Young South African Selected For The Global changemakers 2016 Summit In Switzerland

Courtney, a Geography student passionate about the environment, gender equality, youth empowerment and sustainable development from South Africa  has been selected to attend the Global changemakers 2016 Summit In Switzerland  which is a network created in 2007 with the aim to empower youth to catalyse social change. In its seven year existence it has become a close knit network of 100,000 young social activists. Global Changemakers supported 280 youth-led projects in 128 countries with 200,000 people directly involved and benefiting over 4 million people.

Her Work

Courtney started an organisation called Greenline, which works to takes action on environmental issues. Courtney is also very involved in working to increase the role of youth and women in South Africa’s growing Green Economy.

The Global Changemakers approach

Global Changemakers believes that in order to get great results you need to have a comprehensive approach to make change happen. Our journey begins with a selection process of the most promising and outstanding youth, whether from a urban community in North America or refugee camps in Africa, our selection process is purely based on merit and the quality of the work these young people are implementing.

After the selection process Changemakers are brought together to one week summits which are designed to get the creative juices flowing. Changemakers get together with a group of like – minded people to discuss issues relevant to them and to come up with new ideas (or further work on their ongoing initiatives) to make things happen. The summits also bring experts in various fields so that the Changemakers are exposed to a range of ideas they can use to improve their work on the ground.

After the summits we support the Changemaker’s projects with funds, tools and networks. Often, the most difficult part of getting an idea of the ground is getting the start up capital to make it happen. Global Changemakers, through partners, has to date funded 280 initiatives world-wide, many of which have resulted in full fledge organizations that are working for the betterment of the world and are providing employment to young people.