Those shortlisted include social entrepreneurs, journalists, environmental advocates, writers, innovators and human rights activists from all five regions of the Commonwealth.
They were shortlisted from 977 entries received last year. The regional winners, along with the recipient of the new Patsy Robertson Award for Outstanding Communications Skills, will be announced during a ceremony hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat on 25 June 2026.
One of the regional winners will be named the 2026 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year.
- Watch the livestream of the ceremony from 10:30am BST on 25 June
- About the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Awards
Meet the regional finalists
Africa
Sylvester Weekes
Country: Sierra Leone
Area of work: SDG 13: Climate action
Sylvester Weekes is the founder of Operation 232, a non-profit advancing climate action and empowering women and youth in Sierra Leone through community awareness and climate education. Under his leadership, Operation 232 has recycled over 500 tonnes of plastic, created over 100 green jobs, reduced waste-related illnesses by 50 per cent, and increased environmental participation by 80 per cent through inclusive circular economy solutions.
Nduku Louis Tebi
Country: Cameroon
Area of work: SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Nduku Louis Tebi, founder of Xhuma Africa, is a peacebuilder from Cameroon who transformed his 2018 kidnapping trauma into a mission for peace. He has facilitated capacity-building for over 9,600 youths, and currently mentors more than 2,850 others. Xhuma Africa blends peace, civic and environmental education, training ‘Peace Weavers’ to lead non-violent conflict transformation and foster sustainable development.
Shifra Ainomugisha
Country: Uganda
Area of work: SDG 2: Zero Hunger
Shifra Ainomugisha is the founder and CEO of Solafam Uganda Ltd, a woman-led climate enterprise delivering solar powered cold storage, irrigation and AI to improve farm productivity and reduce food loss. Since 2022, Solafam has reached over 1,500 smallholder farmers, cut post-harvest losses by 30 per cent and increased household incomes by 28 per cent, building economic and climate resilience for women and youth in Uganda.
Stephen Ogweno
Country: Kenya
Area of work: SDG 3: Good health and well-being
Stephen Ogweno is a multi-award-winning global public health expert and founder of Stowelink Foundation and Lifesten Health, which advances Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) prevention through education, technology and storytelling. His initiatives operate in 10 African countries, reaching over five million people and training more than 10,000 youth advocates.
Asia
Geet
Country: India
Area of work: SDG 4: Quality education
Geet is a student researcher, social entrepreneur and founder of Next Nebula, which makes space science accessible to students regardless of geography or background. Since 2024, she has empowered over 20,000 students across several countries through free space camps, events and workshops with industry experts, and a gamified learning app. Her flagship Aakash Patra programme, in partnership with Blue Origin’s ‘Club for the Future’, enables underserved students to send their dreams and ideas into space.
Tina Afiqah
Country: Brunei Darussalam
Area of work: SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
Tina Afiqah is an author, social entrepreneur and founder of Parabelle Studios, a storytelling company that empowers underrepresented voices through culturally grounded content. With degrees in counselling and creative expressive therapies, Tina has facilitated workshops across South-east Asia on trauma healing, identity and youth empowerment. She is also a Women of the Future Southeast Asia 2023 award-winner.
Ahmed Fahmi
Country: Bangladesh
Area of work: SDG 13: Climate action
Ahmed Fahmi is a Bangladeshi youth leader specialising in climate resilience and community development. He serves as Executive Director of Give Bangladesh Foundation and co-ordinates Project Oxygen, a nationwide volunteer initiative restoring coastal ecosystems and supporting vulnerable communities. His work has planted over 153,600 trees and improved livelihoods, water access, health outcomes and disaster response support for over 500,000 people.
Bushra Mahnoor
Country: Pakistan
Area of work: SDG 5: Gender equality
Bushra Mahnoor is a period rights activist advancing Pakistan’s menstrual justice movement. After the 2022 floods, she founded Mahwari Justice to address period poverty in humanitarian settings, reaching over 175,000 people to date. Her work links period education with policy change, including mobilising more than 10,000 signatures to demand tax removal on period products.
Caribbean
Nahjae Nunes
Country: Jamaica
Area of work: SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
Nahjae Nunes is an international development policy practitioner reducing inequality by embedding children and youth evidence in public decision-making. He helped negotiate several United Nations General Assembly resolutions adopted by 193 states, and co-chaired the Commonwealth Heads of Government M 2024 Youth Taskforce that produced the Apia Youth Declaration. At UNICEF, he has authored flagship publications on child poverty and supports several Commonwealth countries on social development.
Ishmael Nicholson
Country: Belize
Area of work: SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals
Ishmael Nicholson, a founder of RISE Belize, serves as a uniter for youth organisations, inspiring them to become agents of change. He successfully led advocacy efforts to initiate the update of the National Youth Policy in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Youth, Sports and Diaspora Relations. This partnership model empowers all Belizean youth to shift from being policy recipients to becoming legislative architects.
Moesha Allen
Country: Jamaica
Area of work: SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Corporal Moesha Allen is a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, serving as Sub-Officer in Charge of the St Andrew South Community Safety and Security Unit. Driven by youth empowerment, peacebuilding and community co-operation, she founded Helping Youths Pursue Excellence (HYPE). The initiative reaches more than 10,000 youths through mentorship, literacy programs, behaviour modification, Police Youth Clubs and the Safe School Programme.
Kaveer Phillip
Country: Trinidad and Tobago
Area of work: SDG 13: Climate action
Kaveer Phillip is the founder of The Carbon Sync, a non-profit based in Trinidad and Tobago focused on increasing awareness of nature-based solutions through tree planting. It has planted over 450 trees and directly educated and benefitted more than 4,000 people. As a decarbonisation professional, Kaveer has led work on carbon dioxide removal technology, electric vehicles, recycling and climate finance that has positively impacted communities, companies and entire countries.
Europe/Canada
Maddy Nicholl
Country: United Kingdom
Area of work: SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Maddy Nicholl is President of the University of Southampton Global Legal Clinic, which delivers free legal services to vulnerable communities while training the next generation of socially responsible lawyers. Under her leadership, the Clinic has expanded to over 200 student members, launched pioneering access-to-justice initiatives and earned national recognition for exceptional pro bono impact.
Justin Huang
Country: Canada
Area of work: SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation
Justin Huang is the founder of Action4Water and co-founder of the International Youth Environmental Challenge (IYEC). His work focuses on water and environmental conservation, including the development of AI-driven, data-informed tools leveraging open-source data for water quality monitoring. Through IYEC, he has engaged young people from 38 countries across six continents in youth-led work on local environmental issues.
Yasmine Abdu
Country: United Kingdom
Area of work: SDG 12: Responsible consumption, production
Yasmine Abdu is the founder and CEO of CarbonTrac, an AI-powered platform embedding carbon and nutrition insights into supermarket loyalty apps to drive low-impact grocery choices. Since 2024, her work has reached over one million people across more than 25 countries. CarbonTrac is on a mission to cut UK emissions by 5 per cent by 2030, helping millions to make healthier and more sustainable food choices through everyday behaviour change.
Arielle Neely
Country: United Kingdom, Turks and Caicos
Area of work: SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
Arielle Neely is the Career Advancement and Programme Co-ordinator for the Turks and Caicos National Internship and Apprenticeship Programme (NIAP). Launched in 2022 as a strategic labour development initiative, NIAP equips students with the skills and experience needed for workforce success. Through partnerships with over 80 employers, NIAP has placed more than 300 students in field-aligned positions, with 60 per cent of apprentices securing permanent employment.
Pacific
Phillie Marai
Country: Papua New Guinea
Area of work: SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Phillie Julai Marai is a passionate leader committed to transformational leadership, youth empowerment and women’s inclusion across Papua New Guinea and the Pacific. As National Co-ordinator for Senisim PNG with PNG Tribal Foundation and John Maxwell Leadership Foundation, she drives values-based leadership. She also serves in education, research, sports governance and youth development roles, advancing good governance and servant leadership.
Aileen Zuhukepe
Country: Papua New Guinea
Area of work: SDG 3: Good health and well-being
Aileen Zuhukepe founded Project Impact, a voluntary breast ultrasound screening programme serving rural women in her province of Papua New Guinea. Run collaboratively with colleagues and local health workers, the initiative has benefited more than 500 women across three of the province’s 11 districts. She is currently training to become a medical doctor, driven by her passion for oncology and addressing breast cancer among rural women in Papua New Guinea.
Maverick Peter Seda
Country: Solomon Island
Area of work: SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Maverick Peter Seda is a youth advocate from the Solomon Islands, working with the Malaita Provincial Youth Council, civil society organisations and youth groups nationwide. He believes that giving youth resources and space in decision-making drives real change. Maverick is part of Reverse The Trend, a youth initiative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and works with Empower Healthy Isles to raise malaria awareness through social media campaigns and podcasts, while valuing intergenerational dialogue for sustainable communities.
Wil Massara
Country: Australia
Area of work: SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
Wil Massara is the founder and CEO of Youth Leadership Academy Australia (YLAA), an initiative focused on empowering young people through leadership development and community-driven change. Since 2018, YLAA has impacted over 50,000 youth across 1,500 schools, promoting self-leadership and SDG-focused initiatives. Through his work, Wil exemplifies youth-led development, fostering peace, sustainability and positive societal change.
