These inspiring young leaders have been chosen, from over 2,000 applications worldwide, to join our Young Health Programme (YHP) Impact Fellowship with access to networks and opportunities to help them create even more positive change.
Young people around the world are creating change within their communities. They are innovators, changemakers, advocates and leaders of organisations with a clear focus on improving adolescent health and wellbeing. Becoming a YHP Impact Fellow empowers young leaders to drive even greater change by learning from their peers and participating in platforms and training to help them implement effective health promotion projects within their communities.
The YHP Impact Fellowship provides access to:
- Networks: Each Impact Fellow will receive a fully-funded scholarship to attend the One Young World (OYW) Summit 2024 in Montrèal, Canada, including access to the OYW Community and an Alumni group of other young health leaders.
- Development: To progress their skills and knowledge, the Impact Fellows are offered both self-directed and live learning of structured training and developmental opportunities. Access to an award-winning MBA Essentials for Rising Health Leaders course, along with one year of materials access, is also included.
Since launching in 2010, our YHP has reached over 15 million young people with health information and trained more than 800,000 people in adolescent health by partnering with over 60 non-profit organisations globally.
I plan to use the platform and visibility offered by the Impact Fellowship, including participation in the 2024 One Young World Summit and Ambassador Network, to amplify our advocacy message and mobilise support for youth health equity on a global scale.
The 2024 YHP Impact Fellowship's global reach:
The 2024 YHP Impact Fellows:
Dr. Adewumi Babatunde Enoch – Quinta Health – Nigeria
Ajay Mittal – Kolkata Clean Air Network – India
Alisha Ahmed – Student of Health Sciences – Canada
Astha Sharma – Shequal Foundation – Nepal
Devi Pathak – PulmoGuard – France
Duy Nguyen – HADEUS – Vietnam
Eliezer Lappots-Abreu – Health Horizons International – Dominican Republic
Eman Saoud – Youth Health Activist – Egypt
Fatumata Bah – Commonwealth Youth Health Network – New Zealand
Hiroaki Onizuka – Public Health Researcher – Japan
Jose Zea – Arkangel AI – Colombia
Julio Santos – Student & Young Leader – Brazil
LaShyra “Lash” Nolen – We Got Us – USA
Laura Pascual Gómez – Fundation Balia – Spain
Léa Moukanas – Aïda – France
Momen AbuSaada – Eyiada – Palestinian Territories
Naomi Zachary – Afya Carecomm – Kenya
Nilashis Roy – RevolutionAIze – India
Ronan Payinda – SurgReady – New Zealand
Sandeep Kumar – DigiSwasthya Foundation – India
Shannon Fyalkowski – AstraZeneca Foundation – USA
Sophie Robinson – Plan International UK – Ireland
Winnie Akoth Otieno – Threeset Production Community Organization – Kenya
Yu Liu – China Red Cross Foundation – China
Accelerating impactful solutions with the Lead2030 Challenge: meet the winners
Among this year’s Impact Fellows, Ajay Mittal and Eliezer Lappots-Abreu are winners of our Lead2030 Challenge in partnership with One Young World. Both will receive a US $50,000 grant supported by our Young Health Programme, in addition to the Fellowship benefits.
We are proud to be a founding partner of Lead2030. A One Young World initiative, it aims to find, fund and accelerate impactful youth-led initiatives that are making progress on the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Ajay Mittal, advocating for cleaner air and water in India
Ajay Mittal is an environmental and social activist in India. As Co-Founder of the Kolkata Clean Air Network under the Environment Conservation Society (also known as SwitchOn Foundation), he’s worked across three Indian states with over 350 partner organisations, and a network of 1,200 schools.
Finding his passion in working at a non-profit organisation that promotes ecosystems for clean air and sustainable cities, clean energy, climate-smart agriculture and more, Ajay is on a mission to create a healthy, sustainable and equitable India.
How will the grant be used?
Ajay plans to use the grant to launch a comprehensive programme to tackle the climate, air pollution and health challenges faced by marginalised communities, especially the youth of West Bengal. Activities including awareness campaigns and stakeholder engagement aim to reduce waste, increase recycling rates, and induce behavioural change for community health.
By leveraging local resources and collaborating with stakeholders, the initiative endeavours to create cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable urban environments for present and future generations. Our project’s success can help develop a toolkit to be shared as model for change.
Eliezer Lappots-Abreu, striving for health equity for women in the Dominican Republic
Eliezer Lappots-Abreu is helping young people from vulnerable communities into agents of social change. Using skills he developed as a human rights lawyer and epidemiologist, Eliezer’s not-for-profit organisation has helped implement new national standards for chronic care in the Dominican Republic, with young people leading the way.
His organisation, Health Horizons International, uses a unique model of programmes to the local context in the Dominican Republic. Eliezer has implemented projects that have identified, trained and developed over 2,000 young people to become leaders in health education, non-communicable disease prevention and the management of chronic diseases, like cancer and diabetes. Eliezer is particularly proud of his own personal contribution to shaping public policies on the accessibility of health services, especially for immigrants, women and children to have greater access.
How will the grant be used?
The grant will be used for workshops, educational materials and promotion of their health education programme, as well as to train and empower women on their journey to becoming community health workers.
I am the people I work for. I am the people I represent. Our solutions seek to transform our society by creating systems of care premised on respect and dignity for all, always.
In addition, AstraZeneca Canada and Plan International Canada have this year partnered to launch the Eureka Fellowship. This national fellowship aims to identify, spotlight, and amplify the incredible impact of inspiring young changemakers from across the country who are focused on tackling some of Canada’s and/or the planet’s biggest sustainability challenges. In its inaugural year, the Eureka Fellowship provides thirteen inspiring youth Canadian changemakers the opportunity to attend the One Young World Summit Montréal, 2024.
Alongside these remarkable young leaders, we have also awarded scholarships to seven young leaders from around the world working at the nexus of health and climate change to join the Climate Entrepreneurship Academy at the AFS Youth Assembly (August 2024 in New York City). Learn more here.
