The Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Trust (QECT) is delighted to launch the QECT 100 Young Leaders Awards, a landmark programme to celebrate the enduring legacy of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her lifelong commitment to empowering young people across the Commonwealth.

Building on the inspiration of the Queen’s Young Leaders Awards, this new initiative will recognise 100 exceptional changemakers from across the 56 Commonwealth countries who are driving positive change in their communities. These Awards mark what would have been Her Majesty’s 100th birthday in April 2026, honouring her dedication to youth leadership, service, and innovation.

Applications are now open until 8th October 2025. We encourage all young leaders who are making an impact – whether through education and employability, environment, health, food and agriculture, and inclusion – to step forward and apply for this prestigious recognition.

For more information and to apply, please visit: https://www.queenscommonwealthtrust.org/100yla

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The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust is delighted to announce the honour and privilege that
His Majesty, King Charles III has accepted to become our Patron.
Buckingham Palace have written to us to share the news to mark the first Anniversary of Their
Majesties’ Coronation.

His Majesty has always believed in the Commonwealth as a strong, positive, uniting force for
good across the world and in its young people as drivers of change for the better.
At this year’s Commonwealth Day Service of Celebration during his message the King said:
“The Commonwealth, above all, retains a particular focus on our young
people, who make up two-thirds of the entire Commonwealth population.
Whether in Kenya or Malaysia, Vanuatu or Dominica, Malta, or Canada, I
never cease to be impressed by their creativity, innovative skills, and hard
work, often in the most challenging circumstances. Their energy is
transforming approaches to development, technology and preserving and
restoring Nature and will, I hope, help to shape, and safeguard our
common future.”
 
Through its active and dynamic network of 850+ young leaders around the world, The
Queen’s Commonwealth Trust exists to support young people who are
transforming their communities in the Commonwealth. The Trust helps them grow their work, share ideas and solutions, and so support more and more people.
 
Stephen Ball, Chair of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust , said “To have His Majesty The King as
our Patron is an enormous honour and privilege. To have his Majesty’s support as we
continue our work with and for young people will be an inspiration to us all. “

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In the coming days, as thoughts turn to when the world lost an extraordinary leader – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – we will be both commemorating and celebrating her incredible personal investment in the Commonwealth and its young people. Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) broadcasted a message where she dedicated her life to the service of the Commonwealth. We cannot say it better than she did: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.” 

We are eternally grateful for her unending belief in the young people of the Commonwealth. Her memory inspires us every single day and we look to the future with hope and optimism.

A year after the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we continue to remember her selfless service and how she personally directed the establishment of The Queen’s Commonwealth Trustin her 90^th year to support young changemakers building a better future for their communities. 

Through The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust , we support young changemakers making a positive difference on climate, education, employment, and health & wellbeing in communities. We provide funding and practical advice and support, as well as a Network of over 850 young changemakers from across the 56 countries in the Commonwealth. 

We are proud to continue supporting the young leaders of the Commonwealth in her memory and helping them to make a real and positive impact in their communities. 

Please join us to continue Her Majesty’s legacy. 

Click here for ways to get involved.

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Through our signature Youth Ventures Programme (YVP), we provide youth-led organisations with flexible funding, practical tools and support, and a vibrant network to help them transform their communities. Our support is tailored towards helping the organisations become stronger, leading to greater impact for their communities. This support is across the areas of agriculture & food, education & employability, environment, health, and inclusion. 

Since launching the YVP in 2020, we have so far supported 25 youth-led organisations with flexible funding and tailored support for 2+ years. This has helped the organisations become more sustainable and resilient, enabling them to provide lasting solutions and impact to local problems in their communities. 

We are delighted to announce the enrolment of the following four youth organisations into the YVP in 2023.  

Grow your Reader Foundation who are improving access to quality of education for underserved children in Bangladesh. 

Native Discovery who are enhancing the livelihoods of indigenous Orang Asli communities displaced from their ancestral land. 

Vceela who are empowering artisans across Pakistan by connecting them to local and international markets. 

Wreetu Health and Wellbeing Foundation who are providing access to menstrual health education and affordable period products for girls and women in Bangladesh. 

Through the YVP, QCT will provide flexible funding of up to £20,000 per year for two years as well as practical tools and support to ensure long-term success and impact. In addition, the young leaders will be connected to a global network of like-minded social entrepreneurs to share learnings and ideas for sustained positive social impact. 

Click here to read more about the organisations we support.  

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These country chapters are a unique opportunity to identify, encourage and connect unseen and unheard young leaders for collective action and change in their communities. 

The launch was held at the Oasis Mathare‘s centre in Nairobi Kenya and was hosted by Douglas Mwangi, who is the founder of Oasis Mathare and the chair of QCT Network’s country chapter in Kenya. Douglas introduced the chapter as a great opportunity for the young leaders present to share about their initiatives, learn and collaborate with one another.

“The QCT country chapter is a great opportunity for us to share, learn and collaborate. This is also a great opportunity for us as young leaders in Kenya to learn and collaborate with others in the Commonwealth that the QCT Network gives us access to. I encourage to continue being actively involved in our activities.” Douglas Mwangi, chair of the Kenyan country chapter. 

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The Trinbagonian chapter is currently being chaired by Benedict Bryan and co-Chaired by Kurba Maria Quetelle. Speaking during this launch, Benedict Bryan said,

“We believe this chapter will enable on the ground support to young leaders in Trinbago and provide greater opportunities for peer learning and collaboration across organisations, in-country and across the region.”  

Benedict Bryan, chair of the Trinbago country chapter speaking during this launch

“QCT Network members are helping to transform their communities across the Commonwealth, and the Year of Youth is an excellent reminder of the change that young people can make for the benefit of society, and the need for us all to support them.”

Chris Kelly, Chief Executive of QCT

On behalf of QCT, Benedict Bryan joined in celebrating 2023 as the Commonwealth year of the youth and expressed QCT’s pledge to remain devoted to supporting the work of young leaders across the Commonwealth. QCT further extended congratulations to Trinbago on a successful bid to host the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games.  

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To mark Commonwealth Day, young leaders who are members of the QCT Network raised specially designed Peace Flags in their Commonwealth countries. The intention to raise the flags on Commonwealth Day was part of efforts to promote 2023 as the Commonwealth Year of Peace and the Commonwealth Year of Youth across the family of nations.

The initiative was supported by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust , the Royal Commonwealth Society and Bruno Peek, Pageantmaster.

The Commonwealth Flags of Peace featured a white dove of peace in the bottom right-hand corner of the Commonwealth flag, symbolising the shared values and principles of the Commonwealth, including co-operation on economic and social development, diversity, respect, friendship, and the promotion of peace around the world.

Below are the reflections of some of the young leaders who participated in the Flags of Peace initiative to mark Commonwealth Day 2023.

 The theme for Commonwealth Day 2023, ‘Forging a sustainable and peaceful common future’, reminds us of our shared responsibility to create a better world for present and future generations. As future leaders, young people must be empowered and engaged to contribute to the global efforts towards achieving a more equitable, just, and common feature. By partnering with young people, we can create a brighter and more prosperous future for the Commonwealth.

Taibat Hussain from United Kingdom

Thank you for amplifying the voice of our nations by working on our behalf to promote peace and prosperity. Happy Commonwealth Day!

Jodie Dennie from St. Vincent and the Grenadines

As we face uncertain and troubling times ahead of us in both Europe and Asia, I am reminded that the core values of what the Commonwealth represent such as ‘the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, egalitarianism, free trade, multilateralism and world peace’ are even more relevant and important than ever. May the Commonwealth countries stand together as a beacon of hope and direction for humankind to strive to promote and preserve.

Qin Yunquan from Singapore

As we celebrate Commonwealth Day, let us renew our commitment to promoting and protecting the values that unite us. Let us work together to create a more peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world for all, particularly for the most vulnerable among us. At the Grow Your Reader Foundation, we believe in the power of education to transform lives and communities. We are proud to be a part of the Commonwealth family, and we look forward to continuing to work together to ensure that every child has access to quality education, no matter where they live.

Sadia Jafrin from Bangladesh

Forging a sustainable and peaceful common future. Peace is not the absence of conflict and unrest; it goes way beyond, peace and unity must be fostered within the homes, community, and the nation as a whole. By surrendering our weapons of war to authorities does not guarantee peace and stability but we humans must first work on our minds, behaviour, and attitudes by being tolerant and expressing love to one another for a sustainable and peaceful common future.

Lamzy Jarret from Sierra Leone

Breaking barriers despite borders, embracing our differences, we stand strong. We are the Commonwealth.

Nadir Mendoza from Belize

As a young leader and citizen of a country that is part of the commonwealth of nations, I feel honoured to be raising the flag of peace because I believe in peace in the world, non- discrimination, and equal opportunities for all.

Drucila Meireles from Mozambique.

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Search for Thamana
Child Awareness Project began life as ‘Search for Thamana’, a Facebook campaign to find a 5-year-old girl, who was kidnapped from a beach in Chennai, India. Initially, the police and media paid little attention to her case, but the power of social media pushed this story from the columns of tabloids to major daily headlines.

A first it all felt helpless – I had started a Facebook page but only had 6 likes, and I could see that the media were already losing interest. When I called a prominent news channels to drive more coverage, all they said was that they didn’t cover missing kids. I called a national children’s helpline but they stated that they could only help if a child in need called them directly. Thamana was a pre-schooler. There was no way she’d know their number, let alone have access to a phone! In short, the response was very discouraging.

However, as a student journalist for the student edition of a leading daily at the time, I called a news correspondent there. She listened patiently to the story, called the editor and by the next day there was an article in the paper. This one break led to a cascade of events.

A radio jockey saw the story and held a segment about missing children on her show. Eventually, the news channels that had earlier refused to telecast her disappearance, reported it as breaking news. The likes on Facebook soared to hundreds within minutes. Even the Commissioner of Police became fully involved in the case. Facebook and Twitter became my key source of contact with the public. People were sharing Thamana’s photo on their page and changing their profile pictures to the missing poster. Towards the end of the week, Thamana’s photo was displayed on cinema screens and the entire nation seemed to know about the little girl named Thamana who was missing.

Happily, Thamana was located 8 days later as a result of the attention this campaign got. However, I knew that Thamana was just one of many missing children who were neglected by the media but very rarely found. So, following the success of Search for Thamana, I started thinking about how I could create a platform that would help to trace and find other missing children. The Indian government had a similar idea though and launched their own. In 2016, I renamed & officially registered the initiative as the Child Awareness Project (CAP), an organisation which works to build awareness of children’s rights issues and abuses, and encourages young people to take positive social action in their communities.

Advocacy on the ground and online
Alongside social media, where our posts reach on average 10-15,000 impressions a month, CAP’s main initiative is the Campus Ambassador Program, where we recruit students across India to conduct various pre-designed workshops in their local schools. Our aim is to have between 5-10 Campus Ambassadors coming on board each year, and between them each CA will reach between 30-50 young people.

We encourage advocacy for children’s rights both online and on the ground, centring our efforts each year around a particular campaign. Our first major campaign as CAP, tackled the issue of Child Abduction & Trafficking (https://childawarepro.wordpress.com/portfolio/lostnotforgotten/). As part of this campaign we recently started a petition to implement an Alert Broadcasting System in India to help trace missing children (https://www.change.org/p/maneka-gandhi-alertindia-implement-child-abduction-alert-broadcasting-system-in-india), which recognises that the first 24 hours of a child’s disappearance are the most important. Acknowledging the importance of a swift response and immediate media coverage formed the basis of ‘AMBER Alert’, the Child Abduction Alert system in USA, and we believe that a similar system in India could be ground-breaking in helping to protect our children from harm.

We have also had the pleasure to work with a number of different partners, including the UN Online Volunteers where we helped to publish an Online Safety Manual. We hope to collaborate on further research-based projects and publications through these types of connections. We also work specifically with certain institutions for our independent projects, such as our Soft Skills project. We are proud to say that through these initiatives and partnerships, we are able to increase the impact CAP has not only on the young people we have a direct relationship with, but also those who are engaging on social media and online.

Building a Team
Although CAP is now a reputable organisation in its own right, getting it to this place has not always been as easy as putting out a few Facebook posts and calling local journalists! Only a few months after Thamana had been found, I came across another article about a missing child and I attempted to run a similar campaign. It received a watered-down response. This made me realise that initiatives need to be creative to be able to break through and get the attention that these children deserve. I wasn’t able to do this on my own, so I built a core team of young volunteers, all who have a passion for children’s rights, who help me to plan and design the necessary interventions and keep the overall project running smoothly.

Initially, I started recruiting by posting about it on Facebook. Eventually, word started spreading through professional and personal networks of mine as well as through connections of previous interns or Campus Ambassadors. I also updated our website and we now welcome applications to join the CAP team via http://thecapro.org/careers. As it stands currently, our team comprises young people (some of whom have been a part of CAP since it was registered in 2016) from all over the world. We have a text group where we discuss issues and conduct monthly Skype meetings. In order to efficiently run an online team, we ensure that all messages are answered within 24 hours and the team is informed in advance, whenever possible, about periods of absence. Communication is key! Work hours are discussed at the time of appointment and we are flexible and open to changes as needed. On average, our team members work between 2-10 hours/week on the project.
Together, we have found a way of working that enables us to address important key issues in new and innovative ways while keeping an open and transparent discourse with each other

Learn, Adapt, Learn
I understand that, however frustrating it feels at the time, failure always teaches more than success. It teaches you to adapt and find solutions quickly and from there you learn what to do and not do in the future. For example, I found that managing people, particularly when some of the team are based remotely, was a definite learning curve! We often found ourselves left out to dry when volunteers who initially showed interest, backed out or stopped responding without prior notice. Instead of just accepting this as the norm, we created a mentorship program for all new team members to better identify their interests and abilities. This helped ensure dedication to the task at hand and by having mentors within the core team, we were able provide timely feedback which resulted in greater accountability for one’s work. Once these processes were in place, we saw our retention rate grow almost immediately.

From a more practical standpoint, I did not comprehend the extent of paperwork, registrations, regulations and tasks that all build up, especially when first starting out. With so much going on, it is easy for things to slip or to get deprioritised. One good example is minute-taking in meetings. At the time I considered it pointless paperwork so decided to stop, but, as our team is placed globally, I quickly saw that this was a mistake. We soon lost track of things discussed and people it was discussed with. We had no central record of what had been agreed or what the next steps were. It was a nightmare! As a result, we now religiously document every meeting and have reaped the benefits since. I would like to credit our Campaign & Advocacy strategist for her conscientious efforts in getting us organised!

Finally, in the start-up world it is all too easy to keep going and keep going without actually taking pause to breathe and reassess where you are. To help even out the pace and to better manage the team’s workload, we now run pilots for all our major programs before full-scale implementation to help us get a better understanding of the resource and team requirements before launching on a bigger scale. We then conduct surveys to monitor on the ground responses and use the feedback to modify our projects before scaling up.

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Jonathan Andrews is a disability advocate, qualified solicitor and co-Founder of the Commonwealth Children and Youth Disability Network (CCYDN). In this blog article, he shares some of his personal experiences of being on the autistic spectrum and outlines steps that can be taken to create a more inclusive world.

When I was identified as being on the autistic spectrum as a nine-year-old child, I was very quickly assured by my parents that this wasn’t a weakness, or something to be ashamed of. It meant I faced challenges in certain areas – including social interaction with those I wasn’t familiar with, and sensory differences – but it also brought about certain strengths too, such as having a very strong focus on areas of interest (often leading to me developing great knowledge in these areas) and a different way of viewing the world.

Looking back now, it’s clear being autistic hasn’t stopped me from achieving many ambitions: I attended a top university and have become a qualified solicitor. Indeed, it has rather helped in certain endeavours; my knowledge of autism has undoubtedly assisted with my years-long campaigning on opportunities for people with disabilities in the UK and pan-Commonwealth, for which I was honoured to be recognised as the UK’s fourth most influential disabled person by the Shaw Trust in 2020.

However, from my experience it is also clear that a lack of understanding around disability remains in many parts of society – and this, as opposed to the disability itself, is usually the greatest barrier.

At least 10% of the world’s population are living with a disability. With the Commonwealth’s population reaching 2.4 billion, this would indicate that at least 240 million Commonwealth citizens have disabilities. These are individuals who face significant barriers, but also have so much untapped potential. It’s therefore vital that steps are taken to tackle the lack of understanding, awareness, and opportunities for young people with disabilities across the globe in order to build a more inclusive world where nobody is left behind.

Far too often, businesses can be unaware of the advantages of hiring people with disabilities, and wrongly assume that we won’t have the skills to contribute. More widely, too, a lack of awareness and acceptance of disabilities in society remains incredibly high. This appears in many forms throughout the Commonwealth; from the overt (like a belief that autism is a mental health issue which should be ‘cured’, or evidence of possession or witchcraft and not a natural form of neurodivergence) to the more subtle (such as an assumption that people on the autistic spectrum do not want or need to socialise – true for some, but for many, it is more true that they socialise in their own way, and being misinterpreted by others then forms a barrier).

It’s for these reasons that, following the first-ever Commonwealth youth disability roundtable at the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting 2018, I worked with fellow young Commonwealth changemakers to found the Commonwealth Children and Youth Disability Network (CCYDN) in 2019. Our overarching goal is to ensure children and young people with disabilities have the same access to legal rights, and the same societal, economic and political opportunities as their peers living without disabilities. Despite being less than two years old, CCYDN already has hundreds of members, with committee representatives from each Commonwealth region, and is growing each year.

Our network has allowed us to advocate on a pan-Commonwealth level as to the barriers young people with disabilities face and how best to tackle these. We have also successfully campaigned for the continued legal protection of people with disabilities in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. My fellow co-chair, Parmi Dheensa, and I signed an open letter to NHS England, along with many other key leaders in the UK disability sector, successfully calling for any action taken in response to COVID-19 to not infringe upon the hard-fought rights of disabled people. We also argued for the restoration of rights which had already been affected by the pandemic – such as obligations in relation to education, health and care plans for young people with special educational needs – to be restored as soon as possible. Our efforts helped ensure this was achieved by September 2020.

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My name is Marva Langevine. I am a teacher and the founder of Guyana Golden Lives Organization. I grew up in a village called Den-Amstel in Guyana and migrated to Barbados as a teenager to live with my mother and attend high school. I always loved theatre, arts and modelling, and was keen to let my passions be known to my new classmates! Because of this, I was first seen as the strange and loud foreign classmate, but my love for poetry and fashion inspired me to stay true to myself and ultimately contributed to the many great connections and friendships I made throughout those years.

Despite enjoying my time in Barbados, I missed my home in Guyana and, after graduating in 2009, I had a burning desire to return and make a positive impact to the country I‘d grown up in. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do but I just had this feeling that I was going to become a changemaker. To get the ball rolling, I decided to train to become a teacher. My love for children grew and I became a mentor to those who needed further encouragement. This sparked something in me, and it wasn’t long before my changemaker desires took a clearer direction.

Mikiesha

The moment I discovered my purpose happened in the most unexpected way. I was preparing to compete in the Miss World Guyana Pageant in 2016 and was thinking of a cause to highlight for my ‘Beauty With A Purpose’ project, which was part of the competition process. I had a few ideas, but I thought that there were already enough organizations doing great work for each of them. I wanted my project to help scope out those that didn’t yet have a support network. At a loss, I paused for a few minutes and said a prayer. Almost instantly, the name “Mikiesha” popped up in my thoughts.

Mikiesha was a dear friend who died from a rare form of cancer in 2014. I spent every afternoon at the hospital with her during her final months here on earth. She was the mother of two beautiful boys, who were one and four years old when she died. She left a little booklet containing all her hopes and dreams for them. After her death, I made a promise to fulfil at least one wish from that book.

When her name appeared in my thoughts, I didn’t understand at first, but that evening it became clear. I decided to get on my laptop and typed in “what happens to children after their parent/s die”. I sat there for hours reading through articles on childhood bereavement awareness – the first time I had even heard about such a thing. That night was the moment I discovered my purpose. I had found a cause that I felt immediately connected to and by finding something that was close to home, it just fuelled my passion. I believe this was a vision from God and I give him all the glory. There is also a scripture which states that true religion entails being there for the fatherless and widows in their time of distress, which I also found poignant.

That year I used my place in the pageant to launch my Childhood Bereavement Awareness project, which was committed to educating as many people as possible about the impact of death and loss on children, and pledged to create the appropriate services needed to provide comfort and hope. I did not win the pageant that year, but I won the ‘Beauty With A Purpose’ Award for my project – the first of its kind in Guyana.

The moment I discovered my purpose happened in the most unexpected way. I was preparing to compete in the Miss World Guyana Pageant in 2016 and was thinking of a cause to highlight for my ‘Beauty With A Purpose’ project, which was part of the competition process. I had a few ideas, but I thought that there were already enough organizations doing great work for each of them. I wanted my project to help scope out those that didn’t yet have a support network. At a loss, I paused for a few minutes and said a prayer. Almost instantly, the name “Mikiesha” popped up in my thoughts.

Mikiesha was a dear friend who died from a rare form of cancer in 2014. I spent every afternoon at the hospital with her during her final months here on earth. She was the mother of two beautiful boys, who were one and four years old when she died. She left a little booklet containing all her hopes and dreams for them. After her death, I made a promise to fulfil at least one wish from that book.

When her name appeared in my thoughts, I didn’t understand at first, but that evening it became clear. I decided to get on my laptop and typed in “what happens to children after their parent/s die”. I sat there for hours reading through articles on childhood bereavement awareness – the first time I had even heard about such a thing. That night was the moment I discovered my purpose. I had found a cause that I felt immediately connected to and by finding something that was close to home, it just fuelled my passion. I believe this was a vision from God and I give him all the glory. There is also a scripture which states that true religion entails being there for the fatherless and widows in their time of distress, which I also found poignant.

That year I used my place in the pageant to launch my Childhood Bereavement Awareness project, which was committed to educating as many people as possible about the impact of death and loss on children, and pledged to create the appropriate services needed to provide comfort and hope. I did not win the pageant that year, but I won the ‘Beauty With A Purpose’ Award for my project – the first of its kind in Guyana.

Beginning Guyana Golden Lives Organization

After the pageant, I knew I had to continue my ‘Beauty With A Purpose’ project. I renamed it to Guyana Golden Lives Organization, but maintained the core objectives of raising awareness on the impact of grief and loss in childhood and providing support for bereaved families. The support services include everything from mentorship and support groups through to scholarships, home visits and retreats. Our vision is always to help grieving children “grow, cope and develop”.

When I first started out, I spent a lot of time and personal funds to create spaces where people were willing to have conversations about grief. Death is a taboo topic in the Caribbean and people are often uncomfortable talking about how they feel, so many of my initiatives were initially met with a lot of rejection. One of those initiatives was a camp for children and teens. I wanted to create a safe space where young people could express themselves and receive comfort, guidance and hope. It was an ‘unknown’ area, and getting volunteers and garnering the support from businesses – and even the surviving parents – was a tough task. They either didn’t understand, were unable to see the importance of the work or just felt too uncomfortable talking about it.

Kind donations from a few supporters in the diaspora and local community, along with help from friends and family members, successfully helped fund the camp. Thankfully, my friends and mentors who are trained in the field of social work volunteered for the camp as mentors. The camp was amazing. The children shared their stories, laughed, cried and learnt valuable lessons. During that time, I saw the campers express their feelings without being afraid. They all left with bright smiles on their faces and hope for the journey ahead.

Buoyed by the positive impact the camp had made to so many bereaved children, I journeyed into communities to educate people about coping with grief and how to provide appropriate support for children. Being a teacher, I planned a ‘grief in the classroom’ workshop and was able to facilitate this workshop with other teachers from several schools in my region.

Eventually, people started seeing the importance of this cause and started to champion our work. It was difficult but I never gave up. I am incredibly proud of the work I have achieved so far; the growth and impact of my organization on the lives of the bereaved families we work with will always remain the most important thing to me.

For us, the future is big and bright, and I would like to grow Guyana Golden Lives Organizaton to have various grief support and awareness hubs across the Caribbean. I would also love to train to become a qualified grief counsellor.

Young people are the future

I believe it is important for young people to be seen as leaders in their own right because they are capable, creative and passionate about what they do. The world is changing, and, excitingly, young people are taking up spaces they were never traditionally allowed to be in.

My three tips for young people with great ideas but may not know how to make them a reality are:

1. Read, read and read some more. Do your research and become familiar with everything about your area of interest. This gives you that extra push to take action.

2. Start small, get creative and network. Do this with whatever resources you have. Even if it is $1 and a small space. Don’t stop talking because that will help you to build a strong network.

3. Invest in yourself. Make sure you write down your personal definition of leadership and keep reviewing it. Great ideas on their own will not make you a great leader. Invest in yourself as much as you would do for your idea and you will achieve everything you set out to do.

My motto is “Be A Mentor, Make A Difference”. I hope you are motivated to do the same thing.

Hugs!

Follow the work of Guyana Golden Lives Organization on Facebook.

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