Emma Hoch, Flory Achammer
Ambassador-led Initiative
3
SROI
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.”