Sharona co-founded Tuesdays for Trash during the COVID-19 pandemic at first as a simple way to do something positive for her local community. The movement has since grown to 15 chapters with participants in more than 50 countries. Its mission is not only empowering participants to learn about the crisis in their own backyards but encouraging them to take action by picking up trash weekly for a cleaner and healthier home. Tuesdays for Trash is mobilising individuals across the globe to make intersectional behavioural changes that scale into collective solutions.

Sharona attended the One Young World Summit Manchester, 2022, and was able to connect with and be inspired by other young climate leaders, as well as young people working on similar issues. Sharona also fostered connections with Ambassadors in corporate spaces, exploring new avenues for scaling her work with Tuesdays for Trash through employee initiatives.

Tuesdays for Trash is responsible for removing over 57,000 pounds of waste across its chapters since it was founded. The movement is tackling the problem of inadequate municipal infrastructure in the short term, and it is instigating a wider systematic shift by creating a gateway into activism for the everyday person-- instilling accountability and awareness in the longer run. This has resulted in visible change such as within the Tel Aviv chapter where the beaches they’ve cleaned over two years remain clean. Tuesdays for Trash is continuously building the capacity of its members, while growing both its physical and online presence through targeted outreach in local languages. It is also active in developing a new waste management proposal in Israel, where Sharona has facilitated collaborations with Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian climate activists through the EcoPeace Middle East programme.

“I really appreciated learning from other young leaders at One Young World. Additionally the business connections I was able to make, such as a conversation with liaisons at Starbucks that I followed up on and received interest in having Tuesdays for Trash be a philanthropic initiative for their employees. Being able to make those connections and understand that there's a lot of opportunity to continue to scale Tuesdays for Trash was extremely valuable for me.”

Angela is the Founder of EnRoute, a non-profit organisation raising awareness and providing education around the environmental impact of fast fashion and the pollution caused by transportation. EnRoute initially worked locally with children in climate education. Its current mission is to help people shift away from fast fashion consumption to sustainable fashion, and change people’s mindset on transportation towards sustainable alternatives. Angela developed the EnRoute App during the pandemic to help consumers reduce their carbon footprint from daily transport and shopping activities. EnRoute builds its content with input from volunteers in 55 different countries to gather information about the status of fast fashion and transportation locally.

Angela attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. She established long-lasting relationships with Deloitte’s corporate Delegates who have been able to offer guidance in climate solutions and scaling the work that EnRoute does.

The EnRoute App has 20,000 users who receive information on climate change, recommendations on fast fashion consumption, using transportation, and how to reduce their carbon footprint. Angela also ran online educational forums, where people could meet on a weekly basis to learn and discuss specific topics, such as the economics of how fast fashion operates. The initiative reached 70,000 people indirectly in 2022 through online and offline activities. EnRoute App users have reduced 150 tonnes of CO2 through choosing sustainable options when buying. Additionally, EnRoute is partnering with organisations that promote women in STEM to collaborate on coding for the EnRoute app.

“I attended the Summit as a Deloitte Scholar and it was a really great experience to be part of their team for that week. The connections that we established with Deloitte have gone beyond the Summit, and the team has offered me advice on climate change and scaling my organisation over the past year and a half.”

Benjamin is the Founder and President of Uno.Cinco, a non-governmental organisation that promotes climate action to avoid a global 1.5º temperature increase. Uno.Cinco works with civil society, academia, international organisations, private and public sectors across Latin America to develop projects on education, advocacy, and community-building to propose concrete solutions and actions to implement a climate public policy agenda. Among the different types of projects, the organisation has three Climate Academies; the Academia Latinoamericana por el Clima, the Academia Unidas por el Planeta for Women, and Energy Transition Academy, which provide actionable climate education to participants.

Benjamin attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester 2022. The Summit gave Benjamin legitimacy and visibility with national and regional authorities in Latin America, while the networking experience proved extremely valuable for him as his first point of contact with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Uno.Cinco has educated more than 700 people through nine editions of its Climate Academies. The Academia Latinoamericana por el Clima has hosted four cohorts of people across Latin America. The Unidas por el Planeta Academy has helped four cohorts of women between 13 to 35, with its programming designed to address the disproportionate impact of climate change on women. As part of the first edition of the Energy Transition Academy, hosted in partnership with the Chilean Ministry of Energy, Uno.Cinco published an illustrated book summarising climate and energy lessons for students. Uno.Cinco also founded LCOY Chile and the organisation has been one of the main coordinators for the Latin American Young Climate Summit (RCOY) since 2021. Through coordinating and hosting these events, Uno.Cinco has impacted an additional 3,200 people.

"After the Summit, I returned to my country more convinced than ever to continue working with the NGO and increase even more the impact. Additionally, being recognised abroad as an ambassador for One Young World was an incredible boost to my networking at an international level and gave me the possibility to reach out to different high-level authorities, including presidents and ministers, and I feel empowered to do so by seeking to open these doors for more changemakers in Chile, Latin America and the world.”

Rania is Founder and CEO of Entreprenelle, the social enterprise supporting and economically empowering Egyptian women through education, training, and connecting them with entrepreneurship resources. Rania was inspired by her experiences as a young women entrepreneur to assist other women in entrepreneurial spaces. Entreprenelle’s work has four pillars: raising awareness, providing education, offering access to resources, and fostering economic development to aspiring women entrepreneurs. 

Rania attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022, during which she had the opportunity to speak with international media about her work, leading to significant exposure for Entreprenelle. Rania has stayed in touch with Ambassadors from Algeria, Lebanon, and Egypt, collaborating on Entreprenelle’s content production, events, and networks.

Entreprenelle has directly impacted 300,000 women throughout its programmes, initiatives and events. Its flagship day-long event, SHE CAN, has had 40,000 attendees in more than 20 cities. SHE CAN mini-events have reached 5,000 women with entrepreneurship training in partnership with 10 universities. Entreprenelle’s acceleration programmes, focused on fashion, food, and crafts, offer training on business management, product development skills, on-site visits to factories, and meetings with potential business partners. Entreprenelle has also launched the Elle Studio in the Mall of Egypt to offer women-owned businesses a place to showcase and sell their products. The organisation is now working with more than 5,000 projects annually, with 40% still operational after three years compared to a national average of 12%. These projects have in turn created 100,000 jobs with Entreprenelle’s support.

“At the Summit, I was connected with media opportunities to talk about SHE CAN and my entrepreneurial journey, which was a boom for us. The visibility it gave me was amazing and it helped me create a network of support and people interested in my work outside of Egypt.”

Dicky founded Marine Debris Warrior (Gajahlah Kebersihan), a non-profit organisation empowering coastal communities in Indonesia by cleaning the coastline, creating job opportunities and a circular economy, and offering educational programmes. It provides four solutions: evidence-based research, education, ecopreneurship and eco-edutourism. Marine Debris Warrior launched SEA Mama, a social enterprise led by coastal mothers who recycle plastic waste into crafts and sell them. Its Eco Roster is a ventilation brick made from recycled plastic, with the organisation collecting around 400 kg of waste daily six days a week. Marine Debris Warrior provides eco-edutourism activities to people interested in a combination of educational and recreational activities, including waste management in coastal community houses and nature tours.

Dicky attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. He was able to discuss collaboration between government and social initiatives with Jonathan Dewsbury, Director of Capital Operations and Net Zero at the UK Department of Education. This encouraged him to work in partnership with governmental bodies to broaden his impact, and Marine Debris Warrior will provide expertise in managing recycling facilities to the government in 2024.

Marine Debris Warrior has educated 30,100 people in climate education through workshops, youth summits, and door-to-door activities. It has provided small grants of five million Indonesian rupiah to 18 groups of children working on eco-innovation. The SEA Mama initiative has empowered 20 coastal mothers economically, while the organisation has collected and recycled 130 tonnes of waste, including 2.3 tonnes of marine debris. Marine Debris Warrior has also educated 1,000 tourists.

“The biggest impact of One Young World for me has been the platform it represents. It has given me a wonderful network with social activists, working on environmental and other issues. It gives me courage and motivation to do so much more.”

Proscovia is the Founder of Samaky Hub, a social enterprise that offers consulting services to fish farmers and organisations working with them throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Proscovia, who is personally familiar with the challenges faced by women in the industry, founded Samaky Hub to support women in aquaculture and small-scale fish farmers. The organisation is the sister company of Ressect, an enterprise co-founded by Proscovia that farms Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae as an alternative sustainably-sourced protein for fish feed formulation.

Proscovia attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. She was a panellist on building resilient and sustainable agriculture systems and was inspired by her experience to encourage her fellow young leaders in Kenya to apply to attend.

Since its inception, Samaky Hub has provided training to 200 fish farmers, focusing on aquaculture management, best farming practices, value addition, environmental impact mitigation, business management, and financial literacy. Furthermore Ressect has trained 150 farmers on insect farming, resulting in five farmers establishing their own farm colonies. Additionally, with Ressect, Proscovia offers farmers the opportunity to purchase insect larvae for animal feed, reducing fish feed costs by up to 37%. Proscovia's vision goes beyond provision; she's working to create a circular business model where Ressect and Samaky Hub collaborate to offer sustainable and affordable protein diets, including buying back insect protein from the farmers they work with.

“I got an opportunity to speak on stage at the Summit about my work with other leaders who are trying to make a change, that was an amazing and exciting opportunity for me. I also enjoyed networking with like-minded individuals who are trying to create a change in their community and learning about their stories. Despite us coming from very diverse backgrounds and very diverse industries, it really showed me how people are committed.”

Carolina is the Founder of Megazul Colombia, a youth-led initiative co-creating environmental experiences and community-based adventures. Carolina is passionate about protecting Colombia’s biodiversity, and her initiative offers education and local sustainable development to safeguard the country’s natural environment. Megazul Colombia is active in the Pacific, Caribbean and Andean regions of Colombia, working in 29 coastal and mountainous communities. The initiative offers conservation experiences and outings, workshops, fauna monitoring, composting, and knowledge-sharing experiences between visitors and local community experts through its eco-tourism routes.

Carolina attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. She spoke on a panel with Former First Lady of Colombia, María Juliana Ruiz, about her work.

Megazul Colombia has restored 100 square metres of coral reefs with 1,000 coral fragments and reintroduced five species to this ecosystem, educating 146 children on the importance of conservation. It has impacted 1,773 adults and children through its different environmental and scientific education initiatives. The organisation, in collaboration with Cusba Travel, won an award from the Mayor of Santa Marta for its ecotourism route ‘Del Mar a la Sierra’. This route has generated employment opportunities for 10 people while Megazul has provided capacity-building training and environmental education to four communities in Santa Marta. The organisation has planted 360 local native trees and hosted four days of gardening events, while its composting workshops have reached more than 750 people.

“One Young World always reminds me that we ARE. My leadership represents the voice of the ecosystems, communities and those working to create a change for Colombia’s megadiversity. It has inspired me, it is a big challenge to keep working with the same purpose at full speed and passion, building up the country from an environmental edu-communication and scientific lens.”

Nadea is the visionary Co-Founder of Azura Indonesia. Armed with her expertise as an electrical engineer, she’s revolutionising the lives of coastal communities in Indonesia. Her brainchild, the MantaOne marine propulsion engine, is a cutting edge technological development that offers a beacon of hope for low-income fishermen in Bali. MantaOne isn’t your run-of-the-mill engine; it’s a sustainable game changer. Powered by a cutting-edge lithium-ion battery pack, it not only slashes costs for fishermen but also champions environmental conservation, ensuring that every fishing trip is a step towards a greener future. With MantaOne, Nadea is providing a pathway to economic empowerment and environmental stewardship.

Nadea’s journey took a significant leap forward at the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. As a Delegate Speaker for the Ocean plenary challenge, she captivated audiences with her vision of a sustainable ocean economy. Her global platform not only elevated her work but also ignited a wave of inspiration back home in Indonesia.

Today, Azura Indonesia’s MantaOne units are making waves in South Bali, reducing carbon emissions and economic costs with every trip. With 18 units already in operation, Nadea’s impact is tangible, with each engine symbolising a step towards a cleaner, more
prosperous future for Bali’s fishermen. But Nadea’s ambitions don’t end here. She plans to scale her initiative, ensuring that every fishing community in Indonesia has access to the transformative power of MantaOne. Nadea is not just building engines, but a legacy of sustainability and empowerment for generations to come.

“After the Summit I finally got the spotlight within my country. Before, no one really knew what the solution was. So the appreciation and the recognition came from outside Indonesia and after One Young World, a lot of national media finally became aware that there is this solution coming from Indonesia. So that's had quite a big impact for me.”

Daniel is the Founder and CEO of Saving the Amazon, a non-profit organisation empowering Indigenous communities in Colombia and planting trees to combat deforestation in the country’s Amazon region. Daniel and his team acknowledge that Indigenous communities are the guardians of the Amazon, and the organisation partners with them to preserve and enhance the rainforest. The Indigenous communities that Saving the Amazon works with retain complete ownership of planted trees and have input on which trees are planted. Saving the Amazon uses geospatial technology to determine individual tree location for greater accountability, and creates a more meaningful experience for donors by sharing the story of the Indigenous people who plant the trees.

Daniel attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. He was a Delegate Speaker for the Ethical Leadership plenary challenge. At the Summit, he met the former First Lady of Colombia, María Juliana Ruiz, and post-Summit was invited by her and former President Iván Duque to an event focused on the Amazon region.

Saving the Amazon has planted over 642,000 trees, which are predicted to sequester 696,000 tonnes of CO2 over the next thirty years. The benefits for Indigenous communities go beyond the environmental impact of restoration; 740 Indigenous community members are employed to support tree planting efforts, and a significant percentage of the money raised by the project goes directly towards community-focused projects. Saving the Amazon works particularly closely with Indigenous women, who comprise a majority of its tree planters. Saving the Amazon is able to offer in-kind support to the Indigenous people it works with if they prefer it, providing electrical and domestic products at a discounted price to community members.

“One Young World made the click for me of the importance of building multilevel governance communities. Only by uniting a common vision of our future we may have a regenerative one.”

Hellen co-founded EcoCiclo, a social business working to end menstrual poverty and increase the use of sustainable menstrual hygiene products in Brazil. EcoCiclo provides education on menstrual health, leadership, career development, and entrepreneurship with a focus on income generation for women. The organisation trains its paid fellows to become menstrual health educators after completing their training. It also supports women in accessing accelerators, incubators, and other business opportunities, while helping to secure speaking opportunities for women to promote their work, showcase and sell their sustainable products. It does this by finding the clients and selling on behalf of the women, thereby helping to scale their production and generate more revenue for them. Hellen, alongside her EcoCiclo co-founders, also does advocacy work on menstrual health poverty internationally.

Hellen attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. She found it to be a life-changing experience, meeting Black women in leadership positions like One Young World Counsellor Ilia Calderón. Hellen was interviewed by GLAMOUR Magazine at COP27, alongside her fellow Ambassadors, on the lack of representation of women in climate spaces.

EcoCiclo has empowered 30 women with menstrual health training by the Fellowship Period Ambassadors. These women become EcoCiclo Alumni Ambassadors and often work with the organisation on its menstrual health education programming, expanding its reach into their own communities and directly impacting 1,129 people with menstrual training to democratise menstrual education. The organisation has created 1,000 sustainable pads so far and provided employment opportunities to 10 women as a result. The pads are reported to emit 40% less carbon during production than common sanitary pads. The organisation has established two pad banks and supported 5,310 women with obtaining career and entrepreneurship scholarships.

“I loved being at the Summit, mostly because I was an Ilia Calderón Scholar. I cried meeting her because seeing a Black woman in that position, and who gave me the opportunity to travel, was a life changing experience for me.”

Lauren co-founded Future Females in 2017 to create a movement and community that supports female entrepreneurs in 57 cities with access to best practice training and entrepreneurship programmes. The movement has trained 160 ambassadors to run events and deliver its programmes in their respective local communities. Its programmes focus on business development, access to market, and access to funding. Future Females also provides coaching and mentoring, in small group settings or one-on-one, and helps female entrepreneurs access funding opportunities to bridge the capital investment gender gap.

Lauren attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022, virtually. Her exposure to other leaders and entrepreneurs there inspired her to think bigger about what is possible in her space and drive forward her work with Future Females.

The Future Females community consists of 160,000 female entrepreneurs, who have joined by participating in online events, chapter events, or programmes. The movement’s Business School is a three month-long accelerator programme that has supported 3,086 entrepreneurs in total. The accelerator has also developed into sector-specific editions, focusing on industries lacking a strong female presence. Future Females’ Access to Funding programme provides entrepreneurs with financial literacy, financial readiness training, and a funding matchmaker. It connected 100 entrepreneurs with 15 founders during the last round of the programme, establishing partnerships based on project development stages and securing $335,000 in funding. Additionally, the movement has developed Pave, a tech platform for women to access Future Females’ roadmap methodology for growing a digital business, with a business capability assessment and a personalised content journey.

“Attending a Summit like One Young World that brings together people from markets that are world-leading showed me what's possible. So I think the main thing that I got out of it was the exposure to people thinking bigger.”

Nelson founded Citizen’s Gavel, a non-profit organisation expediting access to justice delivery in Nigeria through the use of digital technology. Citizen’s Gavel connects victims with local volunteer lawyers for pro-bono legal support in an accessible and affordable way. Its work expands beyond solving cases for victims; Nelson and his team are also active advocates for legislative changes and policy reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice system. Nelson was a co-lead and co-strategist of the #ENDSARS movement against police brutality, securing a presidential directive to overhaul the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

Nelson attended the One Young World Summits in London, 2019 and Manchester, 2022. He was a Delegate Speaker in London - the first time he had a global spotlight on his work - and a panel speaker at Manchester, which helped him build a network of support for the expansion of Citizen’s Gavel into the UK. As a Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Scholar, Nelson connected with the Dutch Embassy and has received support from them as he continues to scale Citizen’s Gavel.

The organisation’s network of lawyers has 260 volunteers across Nigeria. Citizen’s Gavel has facilitated the solving of 5,000 cases, including 400 involving gender-based violence. It also provides legal education, onsite sensitisation, and on-the-spot legal advice across rural areas. Citizen’s Gavel has conducted training sessions for Nigeria’s National Judicial Council, for which it developed a case management software to support judicial efficiency, and the Ministry of Justice. As part of its UK expansion, it aims to provide online legal education for migrants on British common law.

“I was supported to attend One Young World by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it actually spotlighted my work to the Netherlands Embassy as well. A lot of support and opportunities have been shared with me through the Netherlands Embassy. This wouldn't have happened without One Young World.”

Beginning as an advocacy passion project aimed at sharing accessible information on women’s issues, Akola founded Tamùkke Feminists in 2017. Tamùkke Feminists has now grown into a public education group focusing on sexual reproductive health rights, abortion rights, LBTQ rights, and mental health in the Caribbean region through an intersectional feminist perspective. Tamùkke Feminists’ approach is collaboratively designed with the organisation’s beneficiaries to ensure that its proposed solutions are directly targeting the issues women in Guyana are most affected by. 

Akola attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. She was a Delegate Speaker on the Gender Equality plenary challenge, where she spoke about using lived experiences to fight for gender equality. Akola believes that attending the Summit helped increase the visibility of her work and Tamùkke Feminists.

Tamùkke Feminists has supported 71 women with four sessions of therapy services as part of its Mind Fund programme, challenging the stigma around mental illness in Guyana and providing access to mental health care. Its Work Ready programme has provided 50 women with job preparedness training, career mentoring, and labour rights. The organisation has also reached 90 women through its clothing drives in two regions in Guyana. Tamùkke Feminists has contributed towards enhanced public education on intersectional feminist issues. It also co-created the iMatter app with UNFPA Guyana, providing survivors of violence with information on how to access relevant services in their regions.

“Being a One Young World Ambassador has connected me with incredible change leaders
from across the world who are involved in important development work. Being connected to a community of individuals who are really making progress on the SDGs has been an inspiring experience.”

Gabriel is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Politize! - Civic Education Institute, a Brazilian civil society organisation that produces free and unbiased content and campaigns of civic education on the internet, trains civic leaders capable of solving public problems, and trains teachers to educate young people in the process to become engaged citizens at schools. Politize!'s ultimate goal is to improve political culture and participation, counter misinformation and authoritarianism, while strengthening democracy. Originally an online platform in 2015, the organisation initially established its audience with articles, infographics, videos, podcasts, e-books, and online courses.

Gabriel attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. He was inspired by his fellow Delegates and their work, and remains an active member of the Latin America One Young World Community.

From 2018 on, new areas were created, like the leadership skills development programme for young people, the Ambassadors Politize!, and the School of Active Citizenship!, aiming to train teachers that can reach students at schools with civic education. The organisation has also implemented significant awareness campaigns. Since 2015, Politize!'s track record has expressive numbers: 3,700 pieces of content produced, 97 million users have accessed the website at least once, 2,941 civic leaders, 13,918 teachers through whom 158,091 students have been trained, 9,781 civic education workshops carried out by volunteers reaching 179,754 people, 663 Public Policy Canvas created proposing concrete solutions to public problems, and four awareness campaigns released.

“I had heard about One Young World before, but it wasn’t until I attended the Summit that I truly understood the power of the Community. My most remarkable memory is the amount of really inspiring people that were younger than me and doing incredible stuff.”

Ayano is the Co-Founder of THE LEADS ASIA, a non-governmental organisation born during the COVID-19 pandemic as a space for young Asian people to have constructive conversations about the future of their region. THE LEADS ASIA aims to address how historical issues can impact the current and future relationships between countries in the region and their overall development. The initiative organises and hosts events where young people can meet, learn and discuss current problems and solutions to address the societal and cross-cultural issues which affect them.

​​Ayano attended the One Young World Summit in London, 2019, and she credits this experience with giving her the push she needed to take action for the future. She remains an active member of the One Young World Japan Community, organising events and participating in opportunities such as the One Young World Shine a Light Panel Series.

THE LEADS ASIA’s events have been attended by 500 people so far. Its first in-person event, hosted in collaboration with Waseda University and the Lee Heui Keon Korea-Japan Exchange Foundation, discussed the Japan-South Korea relationship from different perspectives. It also hosted an event on the Pacific War, its aftermath, and how it
continues to affect relations in the region. THE LEADS ASIA has also addressed discrimination in Japanese society through its events. The organisation has published articles that have reached around 1,000 people and which are translated into four languages. THE LEADS ASIA is currently working with professors from Waseda University and Chuo University on a student textbook detailing the relationship between Japan and South Korea.

“One Young World has had a huge impact on my leadership and on the work I do at THE LEADS ASIA. Attending the Summit, I realised what I’m really passionate about and it inspired me to take action for the future.”