Global Changemakers

Global Changemakers was founded in 2007 by the British Council[4] in collaboration with the World Economic Forum as a way to bring the voices and experiences of young people to key policy and decision-makers at World Economic Forum events. In 2009, the mission of the programme expanded to include grant funding to support youth-led initiatives worldwide, and to show case best practices in youth-led development. During the eight years under the British Council, Global Changemakers, became a close knit network of over 1,000 young 'changemakers' from 128 countries, supported 280 vetted youth-led projects through which 200,000 people got directly involved and over 4 million people benefited.

In 2013, it became an independent, Swiss-based organisation pursuing the same goals. Since independence, Global Changemakers has continued their work under the same mission, to empower youth to catalyse positive social change in their local communities. The network has expanded to include changemakers from 180 countries and the grant programme has now supported 320 vetted youth-led projects.[2]

Working Group at the Global Youth Summit

Global Changemakers adopts an approach centered around enhancing the capacity of young people to make a difference through developing their skills, helping them to build their international network, exposing them to opportunities and providing grant funding to youth-led community projects.[2]

Their flagship event is the annual Global Youth Summit and each year a cohort of 'Global Changemakers is selected to attend the fully funded summit.[5]

Beyond the summit, Global Changemakers developed three ‘tool kits’ covering the subjects of project management, fundraising and social media, and which have been translated into eight languages. They also host open online webinars.

Global Youth Summit 2016

In 2019, Global Changemakers launched a Mentorship Programme, which takes place online over 12 weeks and is open to 15-22 year olds around the world, who are mentored by alumni of the organization. The program aims to provide participants with tools, skills and knowledge in fields such as project management, leadership and campaigning.

Global Youth Summit 2017

The Global Youth Summit is a fully funded week of skills development sessions, networking, learning and strategy sessions. Each year Global Changemakers selects 60 young social entrepreneurs, community activists, volunteers and campaigners who are working towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals to attend the summit. The selection is based on criteria such as previous achievements, but also expressed motivation, enthusiasm and innovation.

After the training at the summit these 'changemakers' are provided with the opportunity to apply for grant funding to improve work that they are currently doing or to develop new projects.[3] Many of the projects that have received funding were created through partnerships forged at the summit and these projects, and others, have grown into fully fledged organisations that continue operating to this day.[2]

Changemakers from any country or region aged 18–23 at the time of each summit are eligible to apply to attend. The application process consists of a video application, written application and applicant interview to ensure that changemakers with the highest potential and motivation to create positive change are selected to attend the summit and join the network.

In 2020, Global Changemakers moved the Global Youth Summit online for the first time, organizing a series of online presentations and interactive sessions which took place from 24-28 April with over 1400 participants representing 125 countries.[3]

Since its inception at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum[6] in 2007, Global Changemakers has hosted over 50 regional and global youth workshops across the world, in places such as Amman, Beirut, Cape Town, Doha, Harare, Rio de Janeiro[7] and London.

Global Changemakers reports that, as of February 2020, 363 Changemakers youth-led projects have reached over 6.2 million individuals around the world. Global Changemakers and their work have been featured extensively in the media,[8] including on CNN,[9] BBC, CCTV, Al Jazeera and NDTV as well as in The Washington Post, Hindu Express, and Financial Times, online,[10][11] and on the radio.

• Wali Shah, a canadian speaker, poet, musician and philanthropist.
• Michaela Mycroft, a South African disability rights activist who won the International Children's Peace Prize in 2011.
• Alanda Kariza, an Indonesian writer, youth advocate and social entrepreneur.
• Anoka Primrose Abeyrathne, a Sri Lankan conservationist and social entrepreneur.
• Anna Oposa, a marine conservationist and co-founder of NGO Save Philippine Seas.
• Eddie Ndopu, a South African activist, humanitarian and public intellectual.
• Sam Johnson, a social entrepreneur and founder of the Student Volunteer Army.
• Marie-Claire Graf, a Swiss advocate for sustainable development and climate action.

Under the British Council, the Global Changemakers programme partnered with other independent non-profit and policy organisations, foundations, and media organisations. Each partnership was tailored to the individual needs and objectives of the respective entities – a sampling of existing partnerships follows:

• The World Economic Forum is Global Changemakers’ principal partner as it sponsors Changemakers to attend its annual and some of its regional meetings in addition to including Global Changemakers in its key policy bodies such as its Global Agenda Councils;[12]
• The Nike Foundation, through its Girl Effect initiative, sponsors Global Changemaker projects which benefit adolescent girls in the Middle East and Africa. In addition, the Foundation sponsors the participation of network members working in girls’ rights at high level advocacy meetings like Women Deliver and the Clinton Global Initiative;
• The World Bank, through its World Bank Institute, sponsors activity and Global Changemakers’ project work, most recently in anti-corruption Global Changemakers is a British Council funded global youth programme for social entrepreneurs and community activists from 112 countries worldwide. Its mission is to empower youth to catalyse positive social change in their local communities.