YouthLead alumni Anxhela Bruci and Johan Sebastián Chávez Mosquera are two young leaders on a mission to change the world. These exceptional young changemakers and entrepreneurs were recently elevated to YouthLead Scholars, selected from YouthLead’s leadership programs to represent USAID at the One Young World Summit in Belfast, October 2 to 5.

The annual summit brings together the biggest and brightest young talent from around the world to work together and expand their social impact. Anxhela, a current Youth Advisory Group (YAG) member from Albania, and Johan, a YouthLead Ambassador (YLA) from Columbia, joined more than 2,000 other young leaders from 190+ countries. Over several days, delegates were counseled by influential political, business, and humanitarian leaders, such as H.M. Queen Rania of Jordan and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus.

Anxhela and Johan found sessions that were built on the speakers’ personal experiences the most rewarding. As young entrepreneurs, receiving practical insights from leaders of this caliber on topics like diversity, equality, and emerging markets was priceless. They appreciated that leaders were candid about where they fell short, the challenges and hurdles they are working to overcome, and strategies they are implementing to both do and be better. Other learning objectives at the Summit included the food crisis, climate emergency, mental health, and peace.

“Seeing 2,000 people gathered together in one voice, in one mission — which is to make this world a better place, a safer place, a more human place — made me believe that change is possible,” Anxhela reflects. Her sense of inspiration was only magnified by the thoughtfulness shown by fellow participants who created a safe space for engagement. “Through every session and every discussion, there was this sense of nonjudgment when you were sharing things, when you were discussing things.”

Johan agrees. He says connecting with other driven youth made him contemplate what he can do to become more like them because there is power in learning what your peers are doing worldwide. It is a part of what makes his time at YouthLead so special, and what also makes being a Scholar an honor.

The first cohort of YouthLead Ambassadors (left to right) Clement Ngosong, Anhela Bruci, Nandini Tanya Lallmon, Johan Sebastián Chávez Mosquera, and Fernanda Ribeiro. Photo courtesy of Anxhela Bruci

This is the first cohort of YouthLead Scholars, a joint effort between USAID and One Young World, the Summit’s hosting organization. The partnership builds upon YouthLead’s aim to strengthen the leadership capacity of young people everywhere. Most program participants have already demonstrated making a positive impact in their when they apply for program participation. As YLAs and YAG members, youth are given specific opportunities to plan events that contribute to skill building, local engagement, and peer-to-peer networking.

“YouthLead is more than a portal for sharing resources or opportunities because it’s the possibility to connect your project to a global audience and to be able to connect with [other] projects and to find inspiration,” says Johan, co-founder of BEFLY. “I always encourage [other youth to use] this platform that [supports us] worldwide, especially [those of us in] the Global South.”

Anxhela, founder of EmpowerFULL, adds, “Being a YouthPower2: Learning and Evaluation (YP2LE) Youth Advisor has really helped me to be closer to my community. First, by learning through different examples through the sessions that YP2LE provides, but also the resources and the toolkits that we can access through the YouthLead platform.”

Celebrating its fifth year, YouthLead.org is designed for young changemakers making a positive impact in their community through service, activism, advocacy, education, and entrepreneurship. YouthLead’s top leadership programs are YLA, YAG, and Peer Advisors, and its Mentorship Initiative has also become a popular component for professional growth for young leaders.

Anxhela and Johan were accompanied on the trip to Belfast by  the other 2023 YouthLead Scholars, YLA Fernanda Ribeiro of Brazil, YAG member Clement Ngosong of Cameroon, and former YAG member Nandini Tanya Lallmon of Mauritius. The group shared experiences, learned from other youth and experts, and  represented YouthLead well at this global event, proving that experiences like this open doors and minds.