Elena is a Deputy of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, where she works to strengthen youth participation. She has promoted two bills: one to reform the Municipal Code and establish a Youth Directorate with its own budget, and another to ensure young people are included in the Urban and Rural Development Councils. Both initiatives have gained the backing of several congressional caucuses as well as the support of the President of Congress. To shape these proposals, Elena has held dialogues with young people across different regions, gathering their perspectives. Many of these insights have already been translated into legislative proposals.

In addition to her youth-focused work, Elena serves as a liaison between her constituents and Congress on a range of pressing issues. She has advanced proposals to increase support for medical students, expand access to education and healthcare, and improve labour protections. Most recently, she introduced a bill to regulate call centres, which, if passed, will safeguard 50,000 workers. In all of her work, Elena advocates for transparency and the public reporting of aggression or irregularities.
 

Krisildo founded the Albatros Project, a dance collective where refugees and local artists co-create choreography. With support from the Olympic Refuge Foundation, UNHCR, and Kabubu, the project staged three performances at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. These performances gave 20 non-professional dancers the opportunity to share their experiences of displacement with a global audience. The preparation process was also filmed and is being developed into a documentary.

For the past three years, Krisildo has also led weekly dance classes with Kabubu for people from displaced backgrounds. These classes help participants rebuild confidence, reclaim their bodies after difficult journeys, and find empowerment through movement. To date, they have reached 6,000 individuals. Through this work, Krisildo has learned that when people are given the tools to express themselves freely, it nurtures understanding, solidarity, and a world where everyone can find their place.

Maiya is a Senior Manager at the Institute for Green and Sustainable Development at KazNU, an organisation that promotes international cooperation and research through education. The Institute does this by organising and providing access to conferences, seminars, and training for students and faculty working on the Sustainable Development Goals. It also supports projects working in the green economy through a grant competition.

Through her role with the Institute for Green and Sustainable Development, Maiya created a project called 4Grants where 32 students applied for sustainability grants in the Almaty, Stepnogorsk, and Karaganda cities of Kazakhstan. Maiya is also a proud International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) alumnia and the United Nations Volunteer Coordinator of the African-Kazakhstan intercontinental dialogue.

Robert Mills-Lamptey founded the Clean Waters, Sustainable Futures Initiative, an initiative empowering coastal communities in Ghana to protect the environment and combat ocean pollution. The initiative mobilises young people and local residents to lead beach cleanups, take part in climate education, and adopt sustainable practices that reduce waste and safeguard fragile ecosystems.

To date, Clean Waters, Sustainable Futures has removed 4,500 pounds of waste and educated more than 1,500 people in waste management practices. These efforts not only improve the health of local waters but also support fishing livelihoods by boosting daily catches and strengthening food security for families who depend on the sea. In addition to this work, Robert serves as Partnerships and Campaigns Lead at Mayekoo, a crowdfunding organisation that connects grassroots changemakers with smart, sustainable funding solutions.

 

Katie wrote The Beautiful Blur to honour both mother and child in the shared act of reading. While traditional board books focus only on the baby, Katie recognized that babies do not yet understand the words. She created a book with a story for mothers alongside pictures for babies. The result pairs sensory-friendly, whimsical illustrations designed to captivate infants with lyrical poetry written for mothers navigating the beautiful, often overwhelming blur of early parenthood. The book affirms that a mother’s voice and presence are what a baby treasures most.

The Beautiful Blur is part of Little Firefly Poetry, the publishing company Katie co-founded to create meaningful shared experiences between mothers and children. The company provides a safe space where mothers’ feelings are validated and celebrated, while also working to shift cultural perceptions of early storytime.

Kusai founded Leapchat AI, a platform that supports crisis management during natural disasters, particularly those intensified by climate change, as well as other emergency situations. The platform equips emergency response operators and families with tools to identify flood zones and search for missing persons.

Following the Derna dam collapse in Libya in 2023, Leapchat AI deployed an AI-powered chatbot to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance. Within a week, the chatbot facilitated over 1,000 messages that helped people connect with missing loved ones during the flooding disaster. Leapchat AI has since been recognized in the United Nations International Telecommunication Union’s Innovate for Impact Report 2024 and was showcased at the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva.