Social Impact Analysis

Benson’s work is tied to his Indigenous heritage, as an Aboriginal person in Australia with Melanesian descent. His understanding of the value of sustainable living is deeply rooted in appreciation for the complex Indigenous knowledge systems built and maintained by his community and ancestors. Benson attended the One Young World Summit in Zurich 2011 as the Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations. His experience at the Summit broadened his belief in the possibility of reconciliation and justice, particularly inspired by young African leaders.

“The wonderful thing about One Young World is that I can connect with like-minded global leaders, and that really broadens your belief in what is possible.”

As Australian Youth Representative, Benson delivered a speech at the UN General Assembly and joined the High-Level Meeting on Youth. He led negotiations on two resolutions on behalf of Australia, on children’s rights and on the impact of the global financial crisis on young people.

Benson noticed that the voices of Indigenous young people were consistently marginalised or missing in leadership spaces. In 2012, he became the Founding Director of the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy (NIYLA), connecting young Indigenous people passionate about creating change in their communities and supporting them through leadership skills and social action platforms. NIYLA impacted more than 1,000 young people through events and workshops. Benson and his wife also founded the Mind Garden Project, honouring his Melanesian heritage. This organisation supports two schools and their teachers, providing resources and creating safe spaces for children in remote villages.

In 2021, Benson became the first Indigenous person to be appointed an Australian Consul-General and Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner. Based in Texas, Benson worked on driving Australia’s diplomatic and economic agenda, and advocated for greater focus on women’s reproductive rights, and the abolishment of the death penalty. Benson led the inaugural US First Nations Trade Mission to Australia, focusing on cultural exchange, Indigenous trade relationships and best practices on economic development and self-determination.

Currently, Benson is the Managing Partner at First Australians Capital (FAC), an Indigenous-led fund management and business advisory organisation focused on creating a sustainable and impactful Indigenous business economy. It is currently building a $30 million impact investment fund, the first of its kind in Australia. Since 2016, FAC has operated a fund of $14 million, impacting over 800 businesses.

Madhav co-founded Nostos Homes, with fellow Ambassador Kaushal Shetty, to provide tangible solutions for people in positions of forced displacement. There were 115.6 million forced displacements as a result of natural disasters and conflict worldwide between 2020 and 2022 [1]. Nostos Homes is building sustainable homes from 90% recycled material that overcome the disadvantages of transient, temporary shelters, thereby providing displaced people with stability, security, and a foundation upon which to rebuild their lives.

Madhav attended the One Young World Summit in The Hague, 2018. He was a Delegate Speaker, and has utilised the Community as a resource for advice and mentorship. Madhav is active in the Community and has collaborated on projects with other Ambassadors, serving on the board of a fellow Ambassador’s non-profit organisation.

Nostos Homes has provided more than 500,000 nights of shelter through deployments in India and Malawi. A Nostos home provides approximately 32,800 nights of shelter over a lifespan of 30 years, facilitating a 45% reduction in health hazards for internally displaced people. Each home also enables an additional 3,000 days of livelihood and 1,500 days of education for the forcibly displaced. The organisation empowers local communities to deploy its structures themselves, involving them in the building process with the homes not requiring specialised training or tools. Nostos Homes is also recreating community structures to foster a shared sense of belonging.

“One aspect that significantly impacted our growth was the visibility that came through One Young World. This exposure really helped us scale our access to funding and volunteers, and supported our credibility for projects. The Community has been such an incredible source of support across so many collaborative projects we've undertaken so far.”

Senator Isalean Phillip gravitated towards volunteering opportunities in her university years. Her research on the underrepresentation of Black women influenced policy changes at universities in Nova Scotia, Canada. Isalean was selected to attend the One Young World Summit in Pittsburgh, 2012. She has remained connected to the Community ever since, finding it to be an unending source of inspiration. Following a master’s degree in women and gender studies and policy, development and implementation, Isalean established herself as a policy professional working in the NGO sector in Canada.

“What I really ultimately want to do is make a positive difference in the world...I think I've always wanted to do that, which is perhaps why when I saw the One Young World opportunity, I was like, I want to be a part of that! So I think wherever I land, career wise, I just want to continue making a positive impact for social change.”

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Isalean returned to St. Kitts and Nevis and began volunteering with the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party. She worked with her parliamentary representative, Dr. Terrance Drew, who was sworn in as the country’s Prime Minister in August 2022. Isalean was invited to join the government as an appointed Senator, and serves as Minister for Social Development and Gender Affairs; Youth Empowerment, Ageing and Disabilities. She is currently the youngest Minister of Government.

Isalean’s work aligns with the direction of her government to develop St. Kitts and Nevis as a sustainable small island state. As such, she works to establish sustainable social protection systems by implementing social policies and programmes to assist and empower vulnerable and marginalised groups. She has implemented a Seniors Day Program, held weekly, for senior citizens to participate in various activities, including arts and crafts, exercise, cooking tutorials, folklore. Seniors benefit from informational sessions on health and wellness, estate planning, and financial literacy. This national programme is intended to improve the wellbeing of elder ageing citizens, who benefit from socialisation and education opportunities.

Isalean has also initiated wider engagements and organised activities on a national scale for persons with disabilities and youth, including cultural events for multigenerational interaction, youth camps, consultations, and community-building. Isalean is also responsible for improving data collection processes to better understand where the State can provide targeted social assistance to reduce poverty. Social assistance can take the form of food vouchers, cash transfer assistance, and medical support.

As Minister for Gender Affairs, Isalean is addressing domestic violence in all its forms by viewing it as a public health issue. Through departments in her Ministries, she builds awareness and provides wraparound services for victims and survivors. The provision of mentorship programs for boys and girls function to build confidence and break harmful understandings of masculinity and femininity. Additionally, specific programmes to support and reintegrate teen mothers are also implemented to help break cycles of poverty and violence. Isalean is establishing cross-societal partnerships to mainstream her work on youth, gender, and disability.

Caitlin always knew that she wanted to go into a career path where she could make a positive impact on people’s lives. She played an integral role in setting up the Deloitte US firm’s anti-human trafficking practice. Caitlin worked with the US Department of Homeland Security to find data anomalies and connections that could help identify human traffickers while rescuing and supporting victims.

Caitlin worked on the Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign in 2016 as Deputy Operations Director in Wisconsin, a key state in the election. She channelled her grief and anger at the outcome of that election into action by getting involved with the Women’s March as a National Organiser. Serving as Volunteer Coordinator, she oversaw volunteer needs, recruitment, training, and organising for the event, which saw over 470,000 people peacefully protest for human and women’s rights in Washington, DC.

After graduating from a Master’s in Public Policy, Caitlin returned to Deloitte where she became involved in diversity and inclusion initiatives, motivated by her work on the campaign and with the Women’s March. She was then selected to attend the One Young World Summit in The Hague, 2018. At the Summit, Caitlin connected with fellow Ambassador Grace Forrest, Founder of the anti-trafficking organisation, Walk Free, with whom she had admired for her innovative leadership in combatting modern slavery.

“One Young World really did set me on a path, and it’s one of those where I’ve gone back and connected the dots but didn’t necessarily see in the moment. I have a huge amount of gratitude for One Young World for helping me make those connections for my career and the impact I could have.”

Catilin currently serves as Chief Strategic Officer at Rise, an organisation founded by Ambassador Amanda Nguyen to pass laws supporting survivors of sexual assault. She first heard Amanda speak at One Young World, and now works at her organisation leading the Rise Justice Labs programme. This 12-week civil rights accelerator programme teaches participants from around the world how to pass laws and resolutions at sub-national, national, and international levels across a wide range of issues including gun violence, climate change, and criminal justice reform. The first cohort of the Rise Justice Labs launched in the winter of 2020. Five cohorts later, the programme has graduated 22 teams that have passed 19 laws in their respective countries. Participants of Rise Justice Labs receive seed funding to support their advocacy work, 1:1 coaching, and gain access to Rise’s policymakers network of volunteer attorneys, legislators, and media contacts.

Caitlin also leads Rise’s United Nations advocacy work. In September 2022, the Rise team led the movement to pass a United Nations resolution recognising survivors of sexual violence. This resolution, which passed unanimously, urges all countries to take measures to support victims with access to justice and assistance. The resolution marked the first time the United Nations General Assembly acknowledged rape survivors during peacetime, rather than conflict situations.
Caitlin also collaborates on Rise’s creative programming, including the Rise Survivor Fashion Show during New York Fashion Week and the “what were you wearing?” exhibit featuring outfits worn by survivors during their assaults. She also serves as the President of the board for Beyond Borders Haiti, an organisation that empowers marginalised Haitians to liberate themselves through on-the-ground Haitian-led support. Caitlin was the Associate Director at the DC Mayor’s Office of Policy, and worked on a transitional plan for DC statehood.

Karen co-founded The Biz Nation with her sisters and fellow One Young World Ambassadors, Daniela and Stephanie. The Biz Nation is an e-learning platform active in nine countries in Latin America, focused on productive education for better opportunities and income generation. Latin America is facing a learning crisis, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with three in four 15 year olds unable to demonstrate maths skills and one in two struggling with reading comprehension [1]. The Biz Nation’s programmes are primarily focused on women, young people, and micro-entrepreneurs across the region. It has also established partnerships with both corporate and public sectors to reach a larger audience and scale its work.

Karen, alongside Daniela and Stephanie, attended the One Young World Summit in Bogotá, 2017. Karen was a Delegate Speaker and the connections that the sisters made at the Summit have proven pivotal for the growth of their organisation. Karen and her sisters have remained actively involved in the One Young World Community.

The Biz Nation has 100,000 users via its e-learning platform. Its online course catalogue comprises more than 200 options, and it also offers a micro-learning option via WhatsApp, reaching rural communities with no internet connection. The Biz Nation has over 60 active projects with different partners across Latin America including Contrata un Joven, which trains young people in Cali, Colombia; and the Liga F programme, which trains women in Cartagena on digital marketing skills and matches them with job opportunities. It also offers one-to-one and group mentoring opportunities to facilitate wider skills transfer across its user network.

“When you are a One Young World Ambassador, you have a responsibility and responsibility enriches your leadership because you are more conscious of the way you speak, you talk, you do. I think One Young World is a community, so when you are an Ambassador somebody on the other side of the world who is also an Ambassador is always willing and open to talk to you. I would say it's opened many avenues for me, no doubt.”

Samuel founded The Food and Genes Initiative to improve the lifestyles and wellbeing of those closest to him and their communities through three key pillars: substance abuse, malnutrition, and non-communicable diseases. Nigeria continues to have a high burden of drug abuse despite the country’s strict laws [1]. The Food and Genes Initiative utilises research and technology, both on and offline, to improve the health outcomes of both Nigerians and people across Africa, now partnering with more than 20 organisations across the continent.

Samuel attended the One Young World Summit in London, 2019, and immediately formed fruitful relationships with other Ambassadors, including Stephen Ogweno, Founder of the Stowelink Foundation. Since then, Samuel has remained active in the One Young World Community, with six Ambassadors speaking at his Impact Leaders Connect initiative.

In 2019, The Food and Genes Initiative facilitated the 365Days campaign, the largest campaign of its kind on substance misuse in Nigeria. The initiative has visited more than 70 schools, organised 10 street conferences, and educated over 50,000 young people through its in-person campaigns, in addition to maintaining a substantial online presence. It also partners with organisations involved in substance abuse treatment to provide a comprehensive approach in its target communities. Its work on malnutrition has impacted 5,000 people, while its campaigns on non-communicable diseases have reached 20,000 people and provided them with guidance on risk factors, self-care, and disease management. The Food and Genes Initiative recently worked with the David Folaranmi Foundation and the North-East Development Commission Nigeria to train 150 people, who in turn facilitate projects in their own communities advocating against substance misuse.

“I would say One Young World has helped me in terms of network, resources, access to
knowledge and as a platform to share what I do. So, I am very grateful for that. For
example, I have invited six speakers from One Young World to come and speak at the
Impact Leaders Connect event, and One Young World partnered with us to spread
information about the event publicly.”

Zafree Papers is an Ethiopian company that manufactures paper and paper products using 100% tree-free pulp made from agricultural waste. Founded by Bethelhem in 2017, Zafree Papers’ solutions are non-toxic and 100% recyclable. The organisation’s tree-free pulp means fewer trees being cut, less crop-residue being burned, and is of higher quality than pulp made from waste paper. Before the Lead2030 programme, the organisation was in the process of proving its product to prospective investors.

As a Lead2030 Challenge Winner with the 100+ Accelerator powered by AB InBev, Zafree Papers used the funding it received to set up its pilot factory, begin production, and send samples to AB InBev’s South African markets. This has helped the company prove its product quality to a global standard. Zafree is currently focused on packaging, collaborating with 20 local farmers to collect banana stems, extracting the fibre, and transforming the pulp into corrugated boxes. Waste from this fibre extraction is processed into a nutrient-dense fertiliser through vermicomposting, to reduce the impact of waste by-products. The company offers 100% virgin kraft paper that can be used in food packaging or even heavy material packages.

The mentorship opportunities offered by the Lead2030 programme gave Bethelhem new skills to develop partnerships with corporates. The partnership with AB InBev also led to a shift in strategic priorities for Zafree Papers, in terms of product offerings and market location, with the organisation sending samples to the South African market. As such, the Lead2030 programme has accelerated Bethelhem’s goal to disrupt the packaging industry with 100% tree-free and sustainable packaging solutions in the coming years.

“During the Lead2030 programme, in terms of sustainable leadership, I learned a lot throughout the entire process, especially through the partnership we had with the 100+ Accelerator. It really helped us to see the world through different eyes, especially in terms of business, in terms of expansion, in terms of going global and what it requires to actually go global.”

100% tree-free pulp, paper, and paper products produced using agricultural waste

Trevor is currently the Head of Sustainability and Social Impact at L'Oréal Professionnel. He oversees the sustainable transformation of the brand to achieve the L’Oréal Group’s 2030 objectives covering climate change, biodiversity, water, managing natural resources and social impact.

In 2023, Trevor and the brand’s marketing team launched Water Saver, which was named a top innovation of the year according to Time. Water Saver is the first showerhead using patented water fragmentation to save up to 69% of water at the salon backbar. Water Saver has saved over 230 million litres of water to date, the equivalent of 91 Olympic swimming pools. Trevor was also responsible for the roll-out of L'Oréal Professionnel’s environmental labelling to help consumers make more responsible and conscious decisions. The environmental labelling is live on the brand’s website in five key countries: the USA, France, Italy, Spain and Germany.

Trevor is now working on the environmental transition of over 200 hair care and coloration products, with a breakthrough innovation that just hit the market: Dia Color, a new colour product with a 92% natural origin formula and 36% less packaging, with no compromise on performance. Trevor also launched the Head Up programme to support hairdressers with their mental health. Outside of L'Oréal, Trevor has been a Professor at Sciences Po for four years.

Prior to his role at L'Oréal Professionnel, Trevor was responsible for L’Oreal’s “brand cause” programs on a company-wide level as Brand Cause Director. Trevor developed and launched over ten brand cause programmes. One of these, L'Oréal Paris’ programme “Stand Up”, has trained 2.5 million people globally on bystander interventions to combat sexual harassment in public spaces using the “five Ds” methodology (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, Direct). This program was developed with the global non-profit Right to Be and has been rolled out with over 20 local NGOs. Another programme he helped develop, Brave Together for Maybelline, has provided women and girls with free access to mental health resources, in partnership with 20+ NGOs.

Throughout his time at L’Oreal, Trevor has worked with fellow L'Oréal One Young World Ambassadors on identifying strategies to promote sustainable consumption, accelerating the recyclability roadmap, and fostering employee engagement on sustainability.

Trevor attended the 2018 One Young World Summit in The Hague, and found it to be a huge source of inspiration and ideas. He looks forward to sharing his experiences this year at the One Young World Summit in Montréal, where he will be speaking about managing water sustainably.

“What I found eye-opening at One Young World was the power of storytelling. The inspiring stories of delegates and speakers built a strong emotional connection, combining logic with emotion. This is something we often fail to do as sustainability professionals, which can make it more challenging to bring others on the journey with us”.

Nadav served in an IDF sniper’s team in the special forces of the Nahal brigade. Following the exposure this gave him to the reality faced by Palestinians, he joined Breaking the Silence (BtS) as a Testifier-Activist in 2012. BtS has struggled against occupation and apartheid for nearly 20 years, but since Hamas’ attack on October 7 and Israel’s escalating military campaign in Gaza, its work became even more vital. Today, Nadav works as senior director.

BtS has spoken with over 1,400 testifiers to ground its extensive media and advocacy work. This exposes the IDF’s practices which lead to disproportionate military actions and a failure to restrain its own use of force. During the current war in Gaza, BtS testifiers, including Nadav, have been able to raise their voices about these practices and advocate for the protection of both Palestinian and Israeli life. In 2023, BtS raised awareness about the unprecedented levels of settler violence in the West Bank, including via a billboard campaign throughout Tel Aviv. Nadav himself testified in a Knesset conference regarding the effects of displacement on women from Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, an area facing extreme threats of forced expulsion. 

BtS has expanded its educational arm to conduct seminars for educators across Israeli society, including staff of pre-military programmes, teachers, and Rabbis. BtS is also preparing a generation of activists through an intensive seminary in partnership with Combatants for Peace. BtS will continue to lead the pursuit of a peaceful resolution for the people of Israel and Palestine, and an end to the occupation.

Dr. Khazana Sihwaya is Founder of the 2030 Child Nutrition Project, a non-profit organisation combating malnutrition in Zambia, particularly among households with pregnant women and children living in poverty. Zambia has one of the highest rates of malnutrition in the region, with 35% of children under five years suffering from stunting [1]. Khazana established the 2030 Child Nutrition Project to tackle poor feeding practices and unhealthy eating habits fuelled by common misconceptions on nutrition in underprivileged communities. The project supports low-income households with locally sourced high-protein relief foods, and offers clinic referrals for mothers whose children may need specialised Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) treatment. 

Khazana attended the One Young World Summits in Munich, 2021, and Manchester, 2022. She was a Delegate Speaker for Manchester, 2022, for the Health plenary challenge. She received funding from One Young World’s COVID-19 Young Leaders Fund and has developed her leadership skills through her exposure to, and interactions with, her fellow Ambassadors.

The 2030 Child Nutrition Project ran clinic workshops with pregnant and lactating women before the pandemic, reaching 1,000 women directly. The project switched focus to school feeding programmes due to COVID-19 and, with the support of One Young World, provided more than 5,000 children with vital food hampers and education on nutritious food. It has since established partnerships with 10 schools, providing gardening tools and seeds to support students and communities in growing their own fruits and vegetables sustainably.

“Being a One Young World Ambassador has significantly expanded my network and introduced me to a myriad of new opportunities, and I’ve been able to engage with diverse global initiatives and collaborate with like-minded individuals on meaningful projects.”

Dr. Irina Fedorenko-Aula is Co-Founder and Chief Carbon Officer at Vlinder, a social enterprise that aims to become a mangrove unicorn by planting over a billion mangrove trees and democratising access to carbon markets and investments in high quality blue carbon projects. Mangroves, alongside other coastal wetlands, are reported to sequester carbon 10 times quicker than tropical forests [1]. Vlinder works with local communities, especially women and young people, in Kenya, Senegal, Indonesia, Tanzania, and Myanmar. With Vlinder’s support, community members, most of whom are women, collect seeds, build nurseries, grow seedlings, and plant mangroves while participating in data collection and mapping activities using drones.

Irina attended the One Young World Summit in The Hague, 2018. As an Audi Scholar, she was able to interact with corporate Ambassadors working in sustainability, an experience that proved useful for her own work.

Vlinder has so far planted 1,470 hectares of mangroves across several countries, benefitting 22,000 people through the establishment and maintenance of these new and thriving ecosystems. The company’s community focus ensures that locals can receive employment opportunities, carbon measurement training, as well as the socio-economic and environmental benefits accruing from the mangrove ecosystems themselves. Mangrove systems have been shown to improve fish stocks, protect against climate change and tsunamis, and guard against soil erosion. Vlinder aims to plant another 2,150 hectares of mangroves in 2024.

“As part of the Audi delegation at the Summit, I met corporate employees who were also young, really motivated and wanted to make a change. Thanks to this, I understood how corporates and civil society are on the same side and can work together to do a lot more good. I had never been exposed to anything like that before.”

Eva is Senior Sustainability Manager at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners for the Netherlands, and leads the company’s sustainability strategy in the country. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners maintains strong local roots in the Netherlands, utilising local resources and operating a local factory, which has allowed Eva to pursue an active strategy of sustainability and giving back to local communities. The company’s sustainability strategy in the Netherlands ranges from reducing carbon emissions by transitioning the factory from gas to electricity, converting transport trucks away from fossil fuels to biofuels, and phasing out fossil fuels from packaging.

Eva attended the One Young World Summit in Munich virtually in 2021. She found the Summit to be deeply inspiring, as someone who was already extremely familiar and passionate about sustainability. The Summit nonetheless showed her the human side of social impact, and since then she has become more involved with Coca-Cola’s established community partners in the Netherlands and has strived to foster new partnerships for local impact. She and her team are working with A Beautiful Mess, a restaurant-concept by NPO The Refugee Company, that gives employment opportunities to refugees and asylum seekers, by sponsoring their barista training programme. Eva believes the biggest impact can be made if as many people as possible join the impact movement. She had therefore introduced sustainability training for senior leaders within her company.

“For me, the Summit really opened up more the human side of impact, which I was really struck by and which has really inspired me. So actually since then, I've become way more involved locally in our community partner program. It really motivated me to look for new partners around refugees here in the Netherlands and make more of an impact with them, which we actually have been able to do since.”

In line with the company’s target to be net zero by 2040, Eva has led the Water Sustainability pillar for the Netherlands. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners aims to reduce the amount of water being used through water efficiency technologies, but also to compensate for the company’s sites water usage by replenishing water used in Coca-Cola’s production processes by 2030. To do this, they have partnered with Natuurmonumenten, a local NGO restoring the environment. Through partial financing across two years, Eva and her team have replenished the Liskes with 85 million litres of water per year, and the Pastoorswijer with 57 million litres of water per year. A third project is currently underway that should replenish 135 million litres.

The replenishment of these areas with water has in turn led to an increase in biodiversity in the area. These projects are utilising land that was traditionally reserved for water storage but which had been nonfunctional prior to the replenishment. Eva is actively involved throughout the process, and an external auditor assesses the amount of water that has been restored. The company and Eva are also looking into projects to increase biodiversity with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ sugar beet suppliers and to reduce the carbon footprint of sugar beet cultivation.

The MAIA Impact School, of which Vilma is Director, and Martha Lidia is Co-Executive Director, is an educational organisation in Guatemala led by Indigenous women that supports Indigenous girls' access to quality secondary education. MAIA began in 2008 by providing Indigenous girls the opportunity to attend further education through scholarships. The MAIA team founded the Impact School in 2017 with an original cohort of 50 Girl Pioneers. The students of the Impact School are called Girl Pioneers because the majority of them are the first girls in their families to continue their studies beyond primary school. The MAIA model begins with Project Impulso, a year-long preparatory programme through which students reach a suitable academic level for middle school. The students then join the Impact School programme for grades 7-11, before participating in the organisation’s Launch Year programme after graduation. The Launch Year programme assists graduates in developing vocational skills, while also offering university preparation and workplace readiness training.

Martha Lidia attended the One Young World Summit in Belfast, 2023. In 2020, Vilma led the MAIA Impact School in receiving funding from One Young World’s COVID-19 Young Leaders Fund, designing a journalism programme for Girl Pioneers to continue advocating for their communities during the pandemic. It also disseminated health and safety information in Maya Kaqchikel, K’iche, and Tzutujil.

For the 2023 academic year, the MAIA Impact School had 253 Girl Pioneers enrolled and provided 1,238 hours of education. In 2021, MAIA celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of 40 Girl Pioneers from high school, while 51 and 36 girls took part in Project Impulso in 2022 and 2023 respectively. The MAIA Impact School goes beyond providing education to Girl Pioneers, and it also engages with around 2,100 family members in the year through socio-emotional education and 1,456 home visits. It provides students with two meals a day, amounting to 10,680 meals, and offers mental health and digital skills training to 118 and 126 Girl Pioneers respectively.

“To see Lidia waving the Guatemalan flag wearing her Maya Kaqchikel traditional clothes on a global stage at the One Young World Summit was something that we could not have accomplished without the platform that One Young World offers. At MAIA, we say that we are Pioneers, so to have Lidia present giving visibility to Indigenous women was a confirmation for us and our Girl Pioneers that we can achieve our goals and can be present at these stages.” - Vilma Saloj

Olivier is the Founder and Executive Director of Water for Development, a non-profit organisation working to provide access to clean and safe water, hygiene, and sanitation services. Water for Development is active in rural areas of Burundi, where in 2021 32% of the population was spending over 30 minutes per day collecting water [1]. Olivier launched his initiative to address the inaccessibility of safe drinking water to give back to his community. He works with local young people to manufacture and distribute chlorine for water treatment through dispensers and disinfected water systems. Water for Development has also incorporated microbial analysis and water testing using rapid test kits.

Olivier attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. He was inspired by his fellow Ambassadors to continue using his leadership role to improve lives and transform his community. 

Water for Development has provided safe, disinfected water through chlorine dispensers to 49,000 people. Community members are tasked with upkeep of chlorine dispensers and receive training on product maintenance. The organisation produces chlorine locally and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Burundian government to chlorinate traditional water points, install dispensers, and clean piped water systems. Olivier has reached an additional 93,000 people through disinfecting these piped water systems. The team has supported 22 schools through hygiene and WASH education and training, impacting a further 9,000 children, and providing handwashing facilities, chlorine, and sensitisation activities. In partnership with the local government, Water for Development has installed dustbins in public places through the Make Cibitoke Green campaign. The initiative has also trained 55 young people on climate change.

“At the One Young World Summit, I was inspired by fellow young people. For me, leadership is using your life to change or improve other people’s lives. My passion for community transformation went higher, and I decided to focus the most productive years of my career into doing this work that I am doing.”

Abbas has worked primarily within manufacturing spaces at Unilever Pakistan, which has the highest carbon and environmental footprint of any area of the company’s operations. He has worked extensively on sustainability projects throughout his career at Unilever, including on water reduction and management, reducing carbon emissions, and energy saving. Abbas worked closely with a supplier to design a biomass boiler that was cost effective and carbon efficient as an alternative source of steam for manufacturing processes. This boiler uses locally sourced organic waste instead of the imported and costly natural gas that had been used previously, generating steam at almost 40% of the cost and reducing the carbon emissions of the production site by 1,960 tonnes per annum.

Abbas also implemented a dissolved air flotation system to separate fat content from the water used in ice cream manufacturing, resulting in an ETP sludge that in turn can be used as fuel for the biomass boiler. The water can then be recycled. In recognition of his achievements, Abbas was selected to attend the One Young World Summit Belfast, 2023, as part of the Global Unilever Green Rising Squad. The Summit introduced him to a new network, demonstrating for him that projects can be scaled and replicated across different geographies. Abbas connected with a range of entities and changemakers from across the globe and connected them to Unilever’s Manufacturing operations in Pakistan, establishing a partnership for the recycling of multiple items and for employing more efficient energy consumption solutions.

“I think overall, One Young World gets you in touch with people who are working on similar ideas across the globe. in terms of the platform itself, it can unleash your potential. I connected with a lot of people. There were multiple changemakers and inspiring individuals I connected with, and then in turn, I got them connected to the supply chain operations in Pakistan where they've started working together to optimise consumptions and reduce/reuse/recycle resources within Unilever’s operations through employing more efficient, technologically advanced and responsible means of manufacturing.”

The Global Green Rising Squad is a network of six Unilever employees – Mariam Mahdi, Ananya Vangala, Mahima Sharma, Stephanie Chill, John-Joseph Ilagan, and Abbas – who are working to create awareness of green jobs in the future of Unilever. The team is creating a playbook to promote awareness of green skills, allowing Unilever employees across the world to transform their own jobs within the company into the green jobs of the future. The Squad recognises that embedding sustainability into all aspects of Unilever’s vast operations is the best way of ensuring that the company taps the best talent and reaches its sustainability goals. Abbas sees the work of the Squad as an opportunity to transfer his sustainability skills and mindset to his team and the wider organisation. Inspired by Unilever’s ‘Discover your Purpose’ workshop, the Global Green Rising Squad are building pathways to allow their colleagues to discover their green purpose, and how they want to work towards environmental sustainability and social equity for the Unilever of the future.

Members of the Squad are continuing to work on sustainable projects within their own roles at the company. Abbas is also part of the larger Unilever for Pakistan agenda that Unilever Pakistan is implementing through which the payment model for Unilever’s contractual workers in Unilever’s ecosystem goes beyond minimum wage, investing in the individuals and local communities upon which the company is reliant.