Tanha is enabling the transgender community to be valued members of society by creating access to economic opportunities.

There are nearly one million people who identify as transgender in Bangladesh. Many of these individuals have been abandoned by their families, ostracized, and denied basic human rights because of their non-binary identity. Witnessing neighbours forced to beg to earn a living, Tanha recognized from a young age a stark inequality perpetuated by widespread social stigma. In response, she founded TransEnd, an initiative that aims to bridge the gap between the transgender community and mainstream society, by helping those who identify as transgender gain financial and social freedom. Her team encourages a discourse to break social stigma and stereotypes. They have built a platform through which the transgender community in Bangladesh can access different economic opportunities. With a team of 5 peers, As of Jan 2020, TransEnd has conducted 11 surveys to better understand the community’s needs and design community-driven solutions.

Tanha was elected as Sir Fazle Hasan Abed Ashoka Young Changemaker in honour of Late Sir Abed and the key leadership role played by BRAC in creating the Everyone A Changemaker world.

To make farming more sustainable, Vitor and his peers are working with farmers to preserve and protect the socio-biodiversity of their region.

Farming is a way of life for the 3,000 residents in Atalanta, a small town located along the Atlantic Forest. However, Vitor notes that most farmers are generally unaware of the importance of preserving the forest and natural resources on their property. To change farmers’ practices, Vitor recognized the powerful influence of young people to promote environmental sustainability. Vitor and his friends came together to carry out environmental projects through their venture, Plantando o Futuro, in their school, such as planting trees or maintaining the gardens. After affecting change within their school, more students joined in and the project gained the support of the school board and later an environmental NGO in the municipality. Through partnerships with environmentalists and forestry professionals, students in the organization engage in ongoing training and workshops to further their environmental knowledge and strengthen their projects’ sustainability efforts. So far, Plantando o Futuro has carried out more than 100 actions, encouraging environmental preservation and the changemaking of the young people involved. In addition, they work to recover degraded natural areas. They already planted more than 4000 seedlings.

Arjun is addressing Transphobia and LGBTQ+ inclusion through football

After understanding the severity of transphobia in Indian society, Arjun founded Kicking Gender Boundaries when he was 16. They conduct football matches as a medium to promote inclusivity and breaking taboos. Arjun and his team organized a first-of-its-kind gender-inclusive match wherein they sponsored 9 trans football players. By partnering with a nationally renowned football training academy and with LGBTQ+ support organisations they conduct various workshops and training programs. As of Dec 2020, the initiative has reached more than 2000 people from the trans community in India.

Midria and three of her university friends created a social venture to transform how marginalized groups participate in higher education.

Growing up in the eastern outskirts of the city of São Paulo, Midria noticed social challenges facing those in her community. Distance from the city centre meant barriers to education, less social and political participation, and less cultural interaction than those living in urban areas. Midria felt her peripheral community was devoid of cultural activities, which she claims are essential to personal development and her own identity as a young black woman.

  
Attending the University of São Paulo, or USP, Midria and three friends co-founded USPerifa Collective to promote a culture of marginal-peripheral literature through the slams, a complication of spoken poetry. USPerifa Collective is a cultural event that brings together marginalized people and the university to be a part of critical conversations and develop a slam culture at USP. Ultimately, the goal of the organization is to promote the resignification of the university to challenge its legacy of exclusion.