Matching the world's most impactful young leaders
The OYW Ambassador community is made up of 13,700+ young leaders from every sector and country. The young leaders in this community range from rising talent from some of the world's leading brands to independent activists and innovative social entrepreneurs.
We believe this community is at its best and most impactful when Ambassadors from different walks of life collaborate to share skills and best practice. That's why we've launched OYWConnects, an Ambassador-led skills exchange that connects Ambassadors from the private sector with those leading their own social enterprises and initiatives to further develop those actions.
What is OYWConnects
OYWConnects is a peer-to-peer mentorship programme that matches OYW Ambassadors running early-stage social enterprises with OYW Ambassadors from some of the world's leading businesses.
To further enhance their ability to scale their initiatives, OYWConnects Mentees first undergo the Social Innovation Warehouse Capacity Building Program. This is an 8 week online learn-by-doing training for young innovators to explore the multiple dimensions to be considered when delivering social innovation projects with a strong focus on impact. Much of the learning material has been supported by globally recognised institutions including UNDP, ASEAN Foundation, YMCA and Yunus&Youth among others.
Once the 8 weeks is complete, Mentees are then paired with a Mentor for 6 months to help guide them through the delivery process and provide more holistic mentorship.
Mentors/Mentees
OYWConnects matches Mentors & Mentees from every country and sector, including from 100+ corporate partners, providing unparalleled access to global expertise. Learn more about our current and previous programme participants below.
Current mentors
Previous mentors
Current mentees
Orlando Anaya
Kilometro Uno
Mexico
Kilometro Uno is a coastal and marine conservation team focused on addressing marine litter while also seeks to empower and involve the next generation of ocean leaders. Through environmental education programs, social innovation workshops and citizen science projects the organization has impacted more than 100,000 youths in 12 Mexican states and Southern California. Their community has intercepted and removed more than 80,000 pounds of marine litter from the Pacific to the Mexican Caribbean. Km1 is currently building the Youth's for the Ocean National Network, a structure that will gather coastal, marine and oceanic youth-led projects from across the country and will focus on advancing in research, innovation, capacity building, and public policy.
Facebook: www.facebook.com.kilometrounomx
Instagram: www.instagram.com/kilometrounomx
Zubair Junjunia
ZNotes
Pakistan
ZNotes is the ultimate exam revision platform which harnesses student power to make education accessible to all, currently through the provision of revision notes for exams. By crowdsourcing from the best students, we deliver high-quality and concise notes on individual subjects for the International GCSEs and A-Level exams, branching out to SATs and IB too. The ideology is that quality resources should be available easily and free of cost, to students globally. Today, we’ve had more than 50 students collaborate to build a bank of over 100 sets of notes and have been able to reach almost 3 million people.
Instagram: http://instagram.com/znotesrevision
Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/znotes
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/znotes
Elina Ingelande
Learn IT
Latvia
Learn IT is a programming school for primary school students and teachers that helps our youngest generation become creators of their digital world. Since 2014 more than 1000 children have attended our after-school classes, workshops and summer camps and learned how to build their own games, mobile apps, websites and robots. Since October 2019 we are building an online classroom tool for primary school teachers that will offer a library of engaging tasks and video lectures to help educators implement technology in their classroom and as such - reach bigger social impact.
Facebook link: www.facebook.com/learnitlv
Monica Moisin
The Cultural Intellectual Property Rights Initiative
Germany
The CULTURAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS INITIATIVE™ is designed to be a worldwide movement supporting the recognition of cultural IP rights© for craftsmen and women who are the custodians and transmitters of traditional garments, traditional designs and traditional manufacturing techniques. The initiative was born from the need to eliminate culturally appropriative behavior in the fashion industry and acts as mediator between the interests of fashion businesses and those of artisans and traditional creative communities.
With its four action pillars (Legal Consultancy, Advocacy for Cultural IP Rights, Cultural Sustainability Consulting and Fieldwork Research) the Cultural IP Rights Initiative promotes a craft-centric, holistic approach to sustainable development.
CIPRI actions, services, workshops and campaigns have already reached over 10.000 people in 2020 through the Cultural IP Network, endorsers and partners.
Marisol Torrez Daza
Peque Innova
Bolivia
Peque Innova is an organization focused on creating educational material that is implemented in learning processes that aimed at stimulating curiosity, creativity and critical thinking in children. In this way we allow them to acquire necessary knowledge, skills and abilities for better opportunities in the future.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pequeinnova
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pequeinnova/
Kishore Gopal Reddy
Youth for Sustainable Impact
India
Youth for Sustainable Impact is a youth-led organization working on multiple projects targeting various SDGs. One of the major initiatives of YSI is to provide skill development training to women and youth of rural communities to set up green businesses developing eco-friendly fashion products.
Kishore has also recetnly launched Dame and Earl, a social enterprise created to provide a platform for rural communities and local artisans to sell eco-friendly products. It aims to use digitalization and technology to promote traditional businesses.
Nomqhele Samantha Siziba
Youth Invest
Zimbabwe
Youth Invest is promoting the youth’s participation in Zimbabwe’s local and national social and economic development through mobilizing the youth to develop their entrepreneurship and civic participation skills, as well as, to enhance their financial inclusion. Youth Invest also equips the youth on policy advocacy so they can speak truth to power. Additionally, Youth Invest connects the youth to local, regional and international networks to enhance their access to opportunities.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YouthInvest.2030/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/youth_invest
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youth_invest/
Mark Sultan Gersava
BAMBUHAY
Philippines
Bambuhay is a multi-awarded Philippines based social enterprise startup founded in 2017 focus in circular economy; dedicated in innovating sustainable solutions to heal the planet from plastic pollution, deforestation, mitigate the effect of climate change and simultaneously uplift the lives of the farmers living below the poverty line. We manufacture and distributes eco-friendly products made from sustainable source bamboo including Bamboo Straw, Bamboo Toothbrush and Bamboo Coffee Stirrer. We partner with farmers, women, people with disabilities, unemployed youth and Indigenous communities to provide innovative, natural lifestyle products. Alongside empowering marginalised groups to participate in sustainable enterprise.In more than 2 years of operation, Bambuhay has directly impacted more than two thousand people , eliminated approximately 137,000 pounds of plastic, mitigated 8.6 million pounds of CO2, and reforested 542 hectares of forest.
Ismael Essome Ebone
Madiba & Nature
Cameroon
Madiba&Nature was funded to help preserve the livelihoods of fishermen whilst also addressing the issue of marine plastic pollution. Plastic are collected through beach cleanup activities, and used to create Ecoboats for fishermen. Our strategy is about expanding using of Ecobins by installing the first innovative system of waste management on beaches and cities to limite pollution and promote green businesses. With around 150 Ecobins, up to 5 tons of plastic waste are collected each month allowing building 50 Ecoboats used by 150 fishermen and ecotourist in Londji.
Our environmental education programme launched in 15 schools and 2 Universities in Douala and Kribi allowing to educate and impact around 150 000 students annually.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/madiba20161
Twitter: www.twitter.com/madiba20161
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madiba_nature/
Dickel Dia
AFPHY
Mauritania
AFPHY is an organisation that stands against gender based violence and discrimination by promoting education, equal rights, and generating jobs for women & girls across rural areas of Mauritania.
Previous mentees
Khanya Mkoto
The Young Catalyst
South Africa
Khanya Mkoto
The Young Catalyst
South Africa
The Young Catalyst is a platform created for conversations and stories of & from young leaders. The aim is to empower, encourage, educate and ignite young leaders to step into their power. The Young Catalyst conversations have touched on many important topics from unemployment, entrepreneurship, gay men's experiences in democratic South Africa, mental health, leadership and more. With Khanya's leadership, intellect and charming personality, it's a global platform that continues to touch on important societal topics by inviting some of the world's older and younger thought leaders from co-founder of One Young World, Kate Robertson, well known South African medical practitioner Dr Sindi Van Zyl, Young Award Winning Public Health Practitioner Dr Shakira Choonara & more.
Gustavs Upmanis
Visas Iespējas (All Opportunities)
Latvia
Gustavs Upmanis
Visas Iespējas (All Opportunities)
Latvia
Visas Iespējas (All Opportunities) is a youth opportunity platform, which combines and showcases various youth opportunities, such as scholarships, exchange programs, voluntary work etc. At the same time it provides job offers from the top companies in Latvia tailored towards youth. We try to bridge the gap between employers and youth not only by showcasing their job opportunities, but also by creating employer branding campaigns, organising offline events and recruiting young people for aforementioned companies.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visasiespejas/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/visasiespejas/
Arash Bordbar
Global Youth Advisory Council
Iran
Arash Bordbar
Global Youth Advisory Council
Iran
UNHCR Global Youth Advisory Council (GYAC) serve as a consultative group on issues relating to the protection and development of young people who are refugees, internally displaced and/or stateless, and their communities.
1) Work with UNHCR and partners to operationalise and institutionalise the Core Actions for Refugee Youth;
2) Serve as a consultative group on issues relating to the protection and development of the young people that UNHCR works with globally, including those who are internally displaced and stateless;
3) Represent the voices of the young people that UNHCR works with and for, ensuring that their perspectives are heard, considered and incorporated into the work of UNHCR at national, regional and global levels;
4) Advise UNHCR on principled, practical and actionable solutions to youth-specific protection challenges linked to the Core Actions for Refugee Youth; and
5) Participate in various fora and events to advance the aims of young people and the work of UNHCR in addressing youth issues
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNHCRGYAC/
Demerk Cuesta
Jugos Masái
Colombia
Demerk Cuesta
Jugos Masái
Colombia
Jugos Masái is created to make a difference and change the reality we have lived in. We want to support the development of our region through entrepreneurship by helping to weave sustainable supply chains that motivate the growth of agricultural families around Chocó, with producing high quality nutritious juices with unique flavors without sugar.
Hannah Gardiner
AirPublic
United Kingdom
Hannah Gardiner
AirPublic
United Kingdom
AirPublic provides monitoring-as-a-service, we work with clients to provide bespoke air quality monitoring solutions using our proprietary IOT monitors, aiming to produce actionable insight rather than just data.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AirPublica
Koudiéji Maguiraga
OK CHECK
France
Koudiéji Maguiraga
OK CHECK
France
OK CHECK is a non-profit organization that aims to create a global platform using local languages to share uncommon success stories to inspire other people to act in their own and underprivileged communities. My wish with these audios messages is to sensitize and inspire a large number of individuals, to reveal their potential and generate vocations, together with a motivation to start acting.
Fatoumatta Kassama
GIRLS' PRIDE
Gambia
Fatoumatta Kassama
GIRLS' PRIDE
Gambia
Girls’ Pride is a social enterprise that started in 2017 as a result of period poverty affecting girls’ education in The Gambia. It provides reusable sanitary pads, period panties, pantyliners, online sexual and reproductive health education, and counselling services for women and girls. It also trains women and girls on menstrual health and hygiene management, training of trainers, training on reusable sanitary pad production, and uses comic story books to addresses sexual and reproductive health issues affecting adolescents in The Gambia. Girls’ Pride also provides reusable baby diapers. Girls’ Pride address menstrual health and hygiene management problems affecting less privileged women and girls, keep girls in schools during their periods, promotes maternal health and child health, creates employment opportunities for the youth especially women and girls, end inequalities, address gender-based violence against women and girls and reduce waste generated during menstruation and childhood.
Olubunmi Odekunkle
LendKash®
Nigeria
Olubunmi Odekunkle
LendKash®
Nigeria
LendKash® is a digital lending marketplace and investment platform, leveraging on technology to connect creditworthy borrowers with individual and institutional investors. Lendkash is a premium digital financial service that provides attractive return on investment and low rate to borrowers.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lendkash/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lendkash
Mohamed Jebriel
Upper Egypt Opportunities Hub
Egypt
Mohamed Jebriel
Upper Egypt Opportunities Hub
Egypt
Upper Egypt Opportunities Hub (UEOH) is the first Non-profit Virtual Community Hub in Upper Egypt which provides young people with access to knowledge, opportunities, and resources in different fields. One of the UEOH’s objectives is to develop effective citizenship & community-based development with the aim of promoting Justice, Peace, Equality and citizenship rights, dialogue and help young people their education goals. UEOH aims to create a physical space and scale up activities to be on-ground. They have been operating and providing their services for free since 2018.
Adela Ubau
LEW POWER NICARAGUA (LEADERSHIP AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP WOMEN)
Nicaragua
Adela Ubau
LEW POWER NICARAGUA (LEADERSHIP AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP WOMEN)
Nicaragua
LEW Power is an education program for girls and young people in Latin America in vulnerable situations and with limited economic resources. Such program is based in 4 fundamental pillars: Entrepreneurship, Self-esteem, leadership and financial education. Free workshops and courses are provided so that our target population can obtain better opportunities through education and in the future can develop their own business.
Among the themes they are delivered we may find: business model, accounting, the importance of effective handling of financial resources as well as their independence to achieve decision making for their lives. This project has benefited 360 people in rural communities in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and efforts are currently underway to continue through online workshops with the use of social media platforms.
It carries the component of Empowered Women that seeks to make their work visible as an added value. Our main priority is to promote gender equality within the work they do on a daily basis. We aim to "create and develop large and small businesses that generate wealth and create jobs."
Lew power is part of my personal brand @AdelaUbauh making alliances and support with companies, organizations and schools to benefit such initiatives and be a sustainable project.
Mohamed Ndonga Christian
RESEAU DES JEUNES POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT ET LE LEADERSHIP AU TCHAD (RJDLT)
Chad
Mohamed Ndonga Christian
RESEAU DES JEUNES POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT ET LE LEADERSHIP AU TCHAD (RJDLT)
Chad
The RJDLT is an associative, apolitical, non-profit platform whose main objective is to learn the concept of leadership in order to promote and foster excellence in practice, research and development in the youth field. Its vision is to be a main Network of Young Leaders and active for the development of Chadian and African youth.
Victor Moinina
Forum for the Development of Young People
Sierra Leone
Victor Moinina
Forum for the Development of Young People
Sierra Leone
Forum for the Development of Young People is a research based, career empowerment platform based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa that seeks to motivate and produce young and inspiring individuals that are from deprived backgrounds. The founding members thought it fit that to help alleviate poverty and reach the status quo of a successful individual, one must possess the ability to speak out, motivate and inspire others. The greatest asset that an organization will have is a group of people that will be able to explain to the world about how they have been touched by the organization and how they wish to make the world a better place.
Salisu Mohammed
Connected Homeless
United Kingdom
Salisu Mohammed
Connected Homeless
United Kingdom
Connected homeless is a UK registered digital charity using technology to transform giving. Donate directly via our app and we’ll convert into a digital coin, only to be used to purchase selected products locally.
Serkan Toso
Tokyo by Food
Turkey
Serkan Toso
Tokyo by Food
Turkey
ByFood.com is Japan’s one-stop platform for foodie travelers. Here, you can book food experiences like cooking classes and food tours, make easy restaurant reservations without using Japanese, read about Japanese food trends and culture, and watch videos featuring Japanese chefs and craftspeople.
Wasim Abu Salem
Loop
Israel
Wasim Abu Salem
Loop
Israel
Loop is a Hi-tech academy and a human accelerator for school-aged children and young adults. As a socially motivated organization, Loop educates, prepares, and guides the upcoming generations for the future through modern, personalized, and technology-driven approaches. As part of Loop's vision, Loop offers voluntary, introductory, computer-science, entrepreneurship programs for thousands of students annually, In addition, as a tech-incubator, Loop invests in talents, new ideas, and startups, by offering unique support to its young entrepreneurs (who are called Loopers).
How to join the programme
Become a Mentor
Working in the private sector? Keen to use your business skills to scale an impactful social enterprise? Through OYWConnects, you will be matched with a social entrepreneur, provide mentorship on a monthly basis and apply your business development expertise.
Become a Mentee
If you're a OYW Ambassador working on your own social enterprise or initiative and feel you would benefit from additional support, then OYWConnects can help you realise your business goals. By the end of the programme, you will have developed a renewed business plan to improve the effectiveness and scalability of your enterprise.
Frequently asked questions
No, you do not need to be a One Young World Ambassador to become a OYWConnects Mentor.
Yes, given the high levels of interest in the programme, we offer mentorship exclusively to One Young World Ambassadors.
You can become an Ambassador by attending a One Young World Summit. Find more information about attending the Summit here.
We have just matched our fifth cohort of OYWConnects participants. All applications that have been received after this point will be considered for the next intake which will begin at the end of 2021. We will contact successful applicants at this point to let them know the next steps.
This is a remote mentorship opportunity. The majority of our Mentors and Mentees are based in different countries, so meetings typically take place over Skype or via phone calls. For the convenience of programme participants, we always try our best to match Mentors and Mentees from similar timezones.
Programme supporters
Social Innovation Warehouse
The Social Innovation Warehouse was born to build capacity and strengthen youth-led projects around the world so they can keep creating positive change. They do this by:
- Mapping SDG-related projects that young people have developed and successfully implemented worldwide.
- Building Capacity among young innovators to professionalize their initiatives.
- Expanding networks and opportunities to boost up their possibilities.
The Social Innovation Warehouse was born during the 2018 Y20 Summit, chaired by Eidos. Driven by their vision of empowering people to thrive in an ever-changing world, Eidos designs learning experiences so learners can interact with knowledge in a more meaningful, engaging and long-lasting way.
Trevor Waldock
Trevor has spent his life developing leaders in the for-profit, public and non-profit sectors. After forming the for-profit company, The Executive Coach Ltd with a blue-chip client list working across all sectors, Trevor founded Emerging Leaders, a global non-profit that brings best leadership development to the most vulnerable communities in the world. Over the past fifteen years of Trevor’s leadership, Emerging Leaders programmes have impacted over 85,000 people in 16 countries, with an indirect impact on over 2.5 million people. Trevor is the author of 7 books and is the creator of the Integrated Global Leadership Model used in corporate leadership development. He is passionate about mentoring young social entrepreneurs and find the next generation of Mandelas.
Trevor led a webinar for the 2020 cohort of Mentors on the basics of successful mentorship, drawing on the key insights he has learnt from many years as a leadership coach.
If you have any questions about the programme, please contact: community@oneyoungworld.com.