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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.
Aquality
Bethany was inspired to create Aquality on her travels around the world, during which she noticed the extent of the global water crisis and the difficulty of accessing safe water, particularly in underserved communities. As of 2020, two billion people do not have access to safely managed water services, with up to 1.2 billion of those lacking even a basic level of service.
Bethany attended the One Young World Summit in London, 2019, during which she listened to a keynote speaker discuss the water crisis. Bethany credits this as the moment in which she decided to create a practical, tangible product that would help address the issue. The Summit inspired her to take the leap from idea to action and she began working on Aquality.
Aquality acts as a sustainable donation stream for key partners working to provide clean water in East Africa. The initiative donates its profits from water bottle sales to partners operating on the ground in Africa, facilitating the building of clean water sources by covering material and labour costs. The water bottles are made of double-walled stainless steel and are reusable. They also come with a QR code that allows buyers to keep track of the project their purchase is supporting. Aquality has sold 1,182 bottles to 212 customers, and provided 600 people in local communities in East Africa with safe access to clean water and sanitation training. The water sources Aquality has so far facilitated the construction of are expected to provide clean water to local communities for upwards of 20 years.
“During my time at the Summit, I appreciated the magnitude of diversity, not only culturally but of ideas and approaches towards solving the SDGs. It helped me realise the interconnectedness and scope of all the SDGs, and it inspired me to do what I’m passionate about.”
Menstrual Hygiene Friendly Spaces
Menstrual Hygiene Friendly Spaces - India
Aashraya Seth
Ambassador-led Initiative
26
SROI
Aashraya founded the Intelligent Indian in 2019 as an umbrella initiative through which he has worked on several projects including climate justice and alleviating period poverty. In India, period poverty has led to 1 out of 5 girls dropping out of school after they begin menstruating. Aashraya founded Menstrual Hygiene Friendly Spaces (MHFS) to advocate for menstrual hygiene measures and the sexual and reproductive rights of underserved and tribal menstruators. MHFS' approach includes not only awareness raising, but innovation, advocacy, and in-kind support for young menstruators, particularly within the country's education system.
Aashraya attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021. Despite attending virtually, he was able to easily connect with Ambassadors throughout the world and is active within the Community in India. Since becoming an Ambassador, Aashraya has been selected as one of 50 Leading Lights for the Asia-Pacific region, moderated a panel on SDG 3 Good Health and Wellbeing during the 2022 One Young World Asia Caucus, and spoke in One Young World’s Shine A Light panel series. Aashraya’s profile as an impactful young leader has developed significantly as a result of his involvement in the Community.
MHFS helps 58,000 school-going menstruators access free sustainable menstrual products every month, and has trained 5,000 women and girls in marginalised rural communities to make their own cloth pads, with most earning £50 a month. Aashraya invented India's most affordable and non-electric sanitary pad vending machine, known as a Pad Bank, each of which holds 25 biodegradable pads and costs only £20. MHFS’ most recent project is a chatbot that will serve as a one-stop platform for women and girls to ask questions about sexual and reproductive health. In total, MHFS has impacted over 60,000 menstruators with educational curriculum to help achieve bodily autonomy and SRH rights.
“The One Young World is an excellent network of young leaders. The community is very well connected and provides exceptional opportunities to its Ambassadors, to engage, work collaboratively around the globe and make a difference on a large-scale.”
SHOAW Gambia
Anna Anet is the founder and CEO of Stop Harassment and Online Abuse of Women and Girls - The Gambia (SHOAW Gambia), an initiative that provides safe spaces for victims of online gender-based violence for them to share their stories and receive counselling. The organisation also aims to address, prevent and eradicate online harassment and abuse of women and girls through a community engagement approach.
Anna Anet attended the One Young World Summit in The Hague, 2018, as an Enterprise for Peace Scholar, and attended again in Munich, 2021. Being a One Young World Ambassador has enabled her to scale her work online and offline. She has partnered with the Dutch Government through their Embassy in Senegal to implement the Feminism and Social Media in the Eyes of The Gambia (FASOM_GM) project, which trained 1,000 young people and 500 women on addressing online gender-based violence.
SHOAW has successfully graduated three cohorts of free certification training sessions as part of its Youth Mentorship Programme, amounting to 150 graduates between 13 and 19 years old. The training lasts for six months, covering topics such as the prevention of online harassment, cybersecurity, leadership, entrepreneurial skills, and human rights. The initiative has conducted two bootcamps in rural communities, teaching 150 women and girls about online harassment, menstrual health management, and other gender-related issues. SHOAW has trained 1,000 high school students on digital safety and cyberbullying and engaged with 150 community elders on the issue of online violence. The SHOAW team have held 12 radio advocacy sessions, and have facilitated training sessions and workshops on cyberbullying, data protection, and privacy for universities and corporates in the country.
“Being a One Young World Ambassador has given me recognition and opened doors for collaboration, which has contributed to the impact of my work in the Gambia.”
AFPHY
Dickel founded AFPHY in 2017, with the aim of combatting gender-based violence and discrimination in Mauritania, particularly in rural areas, through the creation of employment opportunities for the economic empowerment of women who did not have access to education. Only 4% women are enrolled in tertiary education in Mauritania while women comprise 33.6% of the Mauritanian labour force. As a survivor of sexual assault and FGM, Dickel is passionate about helping girls and women in her community and country.
Dickel attended the One Young World Summit in London, 2019, as a Delegate Speaker, where she shared her story for the first time in front of over 2,000 people. Dickel’s involvement with One Young World has continued after the Summit. AFPHY received $20,000 as part of One Young World’s COVID Young Leaders Fund for their COVInitiative programme through which they trained 99 victims of sexual violence to produce soap and 5,000 face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 10,000 Mauritanians.
AFPHY’s broad focus has allowed it to create a range of programmes in Mauritanian communities, impacting over 12,000 people, from providing school supplies at low cost to over 300 students in a local high school, training 102 women in agriculture, providing financial education, materials, and funds to help launch a business, and helping start a local cooperative bank for 235 women. In 2023, AFPHY will open the doors of its open space office, which is designed to support new non-governmental organisations in Mauritania by helping them operate without needing to finance their own offices.
“One Young World changed my life. It gave me the courage and the opportunity to tell my story for the very first time in front of more than 2,000 people. Meeting all those people having smart ideas, experiences, exchanging with them really changed my perspective and the way that I see things.”
FORUFEDA
Sandra Akunna is a young leader who founded the Foundation for Rural Female Development in Africa (FORUFEDA) in 2019, a non-governmental organisation committed to advancing education for women and girls in rural areas of Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. Her mission is to empower young women to unlock their full potential and tackle the pervasive issue of child labour in her country. Akunna recognizes the alarming statistic that 60% of the ten million children out of school in Nigeria are girls, and 30% of girls between nine and twelve have never attended school. To address this critical challenge, she has focused on rural areas often overlooked by other non-governmental organisations.
Akunna's experience attending the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021, profoundly impacted her perspective. The Summit reinforced her commitment to the cause of gender equality and inspired her to expand her online and offline efforts. As a One Young World Ambassador, Sandra is actively engaged in the Berlin Community and has benefited from the mentorship of other Ambassadors, which has further honed her leadership skills.
FORUFEDA's impact has been remarkable. It began by sending five girls to school and has since expanded to provide 3,932 educational resources to girls in rural communities. The organisation has also supported 50 girls on full scholarships to pursue their education and trained 20 women in new skills through rigorous five-month training courses, with 15 studying business management and five in STEM. In addition, they provide psychological assistance to victims of gender-based violence. FORUFEDA is a successful initiative providing crucial support and STEAM education to girls at all levels, from primary school to university.
“Attending the Summit just made me confirm my decision to create impact for Sub-Saharan African women, it gave me the energy and the confidence I needed. Being an Ambassador has helped me accelerate my leadership skills, I see myself taking up more leadership roles.”
Warmi STEM
Leticia is a chemical engineer by profession, and was the first woman of her indigenous community based in northern Ecuador to access higher education. During her time at university, she met mentors that inspired her to give back and share the knowledge she had gained. She founded Warmi STEM in 2019 to empower indigenous women and encourage their participation in STEM fields. Leticia was introduced to other indigenous women in 2020 through the Fundación Kichwa Institute of Science, Technology and Humanities (KISTH), of which she is also a co-founder, and they joined Warmi.
Leticia attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021. She has since helped other young indigenous women from Ecuador participate in national and international events through her mentorship and advisory roles in the community. Leticia has advised other indigenous women applying for international scholarships, with her KISTH co-founder, One Young World Ambassador Janeth Bonilla, winning a scholarship to the Summit in Manchester, 2022, following her successful participation in another programme supported by Leticia.
Warmi STEM has worked to promote STEM fields by directly engaging over 200 students in four indigenous communities in person and another ten communities online. The organisation’s STEM workshop lasts for four hours and introduces participants to a broad range of science-based topics as well as the arts. The workshops are free, and students are only expected to bring food to share as part of the learning process, in keeping with Kichwa tradition and culture. In the future, Leticia aims to reach more communities and continue tackling the stigma around education for women in indigenous communities in Ecuador.
“My experience following the Summit motivated me to work even harder, and build up my team at Warmi STEM. Attending the Summit virtually made me conscious of how important in-person activities are, and it inspired me to continue my in-person activities with more communities. It also made me conscious of how important it is to look after yourself, mentally and physically as a young leader in order to keep working.”
Wasel for Awareness & Education
Wasel for Awareness & Education - Jordan
Lynn Malkawi
Ambassador-led Initiative
16
SROI
Lynn established Wasel for Awareness & Education in 2018 as a non-governmental organisation working on economic empowerment, social empowerment, and civic engagement in Jordan. The project began as a school programme with a focus on bringing young people of different backgrounds together to break stereotypes. Motivated by the youth unemployment rate in Jordan, which stands at around 40.3%, Lynn pivoted to creating entrepreneurship programmes and training to help facilitate the growth of the social enterprise sector in the country. Lynn is also the founder of Mehnaty, a company working to accelerate people’s career development through mentorship services.
Lynn attended the One Young World Summit in London, 2019, on an Enterprise for Peace Scholarship. She was motivated by the Delegate Speakers and their stories to think outside of the box, reach out to other Ambassadors, and learn how she could use those connections further down the line for collaborations. Lynn has maintained connections with the One Young World Community in Jordan.
Wasel for Awareness & Education has three main programmes. Shabbek wa Bader, their school programme, has impacted 462 students in 21 schools across 360 sessions, and has been instrumental in the launch of 15 social initiatives. It involves partnering students from private and public schools once a week to learn about Wasel’s methodology on community organising and project management. Shabbek wa Ibtaker, their entrepreneurship programme for young people, has so far held nine rounds spanning 366 sessions, and has resulted in 79 young people receiving grants or incubation opportunities to date. Wasel’s citizenship engagement programme has reached 1,401 participants and taught them about human rights, labour laws, and the Jordanian constitution, and has resulted in five policy papers written and published. These policy papers have been shared and discussed by policymakers within the country.
“The Summit impacted me because I got to meet many people that were extremely different to myself, it inspired me to think about the box. I’ve stayed in touch with many fellow Ambassadors with the possibility of collaborating and learning from each other, we have even tried applying for funding as a consortium.”
Matric Live
Kagisho co-founded Matric Live, an e-learning application for grades 10-12, in 2020 to provide underprivileged students from South Africa’s townships with educational support during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Matric Live emerged as a collaboration from Kagisho’s first project, CynC, and his co-founder Lesego’s own platform, as a hybrid to aggregate the educational resources they wished they had access to in their youth. Inequality in South Africa massively impacts the country’s education system. For every 100 learners, less than 50 pass the matric exam necessary to attend tertiary education, and only 14 make it to university.
Kagisho attended the One Young World Summit in Ottawa, 2016, which inspired him to take his first social enterprise, CynC, from an idea into a tangible product. He credits the One Young World Community in South Africa for helping to spread awareness of his work and extend his reach. He has also worked with fellow Ambassador Mandy Munchnick on her mental health platform, with the two collaborating on a campaign hosted on Matric Live for it.
Kagisho and his business partner decided to make Matric Live free during the first COVID-19 lockdown, and the platform quick;y grew to 630,000 users. As of 2022, the app has had over 1.1 million learners. The platform includes a learning component, and was the first to gain access to 57 government-approved study guides. It also includes a gamified learning component and exam simulations. Matric Live has partnered with South Africa’s Department of Basic Education, and has also launched learning tools for teachers, seeking to expand their reach to impact not only students.
“Had I not gone to the One Young World Summit in 2016, my project would have stayed an idea and MatricLive would not be what it is today. The Summit helped me do justice to my potential, I came back as a different man.”
Play Malawi
Play Malawi - Malawi
Gracian Mkandawire
Ambassador-led Initiative
15
SROI
Gracian was motivated by the impact that sports had on him as a young person to co-found Play Malawi in 2015. The organisation aims to educate young Malawians on sexual and reproductive health, and non-communicable diseases through the vehicle of sport. In Malawi, people under the age of 35 make up 80% of the population. Initially, Gracian’s efforts centred on table tennis due to his extensive personal experience with that sport, but Play Malawi has since expanded to include lawn tennis activities to teach more young people about health issues.
Gracian attended the One Young World Summit in London, 2019, on a scholarship from the Z Zurich Foundation. He made valuable connections with fellow Ambassadors working on similar projects in different parts of the world. He was able to visit another Ambassador’s organisation and learn about their model, part of which he adapted to use at Play Malawi. Following the Summit, and emboldened by his experience, Gracian successfully applied for a position working on sports development in the northern region of Malawi. Gracian continued to collaborate with Z Zurich Foundation after the Summit to scale his work further.
Play Malawi’s impact has grown steadily over the years, directly impacting 8,000 young people in primary schools across Malawi. In addition to organising tournaments and training, Play Malawi offers services such as HIV testing for those involved in their educational activities. In partnership with another NGO, Gracian and his team developed a manual combining approach of playing games and education. From his students, 15 young people have made it to Malawi’s national team for table tennis and lawn tennis over the past five years. Gracian’s work has helped diversify sports education in schools in the country.
“When I remember the Summit, the first thing that comes to my mind is the invaluable connections that I made with fellow Ambassadors that are doing projects similar to mine. I got to visit the organisation of one of them, based in London, and learn from their model for better practices to implement at Play Malawi. Those connections still continue.”
Wondr
Wondr was founded during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands by One Young World Ambassadors Flory Achammer and Emma Hoch, along with their colleagues Nina Hoedlmayr and Ella Adam. Based on the experiences of people, especially students, in isolation during the country’s lockdowns, the team looked to tackle loneliness and mental ill health by helping people connect and establish social interactions to build communities. Loneliness is increasingly a leading cause of mental health in Europe, with around 10% of people over 18 experiencing symptoms.
Flory and Emma attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021, where they were able to interact and establish connections with fellow Delegates. Their experience meeting young leaders from different countries and backgrounds inspired and empowered them to continue expanding their initiative with Wondr. After the Summit, Emma managed to connect with another One Young World Ambassador in the Netherlands Community and they have since launched a different project together, Periodic.nl, to increase access to menstrual hygiene products in the country.
The first iteration of Wondr was Wondr Walks, in which people were introduced to each other based on location and shared interests, with the Wondr team providing conversation starters during socially-distanced walks over the course of four weeks. The Wondr team then pivoted their strategy to continue enabling human connections by developing the Wondr app, through which users get to know each other via engaging questions and activities. Wonder has so far directly impacted over 2,100 people, and the team have also launched a desktop version. They have also released their own podcast to help young professionals develop better communication skills in their leadership journeys.
“It's extremely empowering when you’re in the Summit and you're like okay, you're part of this. You can also do this. You're part of this community meaning you can do this. If there are so many people driving that change, I can drive this change as well.”
Young Farmers Champions Network
Young Farmers Champions Network - Uganda
Khamutima Tumwebaze
Ambassador-led Initiative
33
SROI
Khamutima is the founder and Executive Director of the Young Farmers Champions Network (YOFCHAN). The organisation was established in 2016 as a member-based non-profit organisation focused on representing the voices of mostly marginalised young people to engage in the agricultural sector profitably and sustainably. The mission of YOFCHAN is to equip young farmers with the knowledge, tools, and resources they need to start, grow, and scale their agribusinesses. This is achieved through advocating for an enabling environment for the engagement of young people in agriculture, capacity building in agronomy and agribusiness skills, creating linkages to financial support, and markets for the young farmers.
Khamutima attended the One Young World Summit in The Hague, 2018. He subsequently built a strong network in Uganda and in the East Africa region with fellow Ambassadors. Khamutima believes that such networks are instrumental for young entrepreneurs looking to make social impact. The One Young World Community in Uganda holds regular meetings where Ambassadors support each other with ideas on how to improve their work and discuss their experiences. After the Summit, Khamutima was shortlisted for opportunities through One Young World to support YOFCHAN’s development.
Through their Youth Champion Model, which inspires and encourages young people in Uganda to join agriculture as an attractive and profitable business, YOFCHAN have developed a network of 1,500 young farmers. These champions act as leaders of young farmers groups in their communities, receive financial advice, leadership, business management and agronomic training, and access to markets and common-user value addition facilities through YOFCHAN. These champions then take their knowledge and skills back to their communities and replicate YOFCHAN’s model locally. Through this method, YOFCHAN has indirectly impacted over 45,000 young farmers throughout Uganda.
“The contacts I made during the Summit, both from Uganda, East Africa and internationally, have been very helpful in terms of sharing ideas and being able to put those ideas into action to improve my work. In Uganda we have meetings often between the Ugandan One Young World Ambassadors to share our experiences, and these types of networks as an entrepreneur are very important.”
Akata Farms
Akata Farms - Grenada
Bevon Chadel Charles
Ambassador-led Initiative
8
SROI
Bevon is an agripreneur and founder of Akata Farms, a company that has focused on sustainable agriculture through tailored farm building in rural communities in Grenada since 2016. Though Akata Farms is a for-profit company, it has a non-profit branch that focuses on skills development in partnership with the government, providing education on crop development, climate change adaptation measures, and job opportunities. Akata Farms also harvests vegetables, fruits and spices through various agricultural systems, including hydroponics, greenhouses and traditional methods.
Bevon attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021, where she built a global network that has given her recognition in Grenada and the Caribbean as a young leader. As a One Young World Ambassador, Bevon has encouraged ten young people from the Caribbean region to apply for One Young World Scholarships and other international programmes. As a result of her One Young World experience, Bevon has grown in her confidence as a young leader.
Akata Farms has built a network of over 1,500 farmers across the region with the goal of reducing Caribbean agricultural imports and food insecurity by developing agricultural alternatives for both local consumption and, eventually, exportation. The organisation has assisted ten farmers to successfully obtain grant funding, and has provided technical support to an additional five people to start their own farms. Through its production side, Akata Farms feeds over 10,000 households annually and sells its produce to supermarkets and hotels across Grenada. In 2023, Bevon and her team’s main goal is to create at least 10 new enterprises working on sustainable agriculture, employ 100 new people, and train an additional 100 on farming techniques.
“The exposure I’ve received since becoming a One Young World Ambassador has allowed me to position myself at the negotiation table and charge forward. One Young World has opened a lot of opportunities for me to be at that table.”
ACNA
Ruth founded the Association for Care Leavers Network in Africa (ACNA) in 2021 to develop a regional network for young people who have left care, motivated by her own experience as a care leaver. Care leavers are a marginalised group in society, with a lack of policies and programmes designed to support them. With this, they are left behind in terms of development. ACNA provides a platform for young care leavers to be heard, included, and advocate for their rights, while engaging with local and national governments to design policies and frameworks to support them, and decrease their vulnerability and marginalisation in society.
Ruth first attended the One Young World Summit in The Hague, 2018, and spoke on stage about the rights of children, the experience of care leavers in her region, and her advocacy work. Following the Summit, her activism gained national recognition, which allowed her to work with the Kenyan government and other stakeholders to create the National Care Reform Strategy. This strategy has been implemented and recognizes a child’s right to family.
Ruth aided her peers in Zimbabwe to create their own country-wide network which now has over 3,000 members advocating for policy change. ACNA is providing technical support for the development of Zimbabwe’s first Leaving Care Bill. In Ethiopia and Senegal, ACNA has 200 young care leavers involved in decision-making processes for policy changes. In Uganda, ACNA through the Care Leavers Network launched the Girls Glow programme to advocate for access to reproductive health services for girls in care. ACNA provides mentorship opportunities to help develop the leadership skills of its members. In total, ACNA is active in 11 African countries and has more than 6,000 members, and will be hosting its first African Conference of Care Experienced Youth in May 2023.
“Being part of the One Young World Community means having the master key to the doors you otherwise would not go through. No other forum for young people is not only visible but where young people including the most marginalised are supported as One Young World. Following my speech at the Summit, more than 60 media houses wanted to interview me. In advocacy, you need this because when you are visible, the decision makers lean in.’’
OOYOO
OOYOO is a leading clean air technology company, based in Japan, that provides ultra-low emission and cost-effective energy. Utilising carbon capture technology based on advanced membranes, OOYOO purifies gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide as well as natural gases. Although purifying gases comes at a cost to industries, failing to do so comes at a lethal cost to the environment.
To distinguish itself in a competitive market, OOYOO has developed technologies that can be downsized, creating a portable feature of its product that other conventional technologies in the market cannot. Furthermore, OOYOO’s commitment to continuously innovate filter materials technology assists in the company’s mission to ensure that their technology will be at the heart of every future device that generates clean energy and clean air.
Treeapp
Treeapp is a global tree planting organisation. The Treeapp mobile app enables anyone to plant a tree for free everyday, in less than a minute. Treeapp offers the possibility for consumers in the UK and Ireland to plant trees all over the world, empowering all to make a change that benefits the planet on a daily basis. Via the app, users can watch an advert featuring one of Treeapp’s 300+ sustainable brand partners, who fund the users’ tree to be planted everyday, and then sell the advertised products directly on Treeapp’s sustainable marketplace.
Treeapp also works with businesses to offset their carbon footprint and plant trees across the world, from South America to the islands of Indonesia.
To date, Treeapp has planted 1 million+ trees in less than two years since launch, and expects to soon reach 100,000 Treeapp users. Treeapp is a certified B Corp - proving their business has a strong ESG impact.
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.