Skoll World Forum 2019: Recognizing Emerging Leaders
As we look forward to next month’s Skoll World Forum, the Skoll Foundation and the Mastercard Foundation are honored to introduce our 2019 Emerging Leaders!
Launched in 2013, the Emerging Leaders Initiative brings together the next generation of social entrepreneurs from around the world. Selected and supported through a partnership by the Skoll Foundation and the Mastercard Foundation, these leaders represent the great potential and passion of social entrepreneurship’s future leaders. This year’s cohort includes a leader from Liberia who combines sports with education; an entrepreneur from France helping refugee populations thrive; a nurse from Cameroon who uses technology to save lives by linking hospitals and blood banks; and the CEO of a Kenyan social enterprise that uses athletic shoes to drive economic development.
These incredible leaders are making significant efforts to bring social change to their communities. Over the course of a week at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford, England , this program will hone their leadership skills, amplify their stories, and develop relationships that extend well beyond the Forum. After the program, the leaders will join the alumni community in creating an even greater impact on the communities they serve as they help to drive large-scale change. This community helps leaders stay connected, receive ongoing support, and access opportunities across the broader social entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Past participants of the program have gone on to do amazing things including publishing a book on renewable energy; starting an African business venture non-profit; and winning awards such as the Zambian Adolescent Activism and Innovation Awards in Health.
Young leaders are often at the forefront of leading grassroots change in their communities. However, they are often excluded from high level conversations and decision-making on the world’s most pressing problems. The Emerging Leaders Initiative is an opportunity to address this gap by elevating youth voices and integrating the next generation into global conversations while equipping them with the resources and connections needed for their organizations to succeed. By investing in these leaders and their innovative work, the Emerging Leaders Initiative helps unleash their full potential to create impact.
In line with the 2019 Skoll World Forum theme, Accelerating Possibility, the 2019 Leaders are using bold imagination and courage to advance a future that is fair, inclusive, and sustainable. Through helping them harness the power of collaboration, the program aims to help them build a better tomorrow out of broken systems and ultimately drive large scale change. For attendees to the Skoll World Forum, don’t miss the opportunity to hear these leaders’ remarkable stories April 10-11 at the Emerging Leaders Story Studio.
Please get to know our 2019 leaders and their inspiring work:
Amessouwe Kuassi, Terre a Terre, Benin
Atinuke Lebile, Cato Foods and Agro Allied Global Concepts, Nigeria
Blessing Mene, Vetsark Limited, Nigeria
Edith Violet Naisubi, AgriSan, Uganda
Ifrah Mohamed Arab, (Anzisha Fellow) SuperMom, Kenya
Madeline Holland, Talent Beyond Boundaries, U.S.
Melissa Bime, (Anzisha Fellow) INFUISS, Cameroon
Navalayo Osembo, Enda Athletic Limited, Kenya
Peris Bosire, Farmdrive, Kenya
Ritah Namwiza, Collage, Uganda
Sonia Ben Ali, Urban Refugees, France
Sekou Dgeorges Manubah, Monrovia Football Academy, Liberia
Shantanu Pathak, CareNX Innovations, India
Zinah Saleh, Ishtar Handmade Soap, Iraq