, Juan had to meet with local gang leaders to inform them of his intentions for working in the local community of San Pedro Sula. Warriors Zulu Nation uses hip hop culture, particularly dance and music, to attract young people with common interests to create a safe and supportive community. The foundation offers artist workshops on breakdancing, rapping, graffiti, and even photography. The organisation also offers youth discussion groups on topics such as respect, politics, education and how to counter violence in local communities.

Juan also coordinates music and art festivals, which in recent years have attracted more than 6,000 attendees. The 2018 festival featured 70 artists from various cities in Honduras and other countries across Central America. Students that partake in art workshops also have the opportunity to perform publicly during these festivals. By offering these opportunities, the organisation promotes self-confidence, and empowers young people to present their new found skills on a public platform.

Joseph co-founded Fundación Para La Tierra in late 2015 as a forum to teach children and adults about the environment. The Foundation currently runs nine eco-clubs in six communities, teaching 150 children about the natural world each week. It has also hosted five seasonal winter camps to reach more than 250 children in communities that do not yet have access to regular club meetings.

Paraguay has one of the worst early education systems in the world, being ranked 136th out of 138 countries in quality of primary education by the World Economic Forum . Joseph and his team recognised the need to focus on primary school aged children, and so they started the Voices de la Naturaleza (Voices of Nature) programme to help educate children on the importance of nature and the environment. By creating a network of ‘Eco-Clubs’, the Foundation uses environmental education to encourage young people to champion the cause and become community leaders through their activism. The programme has been built on a belief that there is no age-restriction on taking action. In the final stage of their programme the students, aged 7-12, organise, advertise and execute their own event to address environmental issues in their own communities. High school students volunteer to help manage these clubs, furthering their own leadership development. Fundación Para La Tierra has also undertaken women’s empowerment projects, such as providing a women’s committee with a chicken coop and 100 chicks that they could raise and then sell on as a sustainable income revenue.

Joseph was awarded the Mary Robinson Climate Justice Award in 2017, which enabled him to attend the 2017 Bogotá Summit and granted his foundation £5,000. This grant was provided over the period of a year and helped the eco-clubs to reach new locations and procure more resources to further their work.

Jonathan is the Head Culture Catalyst for ‘95%’, a consultancy that specialises in improving company performance through cultural transformation. Jonathan and his team have impacted 5,800 business leaders across Malaysia since 2015. The name comes from a study that claims that even the smartest person only uses 5% of her brain capacity, thus Jonathan and his organisation work to tap into the underutilised 95%. ‘95%’ strives to turn workplaces into ‘joyplaces’. For an organisation to become a joyplace, two conditions must hold: business must be thriving, and people must be winning. This means that employees should be feeling high levels of fulfilment, satisfaction and growth.

As a corporate culture consultancy, ‘95%’ works to understand how a business is operating and then uses this information to diagnose the problem at hand. Four main criteria are considered in the diagnostic stage: leadership, environment, buy-in, and tools and skills. Leadership is essential to set the direction of the business and to serve as role models to the rest of the organisation. The Environment stage looks at how appraisals are conducted, the priorities of the organisation and relationships, as well as the physical office space. Buy-in is the necessary intelligent understanding of where the company is headed and why change is needed, as well as the necessary emotional commitment and motivation for the changes to be implemented and maintained. The last criterium, tools and skills, identifies possible employee skill areas that can be improved to help workers become more effective and successful. ‘95%’ then develops a strategy for how to resolve any identified issues, and sets about implementing the plan to create a lasting cultural shift within the organisation. Jonathan’s organisation currently operates in Malaysia with some projects in Singapore, Indonesia and the UK, and it is set to expand to the Philippines and further afield in Southeast Asia.

Jonathan expanded his knowledge on the needs of young people in Malaysia through compiling the first One Young World Impact Report with fellow Ambassador Michael Teoh, which was then presented at the One Young World 2011 Zurich Summit.

John founded Seeds of Hope PNG in 2011 to encourage children in his local community to pursue higher education as a way to minimise tribal conflict and avoid future violence.

Based in Waknam Village, Mul District in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea, Seeds of Hope PNG has impacted the lives of all 2,000 inhabitants through its various programmes.

Seeds of Hope PNG runs a small agricultural operation that helps raise funds towards scholarships to subsidise school fees for children in the local community. Committee members in the village plant and grow produce such as potatoes, cabbage and broccoli, and then sell it to raise funds that support these children through education. Currently 19 school children and seven higher education students have benefitted from this project, and eight of the beneficiaries have already graduated and are in the workforce. As well as providing these scholarships, John also had his former employer, PwC, donate four second-hand laptops to help these children access better educational resources.

Seeds of Hope PNG also supports young entrepreneurs to start businesses, helping five people to begin working including a mother of three who has started a business as a seamstress.

Seeds of Hope PNG also works to improve financial literacy and inclusion in the community. In Papua New Guinea, 85% of the low-income population live in rural areas and do not have access to formal financial services. Thus, Seeds of Hope PNG invites the local bank to come to the towns and villages to inform people about the benefits of saving and to help them open bank accounts. John plans to encourage a saving culture in Waknam, and has helped 80 people open bank accounts so far. This increases their ability to save, making families more resistant to shocks in their income streams from unforeseen crises such as weather related emergencies. Seeds of Hope PNG has built two roads to make it easier for children and pregnant mothers to commute, and is also planning to initiate a new house building programme in the coming year, to further improve stability in the region

John founded Youth Social Advocacy Team to help young people in Rhino Refugee Camp, Northwestern Uganda, to develop their leadership and peacebuilding skills. Youth Social Advocacy Team has directly impacted more than 10,000 people through three main programmes. The organisation has also trained 250 young people to become local Peace Ambassadors. These young people are taught conflict resolution skills such as mediation, negotiation and facilitating community dialogue. These Peace Ambassadors are responsible for policing and monitoring potential event hot-spots. For example, Peace Ambassadors volunteer to steward local football tournaments held inside the Camp to prevent potential riots breaking out and to discourage violence. During the 2018 World Cup there was an incident where a fight broke out resulting in four deaths. The Youth Social Advocacy Team Peace Ambassadors work together to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

The Team also runs a flagship entrepreneurial competition each year, which encourages young people to pitch their own business idea to the panel for a chance to win a small pot of seed funding to transform their idea into reality. The 2018 competition had 60 submissions, from which five projects were selected and each awarded two million Ugandan shillings as prize money. The competition encourages young people to think creatively about how they can generate income without relying on the job market, when formal employment opportunities are scarce. The Youth Social Advocacy Team also runs entrepreneurial training classes to help young people to prepare for the competition. To date almost 100 young people have been trained in this way. The organisation also conducts advocacy and outreach programmes in Rhino Camp about the dangers of domestic violence and child marriage. Approximately 10,000 people across 32 villages have been educated about sexual and gender based violence to date.

After attending the One Young World 2018 The Hague Summit, John was able to secure partnerships with Oxfam Novib and Anchor, which he attributes to the increased exposure received by Youth Social Advocacy Team at the Summit.

At the age of 16, Jessel fell victim to gang violence when he was shot in the back and almost killed. After recovering from this horrific incident, Jessel decided to use his experience to make a positive change in his community. He founded SkateBrothers, a youth club with the purpose of engaging young Hondurans into a supportive network that rejects gang culture and promotes community cohesion. SkateBrothers has been running for seven years, and it has built the first ever skate park in Honduras. The park provides young people with a safe haven, free from violence and the pressure to become a gang member.

Honduras has one of the highest rates of homicide per capita in the world, often resulting from gang violence. The threat of violence has forced many people to flee their homes, with families migrating north in the hope that they will be provided refuge in the United States. At least 700 young people have been positively engaged through SkateBrothers. The park has given them a place to meet and collaborate in a social setting they can call their own. Young people are able to develop both their sporting abilities and their social skills, whilst gaining a support network that shuns violence. SkateBrothers is also working on a nutritional programme that will help low-income families gain access to food.

Ismael founded Madiba & Nature in 2016 to help preserve the livelihoods of fishermen whilst also addressing the issue of plastic pollution. Madiba & Nature collects waste plastic bottles and uses them to create eco-boats. Plastic waste is collected through using eco-bins. In total, 37 boats have been made so far, with each boat needing 1,000 plastic bottles for construction.

Ismael grew up in a fishing town in Cameroon, where he saw that fishing was becoming less profitable due to pollution driving down the numbers of fish. As a result, young people were forced to move to cities to find alternative work. Trained as an engineer, Ismael was shocked to see that the only organisations working to protect the environment in Cameroon were international and foreign organisations. He founded Madiba & Nature to address the issue of pollution, using his professional skills to design a plastic boat that promotes the circular economy and reduces pollution through utilising recycled plastic bottles. These plastic eco-boats are cheap to build and repair, while costing less than half the price of traditional wooden boats. Fishermen can also use these eco-boats to access hard to reach fishing waters that are not accessible by wooden canoes. Eco-boats are also used to give boat rides to environmentally conscious tourists. This helps to generate income for the project, helping them collect more waste plastic and provide more boats to people who can benefit. Madiba & Nature also runs programmes coaching young students and engineers on entrepreneurship in green business. The organisation has also installed eco-bins, made out of plastic bottles, to help collect more plastic waste.

Ismael was a delegate speaker at the One Young World Summit 2018 The Hague. After returning home from the Summit, fellow Ambassador Carlotta L. Giacché got in touch to offer support and began providing pro bono business planning and funding application advice to Madiba & Nature. Media outlets in Cameroon also approached Ismael to recount his experience in The Hague upon his return. Due to the increased visibility gained from the Summit, Madiba & Nature was also invited by the regional directorate of the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation to present its work and hosted a scientific seminar to local business leaders and politicians.

Isabelle founded Solid’Africa to help provide an integrated service to patients in hospitals in Rwanda.

Solid’Africa works with 3,000 patients across two hospitals in Kigali. Solid’Africa runs several different projects to help people without adequate access to healthcare.

The Gemura project provides meals for hospital patients from low income backgrounds, feeding 400 people on a daily basis. The food for this programme primarily comes from the two farms run by Solid’Africa. Hospitals in Rwanda do not provide food as part of their basic care, so Gemura is an essential lifeline for people unable to buy food daily.

Gombora is a project that supports people to pay off their hospital bills as well as providing subsidies for outpatient appointments, and travel to and from the hospital. Solid’Africa also supports people with specialist treatment needs by helping to fundraise for their treatments. Isabelle wants to promote a holistic approach to healthcare that includes access to food, water and hygiene as well as medical oversight.

The organisation has also installed three water tanks in two hospitals to help people have reliable access to clean water. In addition Solid’Africa has provided patients with basic hygiene necessities such as soap, toothbrushes, toilet paper, sanitary towels and blankets. Solid’Africa plans to build a kitchen on site that will have the capacity to feed 1,000 patients three times per day. Solid’Africa also engages in advocacy work, lobbying the hospitals to provide better conditions for patients.

Imrana founded the Youth Coalition Against Terrorism (YOCAT) in 2010 to provide young people with skills training and to promote peace in northern Nigeria, directly impacting 6,000 people to date.

The organisation aims to unite young people against violent extremism in the country through its Security Awareness Campaign.

According to the United Nations, terror organisations such as Boko Haram have displaced more than 1.7 million people from their homes in recent years. The Security Awareness Campaign helps to educate people about signs of extremism and violence to help prevent radicalisation. This campaign has reached 1,500 people so far. Having experienced trauma in the past, Imrana established counselling services and training programmes to help victims of violence overcome emotional trauma and reject reactive violence. This is done through the Peace Education and Mentorship for Students (PEMS) programme, which supports survivors of Boko Haram attacks, helping them embrace peace as a solution. 2,000 people have been educated through the PEMS programme.

YOCAT also conducts preventative campaigns by providing training and development opportunities to help unemployed young people find jobs. Extremist groups often utilise economic incentives when recruiting. By increasing the employability of young people in recruitment hotspots, this decreases the likelihood of these individuals being radicalised by such groups. YOCAT also works to provide entrepreneurial training and source start-up capital to encourage young people to start their own businesses when job opportunities are scarce. So far, YOCAT has provided skills training for 2,000 young people in northern Nigeria. The organisation also runs community dialogue sessions to reduce tensions between security personnel and community leaders.

Hasan founded Hasoub to empower young Arab entrepreneurs and technology specialists by equipping them with technical skills and providing them with community support. More than 12,000 people have attended Hasoub lectures, workshops and festivals to date. A further 200 people have developed their technological skills through attending regular training courses. Beginning in his parents’ basement, Hasan wanted to create a community of tech entrepreneurs that could foster innovation and creativity amongst young Arabs. Hasoub has hosted more than 300 events, activities and projects since its inception.

Israel is often referred to as the ‘Startup Nation’, however Arab Israelis are often underrepresented in this space. Arab Israelis comprise only 1.4% of all people working in Israeli high-tech, despite making up 17% of the country’s workforce. Hasoub runs specialist tech events in Arabic, with a level of cultural awareness and inclusivity that makes these events accessible. The organisation has two main strands of programming: Hasoub on Campus and Hasoub in Town. Hasoub on Campus works with university students to create campus based chapters. Five Hasoub chapters have been established across five different universities so far. Hasoub in Town runs regular discussions and annual festivals for people in the local community to become more involved with tech entrepreneurship.

Hasoub also works to develop an appetite for investment amongst young Arab business owners. Through guidance workshops and networking events, Hasoub opens up new avenues of funding for potential emerging tech entrepreneurs by connecting them with second generation business owners interested in new ways of investing. This approach compliments the Hasoub Startup School, which teaches budding entrepreneurs the basics of starting a business. These two groups are then connected to facilitate both an appetite for funding and opportunities for investment in Arab communities across Israel. Hasoub also has plans to open an innovation centre that will service 250,000 people, consisting of a coworking space, educational programmes for children and support for budding entrepreneurs.

Felipe is the CEO and Fund Manager for Lumni Peru, a social investment fund that helps low-income students to complete their university studies. Lumni Peru has provided higher education funding to more than 1,500 students, mobilising $11 million USD worth of investment. Lumni Peru carefully handpicks high potential students from top tier universities who are facing financial difficulties during their undergraduate or postgraduate studies. It then offers to pay term fees or living expenses for these students using money from the collective fund. In return, selected students agree to pay back a certain proportion of their salary, typically 10-15%, once they begin working. Thus, Lumni Peru has a sustainable long term finance model. This helps investors by generating returns in the long run, whilst also providing struggling students with funding to complete their education. This system enables low income students to secure higher education. That will in turn lead to better employment opportunities that may not have been otherwise accessible.

According to the Peruvian Ministry of Education, in 2014 enrollment of students in urban settings reached 75%, compared to the 30% enrollment rate of students from rural settings. To address this, Lumni Peru can help students from rural areas to pay their fees. This model of human capital investment suits students better than traditional loans because the students are only required to pay back the money once they have a job. This then allows students to make better career choices, since the threat of missing loan repayments does not factor into their outgoings if they are not yet earning.

Lumni Peru also runs programmes to develop the employability skills of their students, further improving their job prospects. The organisation typically funds students studying subjects that are lacking in the job market such as engineering and management. Lumni Peru also teaches students how to manage their finances both during their studies and once they enter the working world.