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$ 1 : 16
For every $1 of value invested, One Young World Ambassadors deliver $16 of social value, based on a Social Return on Investment analysis of 42 Ambassador-led initiatives addressing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2022
SDG Impact Tracker
Interested in supporting impactful initiatives led by young leaders? Search this database of over 350 projects from the One Young World Community to find out more.
China Hope School
China’s massive internal migration from rural to urban areas over the last few decades has resulted in a large population of left-behind children, numbering as many as 69 million [1]. These children are usually left in the care of their extended families and often suffer from developmental and emotional challenges as well as poorer educational outcomes [2] due to a lack of adequate support networks and public infrastructure. Stanley co-founded the China Hope School alongside three colleagues in rural Guangxi Province to do what he could to address this growing problem.
Stanley attended the One Young World Summit at the Hague in 2018. He was deeply moved by the event and was inspired by its networking aspect. Though he had an extensive background in corporate social responsibility initiatives before attending the Summit, his One Young World experience helped him build upon and upgrade his philanthropic vision. The connections he made through One Young World also opened new opportunities for him, and as a result, he now mentors MBA students in leadership and coaching.
The China Hope School project has received support from Tencent and Kellogg’s, with the latter providing cereal products so that the children can have access to school meals and snacks. The school also received extensive support from people in China through donations of school supplies and equipment. The curriculum at the school is tailored to the specific needs of rural children and functions as an accelerated programme. It has proven itself to be a place where left-behind children can develop into well-adjusted adolescents who have the ability to pursue further education elsewhere once they have completed their time at the China Hope School. Since 2018, between 200-300 children have passed through its doors.
"I was really touched and moved by the One Young World Summit. I got connected to people from different companies and accomplishments, from Nobel Prize winners to CEOs. Charity and CSR work was a mindset for me but One Young World accelerated and upgraded my vision to a new level"
Seastainable
In 2013, Samantha began to explore the challenge facing 'life below water' when she travelled around rural communities in South-East Asia and noticed the environmental damage first-hand. Her advocacy began and today Samantha’s work is more vital than ever in the region where “marine governance has been a casualty of strategic competition”.
Seastainable is a social enterprise that supports marine conservation in South-East Asia by creating more environmentally conscious populations and channelling funds directly to organisations addressing issues on the frontline. Before 2020, the organisation sold sustainable products such as reusable straws to fund frontline conservation organisations. However, Samantha became concerned that this was contributing to overconsumption. Now, the organisation raises funds from Samantha’s educational talks, and donations from core partners such as Microsoft, The Philip Yeo Initiative, and HSBC. This has funnelled $43,065.61 into 49 different grassroots initiatives. In July 2020, the organisation started the #EASTCOASTBEACHPLAN. Through this, it coordinates weekly community cleanups to prevent marine pollution and provides a space for awareness-raising activities. More than 16.7 tonnes of beach litter have been collected and recycled by a network of more than 1,000 volunteers at 413 different clean-ups. The organisation also partners with fellow Ambassador-led organisation CarbonEthics, helping to plant 2,387 mangrove seedlings and train 16 farmers in environmentally sustainable practices.
Alongside Seastainable, Samantha is part of the leadership team of Stridy, an online platform that has created global a community of “Striders” who collect waste whilst exercising. The app has allowed these participants to track their collections and has gamified litter collection. More than 40,000 pieces of waste have been collected as a result, and for every 500 pieces collected a mangrove tree has been planted.
“Being a One Young World Ambassador has been wonderful as I've had the opportunity to connect and collaborate with other like-minded Ambassadors to develop more opportunities to support marine conservation. We partnered with CarbonEthics to further grow our sustainability programme, and hope to continue to work with other partners.”
Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative
Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative - Nigeria
Victor Ugo
Ambassador-led Initiative
19
SROI
Victor co-founded Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) with a group of friends in 2016 to combat the stigma around mental health in Nigeria. Mental health is a neglected public issue in the country, outdated legislation continues to frame the crisis and 80% of people with serious mental health requirements are unable to find appropriate care. Victor has first-hand experience of this situation, he was able to access psychiatric services when he needed them but he noticed that many of his friends and peers at medical school could not. MANI emerged as an online campaign, but the group quickly developed a text-based service to broaden their reach amongst vulnerable demographics.
At the One Young World London Summit in 2019, Victor learned practical lessons of leadership that would have been difficult to find elsewhere. The event itself proved to be an inspiration for him, helping to scale his vision for the mental health conversation in Nigeria through his efforts to engage influencers in the country. MANI has worked to simplify discussions away from the seminar-workshop model, in the process building an image of itself to which young people can relate. It has also increasingly focused on policy advocacy and government engagement to tackle the structural determinants of mental health challenges.
Since 2016, MANI has delivered more than 108,000 free sessions, impacting 40,000 people. During the End SARS campaign against police brutality, MANI had counsellors active at protest sites providing guidance and panic attack cards. Through social media, the organisation reaches over 3 million people monthly, and every month it shares a toolkit on a particular mental health condition with insights on risk factors and support in five languages. It also runs conversation cafes in 18 Nigerian states, training over 35,000 people on mental health awareness.
"Before the One Young World Summit I wasn’t thinking about how to engage people who are influential to further the conversation in the country. It gave me a vision to look forward to and inspired my change in strategy to more advocacy based"
LonePack
While seeking help himself, Siddhaarth learned how difficult it can be to find therapy in India. The process is expensive, while the shame and stigma attached to mental health issues exacerbates the challenge of accessibility. The country only has 43 government-run mental health hospitals, and only three psychiatrists per million people, but an estimated 70 million people with debilitating psychosocial illnesses. Siddhaarth co-founded LonePack to make mental health resources accessible to all young Indians.
Given the complexity of the country and subject he is working in, Siddhaarth occasionally found himself demotivated and unsure if he was really helping. The 2019 One Young World Summit in London was an opportunity to learn from his peers in the mental health space, and it gave him the positivity and inspiration he needed to keep going. It was after this experience that Siddhaarth and his team decided to launch LonePack Buddy, a free and anonymous peer support programme where trained volunteers offer their time and skills to people struggling with mental health issues. LonePack received help from the Mind Foundation to develop a 5 hour course to train these volunteers.
LonePack Buddy has directly helped over 1,400 people cope with their mental health and, based on before and after assessments, participants have seen a significant improvement in their mental well-being. LonePack is not just about directing people towards volunteers or even professionals through its directory, it also seeks to build upon community-led initiatives. In collaboration with UberEats India, LonePack Letters reached 95,000 people across 8 Indian states, spreading positivity and raising awareness. Through workshops and webinars, the project has reached a further 9,000 people, advancing the cause of mental health throughout the country.
“The One Young World Summit inspired me to keep moving, and I would say a large part of making LonePack Buddy into reality was the Summit. When I heard stories of people trying wildly different things, some younger than me, I felt that it was worth a shot”
Yayasan HAkA
Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem is a vast 2.6 million hectare forest that has increasingly come under threat from illegal poaching, logging, and palm oil plantations. The area boasts an impressive range of wildlife, but between 2001 and 2014 lost more than 145,000 hectares of tree cover, putting immense pressure on the forest and its inhabitants. Farwiza co-founded Yayasan HAkA to advocate for the conservation, protection and restoration of this important landscape.
Farwiza attended the 2019 One Young World Summit in London on a scholarship with The NewNow, which proved to be an invaluable educational experience and source of inspiration for her. She previously worked for the provincial government’s taskforce for the Leuser region, but upon that agency’s dismantlement, she had her colleagues founded HAkA as a collective, democratic organisation advocating for the ecosystem. HAkA emphasises the importance of educating local communities living within and around the Leuser region on their rights under Indonesian law. The organisation also has an intersectional focus, supporting the establishment of the first-ever group of female rangers in the area.
Since then HAkA has succeeded in winning several legal battles against exploitative companies, has supported the creation of two anti-poaching patrol teams, advocated for and supported the implementation of two provincial wildlife protection laws, and prevented the destruction of over 6000 hectares of forest in partnership with other organisations.
Farwiza is also currently pursuing a PhD, with her research focusing on the political economy of natural resource management in Aceh, Indonesia and a particular focus on the Leuser Ecosystem.
[Information accurate as of interview, 11/01/2021]
“One Young World was probably one of the biggest youth summits I have ever attended in my life. There is a pathway for everyone to think of the way forward. I was encouraged by the youth who attended, how they took ownership of initiatives and took it back to their workplace.”
ParlAmericas
Until December 2021, Emilio was a Program Officer for Gender Equality and Youth at ParlAmericas, the institution that promotes parliamentary diplomacy with the 35 national legislatures of the Americas and the Caribbean. There, he supported the implementation of projects to increase youth political participation and promoted good practices around gender-responsive legislation. In addition, Emilio’s work focused on the planning and delivery of youth political leadership programmes.
A notable example is Impacto Legislativo Joven, a 4-month programme organised with the National Assembly and the National Forum of Women in Political Parties of Panama, that trained 25 young Panamanians in intersectional, gender-responsive and environmentally sustainable political leadership. Learning and working alongside experts from parliaments, civil society organisations, and international organisations, participants explored what it meant to pursue positive change through civic engagement. They collectively worked on a citizen’s bill – a democratic mechanism that allows Panamanians to submit legislative proposals to their National Assembly – to promote and regulate ecotourism in the country. The citizen’s bill was presented to Panama’s National Assembly on September 15, 2021, on the International Day of Democracy, and incorporates provisions for the inclusion of women, local communities, and indigenous peoples in the development of ecotourism.
The focus on promoting youth leadership is something that Emilio took from the Summit, which he attended as a Peace Ambassador in 2019, and that he has sought to incorporate in all his roles thereafter. In a new position at Citizens for Public Justice, Emilio is building a rights-based political advocacy programme focused on refugee and migrant justice in Canada. This includes producing a book that presents the voices of leading advocates in this field – similar to "We Have a Dream”, which Emilio contributed to and was published by fellow Ambassadors. Emilio recently joined the Board of Directors of the Canadian International Council – National Capital Branch, a leading forum for Canadian professionals in international affairs.
“One Young World opened up networks and allowed me to connect with new partners. It allows me to make sure my work is connected to the larger eco-system, as it taught me there are already people doing work around it.”
International Youth Ambassadors Forum
International Youth Ambassadors Forum - Jordan
Abdel Rahman Alzorgan
Ambassador-led Initiative
5
SROI
Abdel is currently employed in the office of the UN special envoy to Yemen, where his work is directed towards achieving lasting and sustainable peace in that country. However, back in his native Jordan, he is the co-founder of the International Youth Ambassadors Foundation (IYAF), an initiative training young people about diplomacy, international relations, and political engagement. Civic engagement remains low in Jordan in terms of membership of voluntary social organisations but Abdel and his colleagues at the IYAF are working to change this trend.
The IYAF has worked with several universities and schools on how to lead model United Nations simulations, and to produce policy outcome documents that are sent to the concerned institutions after the completion of the simulation. The initiative works closely alongside the Erasmus Plus programme in Europe, facilitating student exchanges and training programmes. So far, 6 outcome documents have been sent to international organisations, and the quality of the work the IYAF does is apparent from the fact that these organisations are often surprised that the documents are produced by students and not necessarily people with a political science background.
Following the 2011 One Young World Summit in Zurich, Abdel established a network of contacts with different One Young World Ambassadors from all over the world. He reflected upon the ideas he had and worked with another Ambassador to promote environmentally friendly strategies to the Jordanian government. The IYAF has so far held 8 conferences, 2 of which have been country-wide while 6 have taken place within different universities in Jordan with over 1,000 participants in total. A further 5,000 students have engaged with the IYAF through workshops, field trips, and roundtable discussions since its founding.
"When I applied for a job at the UN, colleagues were very interested in learning more about what I had done and a part of that is One Young World. My connections with different Ambassadors through One Young World allowed me the exposure I needed to acquire new skills and make new professional and personal connections."
Vision Care Givers International
Vision Care Givers International - Nigeria
Lucky Aziken
Ambassador-led Initiative
25
SROI
Lucky's journey with eye care began tragically when his father suffered visual impairment resulting from an armed robbery at his family home. Though the family lived in suburbia, the nearest eye doctor was 300 miles away and unreachable as Lucky’s father could not travel. Realising that many other Nigerians were also suffering due to a lack of quality eye care providers in the country, Lucky became an optometrist. Nigeria’s primary eye care services have proven untenable due to healthcare system challenges, and it was in this context that Lucky founded Vision Care Givers International, a non-profit with a mission to provide sustainable access to affordable eye care services.
Lucky’s One Young World journey began at the 2019 Summit in London. The Summit built upon his belief in resilience and adaptive leadership and prepared him for the challenges of the pandemic. He has also been actively involved in other One Young World initiatives, including receiving mentorship, support and guidance through a One Young World coaching programme. Vision Care Givers International created 50 hand wash stations while providing 5,694 prison inmates with antiseptic soap and hand sanitiser as part of its COVID-19 response. Around 450 marginalised children in correctional facilities also received hygiene products at this time. 45 students were trained on how to make these products for both their personal use and for wider distribution.
The organisation has generated a significant impact through its eye care programmes, with over 20,000 people having accessed quality eye care in Nigeria and Malawi. Under Lucky’s leadership, it has established sustainable vision care centres powered by solar panels in underprivileged communities. Vision Care Givers International also has a significant outreach programme, reaching 150,000 people in 187 countries through its online presence and accumulating over a million active listeners on its eye health radio show.
"The key words for me during the One Young World Summit were resilience and adaptive leadership. Every session I attended reinforced it. It reinforced my desire to stand up for vulnerable groups and tailor all our project objectives to meet with the Sustainable Development Goals."
Sickle Cell Cares Foundation
Sickle Cell Cares Foundation - Dominica
Kellyn George
Ambassador-led Initiative
12
SROI
The Sickle Cell Cares Foundation was founded by Kellyn George in 2013 to address the disconnect between the high prevalence of sickle cell disease in Dominica and its low priority in public health discussions and care. Sickle cell is a significant issue in the Caribbean region, with 15% of adults in nearby Jamaica at risk of having a child afflicted by the disease [1]. The Sickle Cell Cares Foundation initially focused on raising awareness and public education, before working actively to improve access to trauma and life-saving technology in 2015.
Kellyn felt that the One Young Summit, which she attended in 2015 in Bangkok, solidified that she was on the right track and that her work was valuable. It gave her hope, renewed confidence, and an appreciation for other young leaders from across the globe. Since then, the foundation has developed a screening programme targeting newborns and young children between the ages of 6 months and 2 years. Screening at this early stage provides healthcare professionals and families with the necessary information to lower lifetime costs significantly through the implementation of health and lifestyle changes.
In 2021, the Sickle Cell Cares Foundation targeted 100 newborns. The process is parent-friendly and inclusive, with Kellyn personally providing support and guidance where she can. The organisation also continues to work with previous cohorts, with hopes to eventually establish a specialist clinic for this purpose. It has also provided health and hygiene kits to hurricane-affected areas, particularly areas where a high percentage of the population lives with sickle cell disease.
"Attending the One Young World Summit solidified that I am on the right path and doing something well and something valuable because globally we live in a world where these things are not highlighted as much. It gave me hope and renewed confidence."
Waste to Opportunity
Entire ecosystems and small-island economies are at risk from marine pollution, a fact that became apparent to Laura as she attended her first beach cleanup in 2009. Thirteen years later, she is a social entrepreneur with a proven track record of achieving impact, responsible for the Waste to Opportunity initiative in the Bay Islands.
Upon moving to Roatán, Laura identified the various challenges faced by pickers on the frontlines of the waste crisis. She partnered with the Bay Islands Conservation Association (BICA) to form the Waste to Opportunity initiative, to assist these informal recyclers in municipal dumps.
In 2018, Laura was recognised for this by Mary Robinson and One Young World, receiving a $6,660 grant to expand her work.
“Receiving the award from Mary Robinson herself gave me self-confidence and more trust in the project.”
With the help of BICA, Laura provided 30 low-income recyclers with personal protection equipment, motorcycle trailers for transportation, and machinery to process glass. This has vastly improved their safety and working conditions. Laura and the team also adapted to new challenges posed by the pandemic and the resultant loss of tourism that significantly affected the work available to low-income recyclers.
Laura helped to prevent starvation among the workers by providing them with essential relief in the form of emergency food bags. Laura and the organisation continue to generate impact, recently securing a new global grant with The Rotary Foundation for which she credits the recognition provided by Mary Robinson.
“Attending the One Young World Summit gave me the opportunity to get to know other ideas and people working to improve the planet. I’ve had the opportunity to interact with other leaders, and that contributes to improving my leadership skills.”
Harvest Craft
Harvest Craft was founded by Dr. Brendon Anthony and Craig Erickson in 2013, while Craig was living in Haiti, to promote what they call the “holistic development” model, designing and implementing food production systems. Haiti suffers from acute food insecurity, the country is one of the least food-secure in the world ranking 104 out of 107 on the Global Hunger Index. In 2018, Harvest Craft set up the Haiti Center for Agroecology (HCA), a research and education institute committed to training local subsistence farmers in agroecological techniques and promoting food sovereignty. Geoffrey serves as Harvest Craft’s Chief Development Officer.
Geoffrey spoke at One Young World’s Environmental Summit in 2016. He had just left university and found the atmosphere at One Young World inspiring through the passion displayed by the delegates and the resourcefulness of their projects. Geoffrey made several important connections at the Summit, which have continued to influence his learning, leadership, motivation, and long-term vision. Over 10 years of planning went into the HCA, and while the focus was initially purely educational it has since also turned into a place for different farming communities to come together.
The HCA has directly impacted more than 400 subsistence farmers and their families. The farmers have seen their revenues increase by between 30% and 75% on average, and more than 90% of participants have reported increased crop yields and sales from implementing the HCA’s agroecological training. Around 90% of programme participants also compost waste and use this on their farms, while 60% use organic pest management techniques to help ensure soil health. Harvest Craft distributes 30-50,000 vegetable seedlings annually to participating farmers, and it has also partnered with the Eden Reforestation Projects to build a nursery of fruit trees as well. It has begun an internship programme which has so far trained two local agronomy students.
"Being around people at One Young World who are so passionate and like-minded, and doing things in their projects that I had never heard of, was very inspiring. And I still carry that with me today. Life can drag you down but I always look back at the Summit and feel motivated"
Treeconomy
Treeconomy is an ambitious, impact-driven start-up on a mission to combat climate change, restore biodiversity, and improve rural livelihoods by accelerating responsible reforestation.
The company is pioneering an integrated suite of remote sensing, data science, and green finance tools to revolutionise the voluntary forest carbon market and address the fundamental financial barriers that oppose reforestation and conservation forestry. In short, Treeconomy is working to align personal incentives and planetary wellbeing to effectively scale ecosystem restoration.
Using remote sensing and machine learning technology to measure and monitor forest carbon stocks, Treeconomy is bringing sorely-needed trust to nature-based offsetting. By generating high-quality carbon offsets that are real, rigorously quantified, meticulously managed, and totally traceable, the company increases carbon revenues to rural landowners, while supporting buyers to invest in truly impactful and ecologically sound reforestation projects. Treeconomy dramatically shrinks the carbon supply chain, acting as the only intermediary between the project and the end buyer.
Global Emergency Response and Assistance
Global Emergency Response and Assistance - United States
Valeria Gomez Palacios
Ambassador-led Initiative
6
SROI
Around 73,000 non-US citizens were evacuated from Afghanistan following the US withdrawal, with thousands still awaiting resettlement in their new country. Global Emergency Response and Assistance (GERA) has stepped in to support the efforts of the military task force, creating a coalition of 20 organisations to this end.
Co-founded by Valeria Gomez Palacios, GERA began as an effort to assist Syrian refugees in New Jersey, a state with an under-supported resettlement scheme. It helped resettle up to 200 Syrian refugees and, in 2017, developed a comprehensive programme to help them adapt to life in the US while maintaining their traditions. GERA’s ESL programme was modified to serve the particular needs of Arabic speakers and also included a community-building component, as well as after-school support for younger refugees.
Valeria attended the 2018 One Young World Summit at the Hague as part of the European Commission Peace Delegation, an experience that elevated her voice when advocating for the rights of Nicaraguan political prisoners. She has since become an active member of the One Young World Community while GERA is now affiliated with the UN’s Department of Global Communications.
GERA has provided the Afghan refugees with over 40 truckloads of essential household items. It has organised entertainment for them, including a barbecue and a concert for over 10,000 people on the base. GERA also supports refugee families who leave the base before completing the asylum process and who are therefore ineligible for government assistance. This includes wraparound services such as accommodation, groceries, and bedding for 30 families. The organisation successfully enrolled 25 Afghan children in local schools, hosted career fairs, and partnered with Pfizer to provide career advancement opportunities to refugees. The organisation has also connected Afghan nationals in Afghanistan and Pakistan with legal aid and hopes to restart its ESL programme for Afghan refugees in 2022.
“Introducing myself as a One Young World Peace Ambassador definitely opened doors to speak to Senators. I was able to talk to influential Senators to give my take. And a lot of that happened because I was like, you know what, I’m a One Young World Peace Ambassador, I’m going to give this a go.”
CIRT
People are better at “wishcycling” than actual recycling. 8 million metric tons of our waste are in the world’s oceans. People in the US rely on faulty, delayed and confusing set of information to deliver their waste to the proper place. About 60% of the waste duties fall on women.
Each community has its own waste rules and waste buyers, and this makes global waste literacy impossible. Can I Recycle This (CIRT) solves the global recycling problem in three ways: gathering the most comprehensive and location specific database of consumer products in the world; turning this database into a simple answering bot; energising behaviour change through consumers to recycle correctly. By empowering people with the data and tools to recycle correctly, consumers will actively re-engineer our global waste economy into one that circulates value, protects our oceans, and nurtures our soil.
CIRT AI technology will bring hope to the recycling industry and the consumers who depend on it; we will streamline complicated information for companies making key manufacturing decisions, and completely outsource recycling education from cities so that they can invest in new technologies, better composting infrastructure, and better wages for their staff.
Tfy-consult
Tfy-consult - Switzerland
Sayuri Berini, Pascal Jenny
Business for Social Good
Numbering approximately 600,000, small and medium-sized businesses form the valuable backbone of the Swiss economy. SME owners are aware of the importance of the topic of sustainability, in terms of gaining trust and enhancing the company's reputation. However, concrete implementations in this area are often not at the top of the agenda, especially because reliable partners with understandable, uncomplicated, and effective solutions are missing. Arosa Tourism, long-time One Young World Partner, and its President, Pascal Jenny, have worked to solve this challenge with tfy-consult.
As an Arosa Tourism employee, Sayuri Berini was the first participant from Arosa at the One Young World Summit 2019 in London. The inspiration for more sustainability (initially in tourism and the leisure industry) was core to the direction of tfy-consult. At the same time, the Summit was also an inspiration for more "meaningful work" which was present at the origin of there-for-you.com.
The initiative, tfy-consult (there-for-you.com) provides SMEs with a digital "SME sustainability check-up". The "check-up" helps to link the topic of sustainability with the corporate strategy and to take the first steps in the right direction by means of a few, but targeted recommendations. Each SME makes an initial commitment when booking the check-up, and half of the costs are donated to the there-for-you.com platform, with which the company supports effective projects in the areas of climate protection, animal welfare, children's aid, and humanitarian aid. Through this enterprise, the organisation has been able to fund over 30 projects tackling issues related to climate change, animal welfare, child protection, and humanitarian crises, with more than €500,000.
“The inspiration for more sustainability already led to ideas in the direction of tfy-consult. At the same time, the Summit was an inspiration for more "meaningful work" at the origin of there-for-you.com.”
How to use to the SDG Tracker
Search for projects by the following case study categories:
- Ambassador-led Initiatives: qualitative and quantitative analysis of the social impact of projects which are led by young leaders in the Community.
- Business for Social Good: written case studies for initiatives ran by corporate partner organisations, led by young Ambassadors/employees.
- Leadership Stories: short biographies of Ambassadors who are growing into influential leaders for social good in some of the world’s largest companies.
- Covid Young Leaders Fund: detailed case studies of grant recipients from One Young World's 2020 funding opportunity for projects tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Lead2030: detailed case studies of the Lead2030 award winners and how their projects have generated impact from participating in the programme.