Andrew Pagonis, Australia

As the Global Marketing Manager for Shopping & Commerce, Andrew is responsible for launching the latest product innovations that help businesses of all sizes connect with new customers across Google and sustainably grow online – with a focus on small & diverse-owned businesses.

Within 1.5 years of joining Google Australia, Andrew received two global marketing awards for 'Flawless Execution' and 'Advancing Diversity' by the VP of Marketing. As a result of this success, Andrew transferred to the US headquarters to lead Google’s shopping & commerce efforts to power a free and open shopping ecosystem for small businesses & NGOs.

Throughout this time he has proactively utilized Google’s platform and resources to better the lives of underrepresented groups. Galvanized by his parents' struggle as small business owners during COVID-19, Andrew proactively shifted his primary work focus to helping small businesses bounce back. He ideated and authored Google’s Retail Marketing Guide equipping 3.5M+ businesses with the free online tools they need to generate sales and stay afloat during times of uncertainty. Andrew pitched for campaign funding to translate this guide into 17 languages for global accessibility and promote it in the most disadvantaged countries globally. For his contributions to commerce, Andrew received a Google “Tech Impact Award”, a recognition previously reserved for engineers.

Andrew has also used Google’s platform to better the lives of LGBTQ+ people. He co-led Google’s sponsorship of Pride, diverting money away from corporate participation in the parade to instead fund underrepresented groups of young LGBTQ people to attend. This initiative influenced many other corporations to now do the same. He also developed the content and led a free digital skills training for hundreds of LGBTQ small businesses, helping them get discovered and grow online. This initiative has now scaled globally at Google and has helped thousands more underrepresented businesses. At Advertising Week APAC (reaching 4,000+ senior leaders) he wrote and produced a panel that was centered around the importance of adopting inclusive hiring practices, titled “The Power of Difference''. This panel replaced Google-centric content to instead focus on industry diversity & inclusion, a first of its kind initiative in this event's history. These efforts culminated in Andrew featuring as 1 of 7 global employees in Google’s ‘Pride Forever’ campaign and being recognized as a 30 under 30 LGBT Future Leader and Role Model by BCG.

Through his body of work, both business-driving and philanthropic, Andrew was the first Australian featured in Forbes 30 under 30 in 2023 for the Marketing & Advertising category.

Daphne Frias, United States and Dominican Republic

Daphne Frias, a 25-year-old activist, is an unapologetic Latina dedicated to showcasing the diversity of her community.  Daphne has Cerebral Palsy, and uses a wheelchair to ambulate. She is a fiercely proud champion for disabled people. She became a pivotal force in the fight against gun violence and for voting rights, notably steering the enactment of over 15 statewide laws fortifying defenses against gun violence during her tenure as the New York State Director for March For Our Lives.

In her role as Founder and Executive Director of Box the Ballot (BTB), Daphne harnessed absentee ballots' potential. Through collaboration with youth across the United States, BTB collected over 20,000 absentee ballots during the 2020 midterms. Her efforts were recognized when she was honored with the 'Agente De Cambio' (Agent of Change) title at the Univision Networks' Premios Juventud in 2021.

Daphne has also engaged in combating the climate crisis. She has effectively dismantled barriers between disability and the climate crisis using a public health approach. Her pivotal role as spokesperson for the global climate strikes on September 20th, 2019, further exemplified her dedication. She appeared as a key panelist at the New York Times Climate hub, engaging in a dialogue moderated by Emma Watson.

Recently, Daphne's impact has extended to the Natural History Museum's Generation Hope advisory board. In this capacity, she magnifies the voices of young activists within the museum's content, establishing the institution as a trailblazer in fostering a secure and environmentally conscious space for the forthcoming generation.

**Photography credits to Misan Harriman.

Isaias Hernandez, United States and Mexico

Isaias Hernandez is an environmental educator and content creator from Los Angeles, and the founder of the Queer Brown Vegan media platform. Isaias grew up in a community that faced environmental racism and his experiences led him to believe that everyone should learn about the environment through an intersectional lens. He’s spent the last 4 years creating environmental education for digital mediums to help teach anyone, and everyone, about intersectional environmentalism in an accessible way.

Isaias’s work has been published and referenced by numerous media organizations, thought leaders, businesses, and nonprofits. He’s helped elevate impact campaigns, bring awareness to current events, highlight meaningful research, and educate the next generation on climate issues while maintaining a recognizable and appreciated vulnerability that centers his own humanity and intersecting identities. Whether Isaias is communicating the importance of queer ecology, or drawing attention to the connections between racial and environmental justice, his work has helped expand what it means to be an educator and helped transform the climate movement.

His work has led him to collaborate with Universities like Harvard, Yale, and the University of California system in advising how to create an equitable climate justice curriculum. He has also taught at many high schools and youth-led programs around Los Angeles to teach young people about Food Justice with his non-profit client, Support & Feed, and lastly helped launch Overheated Presented by Billie Eilish & Support & Feed to bring young people together to fight for a better future. 

Isaias has interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris and was featured on the digital cover of Vogue with Billie Eilish and on the Harvard-C-Change program as Climate Creators 2023 Program.

Lina Abu Akleh, Palestine and Armenia

On May 11, 2022 renowned Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, was shot dead by Israeli forces in Jenin refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank. From the moment Shireen was killed, her niece Lina Abu Akleh took the opportunity to speak out against the crime. 

In the past year, Lina campaigned tirelessly in the moment of crisis and used her voice to call for justice and accountability for her aunt. She spearheaded efforts to keep Shireen’s case visible to government and civil society leaders internationally. She did so by travelling  to various countries, writing op-eds, giving dozens of media interviews and speaking at international events. Last year, Lina and her family met with the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and lobbied with members of Congress to support their calls for justice for Shireen, a U.S. citizen and a female journalist who was killed while doing her job and reporting the truth. After six months, news broke that the United States FBI had opened a federal criminal investigation into Shireen’s killing. That was one of the successes of their campaign. 

One year after the killing, the family renewed their calls for justice by going to Capitol Hill again and meeting with Senators and members of Congress. During the trip, U.S. Representative André Carson announced that he will be reintroducing the Justice for Shireen Act in Congress. 

Apart from the U.S., Lina gave speeches at the United Nations in Geneva, and presented her testimony at the Human Rights Council. Her and her family met with His Holiness Pope Francis in Rome. She also met with diplomats at the UN in New York, parliamentarians from the UK and diplomats from the EU who voiced their support and continuous calls for justice and accountability for her aunt. Lina’s work has not only shed light on her aunt's killing but on the importance of protecting journalists in the field because targeting journalists anywhere is a threat to journalists everywhere. 

Her efforts in pursuing accountability were recognized on an international level. Lina was named as one of the 2022 TIME 100 Next emerging leaders and made it to the 2022 BBC100 Women list as a human rights campaigner. Lina acknowledges that in the moment of crisis she did what anyone would’ve done for their family member. She believes her work was able to inspire many people and gain global support for her family’s case. 

Lina is Palestinian-Armenian born and raised in Jerusalem, holds a bachelors in political studies and a master's in international studies and human rights. 

Nalleli Cobo, United States

Nalleli Cobo led a grassroots campaign to shut down a toxic oil well in her community permanently. Nalleli, 22, grew up in South Los Angeles and started activism at 9. Over the years, Nalleli endured headaches, nosebleeds, and heart palpitations caused by pollution from the well in her community. Nalleli gave her first public speech at age 10. Even as a child, her skills as an orator caught others’ attention and paved the way for her to eventually become the leading spokesperson for banning oil extraction in Los Angeles. 

Nalleli co-founded People Not Pozos, which aims to secure a safe and healthy neighborhood, and the South Central Youth Leadership Coalition, which focuses on ending environmental racism in Los Angeles. In March 2020, Nalleli’s tireless organizing culminated in the definitive closure of the AllenCo drilling site across the street from her childhood home. Additionally, its executives face over 24 criminal charges for environmental health and safety violations thanks to Nalleli’s work.

Nalleli was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 19. After three surgeries and medical treatment, she was declared cancer-free.

After years of tireless work by Nalleli and many others, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to phase out oil drilling over the next 20 years. Nalleli’s story and leadership also inspired the enactment of SB1137, which bans all new oil wells within 3200 feet of communities in California. 

Nalleli won the 2022 Goldman Environmental Prize, 2022 Time 100 Next, and Apolitical 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy. 

Seyi Akiwowo, United Kingdom

Seyi Akiwowo is a multi award-winning founder and CEO. Before setting up Glitch, Seyi (pronounced Shay-yee) was elected as the youngest Black female Councillor in East London at age 23. Since founding Glitch, Seyi has become a prolific political changemaker, using her voice to highlight the injustices the system imposes on minoritised groups. Throughout her leadership, Seyi has consistently shone a light on the absence of prioritised safety for marginalised communities, particularly Black women, in the Online Safety Bill, and has spoken in UK Parliament and at the United Nations on the subject of digital citizenship.

No stranger to awards - from Amnesty International’s Human Rights Defender in 2018 through to being offered an MBE in 2022 (which she decided to not accept, as documented in an interview with Black Ballad), Seyi is recognised as a top consultant where tech and policy intersect, including holding a place on the European Safety Advisory Council for TikTok. She is trusted to call out injustices whilst offering actionable solutions that hold platforms to account and help individuals stay safe online. Her reputation has brought major partners to Glitch, including BT Sport for their #DrawTheLine Campaign. Alongside this, Seyi has spoken at many important events, including her TedX talk on ending online abuse through digital citizenship, which has thousands of views. Seyi has also spoken at the likes of Google in New York and OECD Paris and the European Parliament in Brussels and the United Nations, to name a few.

Seyi is also a Penguin published author. Her book How To Stay Safe Online is a digital self-care toolkit for developing resilience and allyship, offering anecdotes, interviews, tips and context for why online safety needs to be the next movement that we all invest in, from individuals to Big Tech.

Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts, First Nations, Australia

Vanessa is proud Bundjalung Widubul-Wiabul woman, activist, lawyer, writer and a researcher at Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous education and research, and the Law faculty at the University of Technology dedicating her work to transforming the forced removal practices of First Nations child removal and empowering Indigenous self-determination and Justice for First Nations people and children both in Australia and globally. She is an inspiring force reshaping the world through her remarkable journey. Vanessa is a survivor of the Out of Home Care System (OOHC) where she was forcibly removed at the age of 10. Vanessa’s motivation for studying law was driven by the disproportionate impact of the law in her very own community. 

Her leadership and advocacy are changing the way Australia’s child protection system intervenes and surveillances the lives of Indigenous people. She is transforming models of care, and ensuring that First Nations families are self-determined, whilst addressing the fundamental harms of intergenerational trauma. 

Vanessa continues to be a driving force for Indigenous rights, and in particular First Nations Children and young people and their voices. Honoured with the Australian Human Rights Medal, she is recognised as one of 10 Changemakers and a member of the Power Generation of emerging Indigenous leaders. Vanessa's forthcoming book, "Long Yarn Shot," enlightens and unites people in the history and shared learning experience of Australia. Vanessa continues to create impact through her advocacy and uses both her personal, professional and digital world towards this change and believes we must continue to work together to re-imagine a better world for community, for our children, for our future.

Yara Said, Syria

Yara Said is an Amsterdam-based multidisciplinary artist whose work delves into the profound connections between sound, emotions, and visual aesthetics. Central to Yara's work is the creation of a political space of imagination, one that raises questions about the social and political aspects of our world. 

Yara is the creator of the Refugee Nation Flag, featuring an orange background with a black stripe representing the horizon. The design was inspired by life vests collected in Lesvos, where Yara herself had fled through the water. The flag was designed to be a painting, a visual object, and not a nationalistic symbol.

It is a sign for all people who had to travel through the elements of life: water, sand, or air. The enormity of the scene, for the artist who experienced it herself, left a profound visual impression on her memory. The design is meant to evoke a sense of hope and solidarity, and to show that refugees are not just victims but can reclaim the narratives of their lives.

Since its creation, the Refugee Nation Flag has become a symbol of hope and unity for refugees around the world. It has been exhibited in numerous prestigious institutions worldwide, alongside works by some of the most celebrated artists of our time, including Rothko, Marina Abramovic, Keith Haring, and many more.

Yara’s work has been recognized through numerous awards and nominations, including the golden design award at the Lyonnes design festival (2017), nomination by the Design Museum for Beazley Designs of the Year (2017), and by European Design (2018) for the refugee Nation flag for Amnesty International. Yara is also the co-founder and artistic director (2018-2021) of SALWA|Amsterdam (The Netherlands), a foundation that develops programs for artists with a migrant background, offering an entry point for emerging artists into the Dutch cultural scene.