By Luzelle Orail Rallos and Barbara Gonzalez Umana, One Young World Ambassadors
Western Union believes in the influence of young leaders — men and women who are ready to drive innovative solutions and build a better world. We proudly support our delegation at the One Young World summit in October.
The energy and passion of One Young World has inspired thousands of young leaders to discuss some of today’s most pressing global social issues and encourages them to work together to drive innovative solutions. We have seen the power of innovation firsthand when we participated in the 2017 youth summit in Bogota, Colombia. We left the summit as One Young World Ambassadors and global citizens and developed a connection to 1,400 fellow delegates who represented 194 countries.
Our enthusiasm for and commitment to finding ways, both big and small, that can change the world for better continues to grow. This will be the fourth year that Western Union has participated in One Young World and this year marks the largest delegation we have sent to-date. Western Union truly believes in the influence of young leaders in the world today, as more than 60 percent of our employees are millennials.
Western Union’s delegation at this year’s One Young World summit in The Hague, Netherlands, will include 22 employees from 10 of the company’s offices around the world. Our delegates have been chosen for their passion for social causes, strong communications skills, agility, demonstrated leadership capabilities and awareness of and interest in global issues.
Meet our 2018 OYW Delegates
I strongly believe this year’s delegates are the brightest young leaders from around the world. They are a fantastic group of people who have demonstrated a united sense of purpose and realization that it is up to every individual to build a better world!
We will both be returning as One Young World Ambassadors and team leaders, joined by our Executive Sponsors; Sarunas Suipis, VP of Western Union European Operations Center and Elizabeth Roscoe, VP and executive director of the Western Union Foundation. Our Program Managers will include Shezelle Krei, global head of compliance training and Kelsey Brown, human resources business partner. Additionally, Western Union president and CEO Hikmet Ersek will deliver a keynote speech.
To be a part of this unique think tank – the experience gives these young leaders an unparalleled opportunity to deeply understand issues critical to our present and future and bring back real-world solutions to their jobs and local communities.
As part of Western Union’s delegation, three have been sponsored by the Western Union Foundation and two a are co-sponsored by the Western Union Foundation with the support of a grant from the Western Union’s General Counsel’s Office. The Western Union Foundation’s scholarships to those three young leaders were awarded based on demonstrated support for refugee, migrant and underserved communities. The other two co- sponsored scholarships will allow for selected delegates from the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative to participate in the event. In addition, Western Union’s Corporate Strategy and Development organization is providing three scholarships — selected from more than 2,000 applicants — for young leaders who are passionate about financial inclusion and finding creative solutions to global issues.
We are excited for these incredible young leaders to join our delegation!
The scholarship delegates include:
- Kate Crowhurst, who implemented the National Financial Literacy Strategy in Australia.
- Nayab Jan, Business Development and External Relations head for Community Support Concern, one of the first microfinance institutions in Pakistan.
- Prakesh Koirala, US Embassy Youth Council Member and Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum, from Nepal.
- Ajwok Mary Valentino, whose training with WPDI, based in Uganda, is driving her to strive for social change.
- Emad Rajab Said, who is using his training with WPDI, based in Uganda, to discuss the South Sudan conflict and ways to resolve it with other refugees.
- Chih-Ning Wu, Co-Founder of One-Forty, an organization in Taiwan that counters discrimination against and empowers migrant workers.
- Maurice Kirschbaum, Founded SOS Juristes, a Swiss non-profit that provides legal aid to refugees.
- Elissa Glorie, based in The Netherlands,Director at The Travis Foundation, a non-profit that digitizes lesser known languages to bridge language barriers for refugees, migrants and communities all over the world.
While myriad topics will be explored, the summit’s plenary sessions are focused on five major issues: Human Rights, Education, Environment, Health, and Poverty Alleviation and Economic Development.
As the delegation continues its planning for the October event and the projects to follow, our representatives are looking forward to a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Keep an eye out as they share their perspectives on Facebook and Instagram during the conference.
