Global Changemakers

Mr. Christopher Walcott (born 18 September 1988, in Lendore Village Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago) is a West Indian Social Entrepreneur. From an early childhood he was involved in youth work and became a community activist. Christopher Walcott was the only child of Hillary Walcott, His father Clint Walcott died when he was just some months old. His mother worked very hard to support the two, with her self-owned fruit stand business. Christopher’s first school was Chaguanas Roman Catholic (RC) primary. At a young age he was a budding philanthropist; always looking to give back to the community. As a result he joined the 4-H club which was geared towards sustaining and protecting their environment. 4-H in the United States is a youth organization administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), with the mission of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development. The name represents four personal development areas of focus for the organization: head, heart, hands, and health. He then went to Caribbean Union College Secondary, which is located in Maracus St. Joseph. At age 12, he joined the Pathfinder and became very active in the youth group. Pathfinders, and has aided in building shelters for the poor, clean-up campaigns, anti-drug marches and being a positive male role model in society. Christopher Walcott graduated with BS Degree in Computing and an Associated Degree in General Business at the University of the Southern Caribbean. There, Christopher Walcott became passionate about being a Social Entrepreneur. His love for youth work, ambition and enthusiasm got him nominated to be a Youth Member of Parliament to promote the youth voice. During his tenure, he was involved in the Common Wealth Heads of Government Youth Forum (CYF) 2009 where he was one of members that founded the idea of forming the Trinidad and Tobago Youth Economic Society, and today it is a reality. With his continuing involvement and development in youth activities, he was selected by the British Council out of sixty (60) young social entrepreneurs, volunteers and community activists from the world to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the first ever Latin America and Caribbean Youth Summit (LACYS) 2010, in Rio, De Janerio Brazil. You can learn more about Christopher on his blog: http://walcottc.wordpress.com/. He created this website to share his experience from the Latin America and Caribbean Youth Summit. Its purpose was to show the youth of Trinidad and Tobago that they can reach to higher heights and represent their beautiful country. His blog not only serves as a journal of the summit, but a resource for other youth activities, programs and events that the youth of Trinidad and Tobago can be involved in. From the wealth of knowledge, experience and relationships built with global change agents, he came back to Trinidad with a dream to mitigate the social issues faced in Trinidad and Tobago. He then was certified as a Global Changemaker (GCM) on 9th August 2010. With the assistance of the Global Changemakers, he got his Community Action Project (CAP)-Brother By My Side (BBMS) (http://www.global-changemakers.net/projects/brother-by-my-side/) approved and sponsored by the British Council. Brother By My Side is a Global Changemakers Community Action Project, managed by Christopher Walcott. It will assist the Loveuntil Foundation, a home catering for twenty-four (24) abused and abandoned boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 16, in the areas of education, poverty relief, hunger relief, children’s rights, youth work, public health and social entrepreneurism. More particularly, BBMS will supply their immediate needs for food, clothing, shoes, books, kitchen appliances, computers and software, education and training in essential career and life skills, and most importantly, regular emotional support and positive reinforcement. In addition to sponsorship from the British Council and Global Changemakers, as of date, he is working with the Loveuntil Foundation, leading the mentorship program; providing training in life skills and academic supervision, with the boys of the home. He is also involved in a Regional Action Project (RAP) with other Global Changemakers from Latin America, concerning Social Inequity (http://www.global-changemakers.net/projects/know-it-and-change-it/). The aim of the project is to make our communities aware of how there are concrete situations and realities among them that produce and reproduce inequality, and also to share positive visions and experiences to face them. For this, we want to coordinate and connect regional and local information and activities. He was also involved Youth Nation a TV program on ACTS, discussing real youth issues and a panelist on an International radio station called resurface radio. (www.resurfaceradio.com). The passion he has for community work was instrumental in him to joining a subsidiary group of the pathfinder organization called MAD (Making A Difference). MAD is involved in various communities projects, and improving the standard of living in rural areas. On the 11th October his portfolio was view by international organization which selected him to be a member of YPulse, Youth Advisory Board. In general YPulse is the leading authority on youth culture in the world (http://www.ypulse.com/meet-the-20102011-youth-advisory-board-members-part-one). The 7th November 2010, he was selected and awarded the title “Gentleman Of The Week” (GOTW) and published in the Sunday Newsday; MENtality magazine for being an outstanding Male Role Model in the Community. Considered by the editor of GM Magazine, he was featured in the Magazine, article titled “International Movement for Change (IMC)” and published on the website. GM Magazine features individuals in the community who continue to transform urban arts, community and culture. Following this, so enthused with the love for his community, he decided to produce a short film called “Gene’s Drift.” about social inequalities in Trinidad and Tobago 6th March 2011. He became one of the youngest Executive Producers and is currently working on a feature project, in collaboration with Synergy TV and Valleywood Productions. The young activist continues to scale the heights of youth involvement by forming his own NGO called International Movement for Change (IMC). This organization seeks to foster social entrepreneurs who will identify social problems within their communities, regionally and globally, to manage the resources needed, to solve such problems in a tangible and measurable way. A magazine called Gangzta Mozart (GMoz) interviewed him and his NGO (International Movement for Change) because of the work I am doing and I highlighted the GCM http://issuu.com/travys_artyst. The Gangzta Mozart Productions, the Gangzta Mozart E-letter is a circular to promote local urban music while creating a forum for communication within the industry. He believes if we invest in youth we shall sustain the world!

PONCE ERNEST P. SAMANIEGO is Co‐founder and CEO of Outliers, a social enterprise that serves as outsourced business expertise for nonprofits in the Philippines. Ponce co‐founded Outliers, on his senior year at the Business Administration program of the University of the Philippines. Together with a young and dynamic team, he is driven by the mission to empower Civil Society groups through the channel that they know best: business development. By merging traditional practices of aid organizations with efficient, market‐based approaches, Outliers is effectively turning charities into sustainable social businesses. Outliers was named Philippine Winner out of 156 social businesses in the BiD Network and Citibank’s Business in Development Challenge 2010, and is supported by the Starbucks Foundation, VF (Visayan Forum Foundation), Japan Environmental Education Forum and the Global Changemakers Programme (British Council). Ponce is a Global Changemaker (British Council), Global Shaper (World Economic Forum) and a Young Challenger (Grameen Creative Lab). As a recipient of an Erasmus Mundus Mobility with Asia Scholarship from the European Union, he spent a semester in the International Business program of the University of Warsaw (Poland) in 2009. Serving the role of Learners' Voice, he was a speaker at the World Innovation Summit for Education 2011 (Qatar). He is also an active environmental advocate and has represented the Philippines recently in international forums such as the ASEAN Youth for Sustainable Development (Indonesia) and UNEP’s Southeast Asia Youth Environment Network and the World Youth Summit for Volunteering (Singapore).