NGFP Young Voices Awards 2025

The 2025 NGFP Young Voices Awards showcases impressive diversity and global representation of youth projects. The applicants range in age from 12 to 17 years old, with the youngest winners being four remarkable 12-13 year olds from Uganda, Canada, Nigeria, and Peru. Participants come from 13 different countries across 5 continents, reflecting a global perspective. Countries represented include India, Nigeria, United States, Peru, Uganda, Singapore, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Zimbabwe, Japan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ecuador, and Canada.

The Young Voices Awards feature individual and team projects addressing global issues across diverse contexts. All 17 SDGs are represented, with notable focus on SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 8 (Decent Work), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

Key themes include:

Education & Equity: Projects like Amanecer Book (Peru) and Tech4Equity (India) democratize access to opportunities for underserved students through innovative resource-sharing and digital inclusion.

Environmental Innovation: Youth transform waste into resources from Nigeria's solar powered devices made from trash to Uganda's smokeless charcoal briquettes from agricultural waste.

Health & Wellbeing: Initiatives address critical gaps, including Janam's mobile birthing clinics in rural India and NeuroLearn's AI platform for children with autism.

Social Justice: Common Ground (India) and Humanity Over Hate (USA) tackle division through peacebuilding education and intercommunity storytelling.

Indigenous Knowledge: Projects like Project Bawari (India) and ImpactoBIO (Brazil) honor traditional wisdom while solving modern challenges in water management and sustainable sanitation.

MEET THE WINNERS

Winner: Common Ground

Common Ground is a national youth-led movement working to advance peacebuilding pedagogy, conflict prevention, and reconciliation to encourage coexistence and celebrate societal diversity. The initiative partners with schools, educators, and at-risk communities to bridge social divides through communication and education. Currently working with 5,000 students and 3,000 educators, Founded by Gauri Gupta, with Ryan Wazz serving as the Outreach Head, Common Ground has implemented school programs, educator labs, conducted peace circles, and youth summits, alongside advocacy campaigns, and social impact drives. They have contributed to SDGs 4, 10, 13, and 16.

Runner-ups:

Runnerup: Waste To Clean Energy Innovators

We are a team of young innovators turning waste into useful energy solutions. In our project, we collect plastic, electronic, and organic waste and use them to make things like solar-powered fans and torches, and biogas for cooking. We want to stop pollution and help people in our communities use clean energy. Through this project, we learn how to protect the environment, solve real problems, and create new ideas. We believe young people like us can lead the change for a greener and better future.

Runnerup: Janam

Transform old waste shipping containers into mobile birthing clinics that provide safe, hygienic, and dignified childbirth for women in rural India. Janam equips each solar-powered unit with medical-grade supplies, clean delivery beds, and emergency tools. We also train local women as certified midwives through hybrid programs led by partner hospitals. Our pilot clinic in Mahapura village is operational, with 100+ midwives trained and support from India’s Health Ministry. By 2026, we aim to deploy 50 clinics, train 500 midwives, and expand maternal care access across underserved regions.

Runnerup: Quynh Tran

As co-CEO of HER, an international menstrual health nonprofit, I work to break down barriers and stigma surrounding menstrual health globally. Our organization has been recognized with prestigious awards including the Diana Awards and Canon Young Champion. Alongside this work, I intern as a user researcher at an AI companion startup, exploring how emerging technologies can shape our future. I'm passionate about combining my interests in technology, health equity, and community leadership to create meaningful change. Through my involvement with the Vietnamese-American community as a TA team leader at a local Vietnamese Language School, I strive to bridge cultural understanding and empower young people to envision and build a better future