Hauwa Ojeifo - Founder & Executive Director, She Writes Women
After being diagnosed with bipolar and PTSD, Hauwa founded She Writes Woman, an award-winning movement giving mental health and psychosocial disabilities a voice in Nigeria by empowering people with lived experiences to share their stories.
To support those with mental health conditions and disabilities, Hauwa has established a 24/7 Toll-free Helpline that anyone in Nigeria can call to speak to a trained counsellor. Alongside this, she has established an online community of over 2,000 mental health advocates and people living with mental health conditions. Members can connect, share their experiences, and receive accurate knowledge and information about mental health.
Hauwa is ensuring that mental health continues to be normalised by educating the next generation. Through advocacy workshops, she teaches people strategic advocacy skills and practical knowledge in international human rights treaties and conventions, equipping them with the tools to make systemic change in Nigeria's mental health and disability rights space.
In 2024, Hauwa was selected by Melinda French Gates as one of twelve leaders who received a $20 million fund to support charitable organisations that are doing impactful work to improve women’s health and well-being.
Crystal Asige - Kenyan Senator & Disability Rights Activist
Crystal Asige is a Kenyan senator, award-winning musician, and leading advocate for disability rights and inclusive development. Diagnosed with glaucoma in her youth, she has transformed personal adversity into a platform for systemic change. As Kenya’s first visually impaired senator, she has championed legislation advancing inclusion, including the Persons with Disabilities Bill, signed into law in 2025.
Beyond politics, Crystal uses her artistic talents to challenge stereotypes and raise awareness. She was named to the TIME100 Next list in 2024 and recognised as one of Kenya’s Top 40 Under 40 for her leadership and cultural impact.
A One Young World Ambassador, Crystal spoke at the 2022 Summit in Manchester and returned in 2023 to deliver a powerful keynote in Belfast. Through platforms like her YouTube vlog Blind Girl Manenos and “Ability Show,” she continues to educate, advocate, and inspire a more inclusive world.
Ilwad Elman - Chief Operating Officer, Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre
Ilwad Elman is a Somali-Canadian peacebuilder and human rights advocate who has transformed personal loss into national impact and global influence. After her father, peace activist Elman Ali Ahmed, was assassinated, Ilwad’s family sought refuge in Canada. At just 20, she returned to Somalia and co-founded the Elman Peace Centre with her mother, Fartuun Adan.
Ilwad founded Somalia’s first rape crisis centre and developed pioneering programmes for the disarmament and reintegration of child soldiers and defectors from armed groups. She helped author the Youth Action Agenda on Countering Violent Extremism, which shaped UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security. In 2015, she became the first civil society representative to brief the UN Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.
A One Young World Ambassador since 2013, Ilwad was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 and is a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellow. She sits on the Global Leadership Council of Generation Unlimited and is a founding member of Kofi Annan’s Extremely Together initiative, launched in partnership with One Young World.
Jaha Dukureh - Gambian Activist & UN Women Ambassador
Jaha Dukureh is a Gambian-American activist and survivor of female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage, now one of the most influential voices globally fighting to end gender-based violence. As the founder of Safe Hands for Girls, she led grassroots movements that helped secure a national ban on FGM in The Gambia and influenced policy discussions in the United States.
In 2018, Jaha was appointed as the first Regional UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for Africa, focusing on youth mobilisation to end FGM and child marriage across the continent. She is also a founding leader of The NewNow, a systems-change initiative created by One Young World and Virgin Unite to unite young leaders tackling the world’s most entrenched challenges.
A two-time One Young World Summit participant (2017 and 2019), Jaha has been recognised with a Nobel Peace Prize nomination and named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People. Through her leadership, advocacy, and storytelling, she continues to shape global policy and inspire a new generation of changemakers.
Isabelle Kamariza - Founder & President, Solid’Africa
Isabelle Kamariza is a Rwandan social entrepreneur and the visionary behind Solid’Africa, an organisation she founded in 2010 to address the critical gap in hospital nutrition. In Rwanda’s public healthcare system, food is not included in patient care. Isabelle responded with a sustainable, farm-to-fork model that delivers free, medically tailored meals to low-income patients while maintaining full control of the supply chain.
To date, Solid’Africa has served over five million meals to nearly 600,000 patients in public hospitals. Its industrial kitchen can produce up to 15,000 meals a day, supported by organic farms that supply over 80% of the fresh produce used. The model is expanding beyond hospitals to public schools and other institutions, shifting national policy on nutrition provision.
A One Young World Ambassador since attending the 2015 Summit, Isabelle has become a global leader in social entrepreneurship. She is a recipient of the Cartier Women’s Initiative Award, the Waislitz Global Citizen Disruptor Award, and the Queen Elizabeth II Point of Light Award. She serves on the board of the Segal Family Foundation and continues to pioneer systems change in public health, equity, and nutrition across Africa.
