20 New Laureate Global Fellows Selected
Every year, Laureate and the International Youth Foundation (IYF) select 20 young change makers from around the world through the Laureate Global Fellowship. The program supports a group of young people leading change in their communities and is part of the larger partnership between Laureate and IYF on the YouthActionNetinitiative.
This year’s class of 20 new fellows hail from 18 countries and are addressing a range of issues in their countries through innovative solutions. From promoting the inclusion of those with intellectual disabilities in Zambian society, to ensuring food and water security for those affected by climate change in Nepal, to predicting and preventing disease outbreaks in the Dominican Republic, these fellows truly represent the next generation of leadership in social impact worldwide. They will participate in a global leadership retreat, followed by a year of coaching, advocacy and networking opportunities.
Two fellows with connections to Laureate institutions are featured below, and the profiles of all 20 fellows can be viewed here.
Salaheddine Moutacharif
Thirty percent of Moroccan university students leave school each year because they can’t afford to stay. Many come from remote, rural areas and low-income families already stretched beyond their means. An engineering student at Université Internationale de Casablanca (UIC), Salaheddine had a friend who was forced to drop out of school for this very reason. The experience motivated him to launch Msroufy, a social enterprise that trains students in workplace skills, while linking them to part-time and freelance jobs. Msroufy carefully identifies small and medium-sized enterprises that can accommodate flexible work schedules. In the last year alone, Msroufy engaged more than 20 employers as partners, who offered part-time jobs to 300 students.
Irene Hofmeijer
To reduce the impact of plastic waste on marine ecosystems, Irene founded Life Out Of Plastic (L.O.O.P). A social enterprise, L.O.O.P pursues a three-pronged approach—advocating for greater citizen action to reduce plastic waste, offering its services to companies, and commercializing products (e.g., reusable shopping bags, sportswear) made from recycled plastic. While the majority of organizations working on plastic pollution depend on donations, L.O.O.P. adopted a market-based approach. Its products and services not only generate revenue but showcase solutions to plastic pollution. To date, L.O.O.P. has removed over 95 tons of waste from coastlines, upcycled over 1.3 million plastic bottles, and engaged 30,000 people through advocacy campaigns and clean up efforts. Irene is a fellow of Premio Protagonistas del Cambio, YouthActionNet’s institute partner in Peru hosted on the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas’ (UPC) campus.
