2023 Global Impact Challenge

PURPOSE

The Global Impact Challenge is a crucial component of the LEAD Series, Nyah Project’s signature, multi-day training series that provides an intensive introduction to our experiential leadership model. Each spring, diverse students collaborate to come up with solutions to real-world problems related to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.

Our primary goal is to showcase our amazing impact partners in countries around the world while introducing our prospective fellows to the importance of social responsibility and learning how to develop experiential leadership skills by solving real world challenges.

IMPACT PARTNERS

Since 2014, Nyah Project has established global impact partnerships with youth service providers, schools and other community-based organizations abroad who play an integral role in our annual Global Youth Leadership Fellowship. We asked our partners to share 1-2 real world challenges that they would like to solve that align with at least one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Impact Partners include:

Learn more about our Impact Partners + their proposed challenges

HOW THE CHALLENGE WORKS

  1. Semi-finalists for the Nyah Project Global Youth Leadership Fellowship were split into eight (8) teams. Each team has chosen an impact partner + challenge, researched + brainstormed solutions, and completed their Global Impact Challenge video pitches below. 

  2. YOU get to vote for the Top 3 teams.  

  3. The three (3) teams with the most votes will participate in a LIVE virtual pitch / Q&A for a panel of social impact judges at the LEAD Summit.

  4. The Global Impact Challenge Award winner will receive a monetary micro-grant that will be split between the team members and the global impact partner who proposed the challenge.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Special Recognition to the other two teams who participated in the Pitch Competition:


Team 5: Heart Warmers* | James, Jasmine, Jullian, Laveena & Nicole
Impact Partner: Stella’s Child in Indonesia
*had most votes during the public online voting competition

Team 6: Better Life 4 Wildlife | Ariel, Breindel, Jenni, Naika, Sofia & Woodjanese
Impact Partner: Tanji Bird Reserve Forest in The Gambia

TEAM 1 — W.R.A.P. (Women's Reproductive Awareness Program)

  • Rosa Caceres, Ameerah Thomas, Elyse Hernandez, Maria Galindo, Joel Mintze

  • Michelle Mclean Children Trust (Namibia)

  • The challenge that is to be addressed in our teams impact challenge are to educate both male and females on the women’s reproductive system and help distribute affordable menstrual products to women.

    • SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being

    • SDG 5: Gender Equality

  • Our solution to the problem is to create a program that would take pledges from companies and other institutions. They would pledge to donate a certain amount of feminine hygiene products by the end of year, every year. The program would collect, ship and distribute said products then to the rural communities who need it. Along with that, we’d create and give pamphlets with information on the importance of feminine hygiene. They’d be carried in trusted places where people would gather, for example: schools, institutions, organizations, churches, etc.

  • We chose this project because as females, we know what it’s like to suffer in pain while on our menstrual, but still be able to get to school/work because we have the necessities to help us be sanitary. With only one male in our group, we agreed that men should also be educated on the importance of the women’s reproductive system because most men are clueless and don’t understand the difficulty of women having to menstruate every month and when not having the correct products and education, the risks it comes with it.

    We care about this problem because it affects women not only in their personal lives, but also their professional lives as well. If these women don’t have the resources to take care of their hygiene properly, it prohibits them from going to work and public places. This stops them from making money and being able to take care of their daily needs. People should be educated more on the female reproductive system.

TEAM 2 — Menyambut Masa Lalumu ("Welcome Your Past")

  • Alejandro Ganaza, Rayhana Parris, Alana McBean, Steve Montes, María Esquivel

  • Stella’s Child (Indonesia)

  • Our team’s Impact Challenge will address the issue of cultural acceptance and responsibility to newer youth and children that were raised with a less profound accommodation to their traditions and roots.

    • SDG 4: Quality Education

    • SDG 16: Peace, Justice, & Strong Institutions

  • We propose to create government/sponsor funded community centers around rural and semi-urban communities in Bali to bring older and newer generations to tell their stories and develop their cultural mindset and embrace ever so beautiful principle. To practice building that mindset, we would also tackle the education system to put forth methods of learning their own history whether through clubs or school electives.

  • We chose this project because we believe it’s important for every individual to know where they came from and find their social standpoint in today’s modern society; to better express themselves and be proud of their ancestors. Heritage is something that every single person carries no matter how good or bad it is to that person, and it leads you to better understand yourself, your personality, and your choices.

TEAM 3 - Team “Flow With It”

  • Jamora Arroyo-Jefferson, Meliana Romero, Zhane Loiseau and Rick Gomez

  • Michelle Mclean Children Trust (Namibia)

  • With our Impact Challenge, our team - Team "Flow With It" - will address the need for girls and women in Namibia to have access to affordable and readily available menstrual pads and feminine hygiene products.

    • SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being

    • SDG 5: Gender Equality

  • We will detail a plan that will outline establishing key partnerships with local Namibian organizations for the production and distribution of these menstrual pads and feminine hygiene products.

    Additionally, our plan will detail how we will utilize social media for a fundraising component to purchase the menstrual pads and feminine hygiene products as well as a social media component for creating viral campaigns to build awareness and support for our initiative.

    [Product Manufacturing and Distribution]

    • Secure a partnership with Eco Sanitation Trading Company, a Namibian company that produces menstrual pads/hygiene products and distributes them to local girls.

    • Eco Sanitation Trading Company’s mission is to “Keep Namibian girls in school”.

    [Fundraising for the Purchase of Products]

    • Use social media to create viral global campaigns that encourage donations for funding the purchase and distribution of menstrual pads/hygiene products to Namibian girls and women.

    • Seek financial donations from socially responsible corporations from around the world.

    • Encourage the Namibian government to allocate municipal funding for the initiative.

    [Build Awareness and General Goodwill Regarding the Issue]

    • Create campaigns (social media, printed materials, and event-based activities) that feature partnerships with local Girls/Women-Focused Namibian organizations to build awareness of the challenges Namibian girls and women have with accessing affordable and readily available menstrual pads and feminine hygiene products.

    • Frame our initiative as an act of “empowerment” on behalf of the female Namibian population, which will increase girls and young women obtaining a better education by missing fewer school days and lead to their future gainful employment for supporting their families.

    [Potential Girls/Women-Focused Namibian Partnering Organizations]

    • UNFPA Namibia

    • Namibian Women's Association (NAWA)

    • Namibian Rural Women Assembly

    • Namibia Equal Rights Movement

  • Our team chose this topic because we felt that providing Namibian girls and women with access to affordable and readily available menstrual pads and feminine hygiene products is an act of empowerment that can help this segment of the Namibian population more easily obtain an education that can lead to gainful employment to provide for their families.

TEAM 4 — The Dream Factor

  • Angelika Gonzalez, Azul Medina, Victoria Hamilton, Rismeyli Francios, Diego Julca, Jiahao Liu

  • Human Factor Leadership Academy (Ghana)

  • The challenge that we want to address is the quality of education in the aftermath of a flash flood, more specifically helping teachers find ways to keep students motivated, restoring the primary school classrooms, and supplying the school with the resources and school supplies they need.

  • SDG 4: Quality Education

  • Goal 1: Providing the school with materials for crafts, music, art, and game activities. Focusing on team bonding to motivate students to engage in their education.

    Goal 2: Help restore the school by cleaning up the damages with the help of local volunteers and partner with the Hope for Ghana non profit organization to implement new technology and furniture.

    Goal 3: Partner with the Amader Shopno non profit organization that will help ship and distribute educational supplies.

  • We chose this project because we recognize the educational resources we have in America are more accessible in comparison to Ghana. We want to aid the Human Factor Leadership Academy in providing them with the tools and opportunities in order to continue their studies and succeed.

TEAM 5 — Heart Warmers

  • Jasmine Williams, Laveena Bhuiyan, Nicole Nieto, Jullian Farrington, James Brown

  • Stella’s Child (Indonesia)

  • We aim to target the root of bullying which is ignorance and lack of empathy among the youth.

    • SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being

    • SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

  • Our solution is one like a fellowship, where over the course of weeks, a trained professional (in education against bullying and positive reinforcement) would teach volunteers how to teach and facilitate the kids. The focus of the lessons would not be why bullying is bad, but rather reinforcing empathy and highlighting its positives. This would also not be a "sit down and listen to the lecture" activity, like what we do in Nyah, sitting in a safe circle, being open with one another and breaking through those preconceptions that people have of one another. At the end of the day, bullying is a reflection of the ignorance people have of each other, so by opening up, we will achieve a more empathic group that will strive for better.

    This principle also ties in with the idea that children learn better when their positive actions are reinforced and celebrated, instead of being punished for doing bad (operant conditioning).

  • We chose this project because we really believe in our solution. Our unique and different approach to bullying will create a more empathetic group of kids that will become leaders like Dr. Senyo's article stated, "the educators believe that the best time within which any group of people will succeed in the development of the much-needed Type I leaders is during the first six years of life. During these years the race is about working with the children to learn about and grow in the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom embedded in the universal principles."

    We are creating leaders by empowering them with knowledge.

TEAM 6 — Better Life 4 Wildlife

  • Naika Cesar, Jenni Cruz, Woodjanese Etienne, Ariel Garcia, Breindel Marcelus, Sofia Aranda

  • Tanji Bird Reserve Forest (The Gambia)

  • The challenge to address in our team's impact project is how to educate residents of The Gambia, especially around the reserve, about the importance of environmental conservation and encourage them to take initiative to protect their home while reversing their destructive habits.

    • SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities

    • SDG 15: Life On Land

  • Our group plans to address and meet the challenge goals listed by working with the Ocean Clean Up and using their river interceptors, systems that remove aquatic pollution, to The Gambia. We plan to pave the path for a brighter and safer tomorrow by providing them with the tools needed to do so which will also lead to job opportunities and global interconnectedness. We plan to not only create educational pamphlets but initiate community meetings with volunteer opportunities in order to foster a strong community of respect which will prosper together.

    In addition, there could be fines so citizens second guess their actions of dumping garbage in the reserve. 2. Those who are unable to pay will have to pay with service hours for cleaning up the Tanji Bird Reserve and Forest. For those who do service hours voluntarily, they can get discounted towards housing, in collaboration with Azure Printed House.

  • We chose this project because it stood out to each of us individually. While brainstorming, we all concluded that this challenge was our top issue to take on. Each of us reiterated the importance of conservation since we live in South Florida. We recognized the importance of preserving the environment not only locally but also on a global scale.

    By supporting the Tanji Bird Reserve, we can contribute to the preservation of entire species and aid in ensuring that future generations can experience and learn from diverse ecosystems. Additionally, this clean up can also contribute to economic and social stability, consequently helping local communities and strengthening existing and new institutions providing a sense of unity.

    Overall, we felt great importance for us to try and tackle a matter that we can relate to, and are determined to work passionately towards finding a viable solution in our Impact Project.

TEAM 7 — Better Education Together! (BET!)

  • Briana Martin, Julianna Correa, Alejandro Perez, Sabrina Ortiz, Nusrat Redeta, Sheyla Cordova

  • Tiyaga Ay Pag-Asa (TAP) Scholarship Fund (Philippines)

  • The challenge we are addressing is to prevent a further increase in school dropout rates within the Philippines and help lower poverty rates in the country.

    • SDG 1: No Poverty

    • SDG 4: Quality Education

    • SDG 8: Decent Work & Economic Growth

  • Our solution is to implement a technical program in schools across the country with the primary goal of high schoolers graduating with a technical certificate for a specific field of interest and can find decent jobs after graduating from high school. The program would ideally be at a flexible pace for those enrolled.

    Instead of looking at what works for students in the US school system, we examined how to make a school system that works for students in the Phillippines.

    1. Many drop out because they are not interested in higher education. This is reflective of their culture in certain rural areas

    a)This brought us to the conclusion that creating a free technical school program (with a focus on the agricultural and medicinal sectors of the country) will eliminate the hardship of cost and provide an extensive amount of pathways to higher education, connections to scholarships, and internships for students within the country.

    b)This idea would need to be funded by donations and fundraisers through social media channels and the aid of partner organizations, with a similar goal of spreading education to the Filipino generation of tomorrow.

  • As current high school students, we value the importance of education and hope that students around the world will continue on to higher education for a brighter future without the constraints of poverty. This challenge idea and UN SDGs aligns with our group's ideals as we believe in empowering students to achieve their goals and become the generation of the future.

TEAM 8 — Bricks for Learning

  • Jennifer Nunes, Carlos Perez Triana, Andres Alarcon, Charli Milton, Layla Jean Baptiste

  • Human Factor Leadership Academy (Ghana)

  • The challenge to be addressed is to restore the school classrooms in Ghana as well as all the books and material that was lost in the flood.

  • SDG 4: Quality Education

  • To restore the classrooms, we can work with a company in Africa that uses plastic waste to make recycled bricks that are sturdy, waterproof and resist heavy wind.

    We would also like to rebuild their supplies and materials via donation drives.

  • Our group believes that knowledge is power and that everyone should have an equal chance and access to receiving knowledge and an education no matter who you are, where you come from, etc.

Public voting is open from Monday, February 27th, 2023 at 8:00 AM ET to Friday, March 3rd, 2023 at 6:00 PM ET.

The top three (3) teams will participate in the live pitch / Q&A at the LEAD Summit for the honor of being named the 2023 Global Impact Challenge winner and receiving a micro-grant to split with their chosen impact organization.

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