This year’s application cycle has been the most competitive selection on record for the UK delegates. With almost 150 applicants, 40 made it through to the assessment centre with only 6 spots available across the two delegations. It is with great honour and pleasure that we can announce the 2019 G7 and G20 youth delegations for the UK below.
G7 YOUTH DELEGATES
JAMES DA COSTA - HEAD DELEGATE
James is a social entrepreneur, passionate about the intersection between people, technology and social impact. He has built multiple social impact ventures as a co-founder of Mandala Group - specialising in building accessible mobile applications in disconnected areas of India and Kenya, including teleStory which has enabled over 5,000 enable illiterate parents to read to their illiterate children in India for the first time on basic mobile phones. James is also a Regional Director at Hult Prize Foundation, a leading global platform for social entrepreneurship.
James is a Forbes 30 Under 30, World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a board member to multiple non-profits. He is recognized as a thought leader in youth entrepreneurship and internet connectivity - he has spoken at UN Global Goals Week, UK Houses of Parliament, Osaka City Hall, TED-X, World Innovation Summit on Education, One Young World and Start-up Grind on this topic.
ABDULKADIR ELMI
Abdulkadir is a fifth year UCL Medical Student interested in policy, particularly in healthcare, education and human rights. He co-founded a digital maternal and child healthcare delivery platform called Beba, currently serving as their Chief Operation Officer. He has organised and led several international projects; for example, a sanitation and hygiene project in response to the 2017 East African Drought and the development of a school in one of the most deprived areas in Somalia. He currently serves as the Chairman of Bright Centres, an award-winning centre supporting disadvantaged communities in London and the President of Somali Youth for Integrity (SYFI), a youth led non-governmental organisation. Along with these roles, he is also a UCL Global Student Ambassador and One Young World Ambassador. In recognition of his work, he has been awarded the ‘UCL Honoury Lifetime Membership award’ – the highest honours a student at UCL can receive.
ANNA HARRIS
Anna Harris is currently a civil servant in the Welsh Government. She works in social policy and is interested in designing innovative ways to tackle inequality, having previously worked as an academic researcher in this area. Working with and for various youth forums in the past has equipped her with a firm belief that young people have the power to change the world, and that it is essential to give them the tools to do so, irregardless of their background.
JENNIFER OKOLO
Jennifer Okolo is a therapist and the founder of She Aspires- a brand based on a fledgling blog which asks young females to write, contribute and interact on a series of real-world real-time issues that affect them. Jennifer aims to create a unified army of strong, career-driven women who go on to inspire others across the globe. Her endless imagination and belief in working hard to make an impact does not go unnoticed and has brought the brand to where it is right now. Her background lies in Occupational Therapy and Graphics Communication- a perfect blend for the millennial woman who knows no limits to her journey.
She has been a part of various impactful campaigns such as the #mybodyvictory campaign which was shared across a range of news publications including the Independent and is currently a Be Real ambassador (a project created by Dove) which involves supporting young people to redefine beauty. Jennifer continues to be an advocate for the rights of women and is on a mission to change the world and force new ways of thinking into traditional spaces.
G20 YOUTH DELEGATES
EMILY CAMPBELL - HEAD DELEGATE
Emily is a Masters student at Sciences Po, Paris in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action. She graduated top of her year in Law with European Legal Studies from King’s College London in 2017. During her undergraduate study, Emily acted as Vice-President of the King’s College London Pro Bono Society and, later, as President of the Human Rights Project. She has worked on policy reform of the UK penal system for women, taught Law in schools across London and is a qualified mediator. She has addressed the European Parliament and the UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights on human rights policy reform in the UK and France.
Emily has worked at the International Criminal Court and currently sits on the editorial board of the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights. She also devotes time to volunteering with the UN to develop policies for victims of sexual violence in Cameroon. Emily is passionate about human rights protection, particularly the rights of women and girls. She considers the Law to be a powerful tool for social change. Outside of work, Emily enjoys photography and poetry. Currently living in Paris, Emily loves travelling and sampling new cuisines and can’t wait to explore Japan.
ALISTAIR LOBO
Alistair is passionate about international development and wants a career that helps to reduce economic inequalities globally. Having been educated at a comprehensive and then a grammar, Alistair has seen the stark inequality of opportunity in the UK. He has a vision where young people, particularly from minority and socioeconomically deprived backgrounds, recognise their talents and ability, and thus have the confidence to be recruited for, and excel at, some of the most sought after jobs in the world. Alistair is now in his fifth year in the Civil Service. He has done both domestic and international jobs at HM Treasury. He now works at the UK's Department for International Development, trying to improve developing country's taxation systems. Before joining the Civil Service he taught in a secondary school in Ghana, analysed social welfare policies for the Government of Goa and worked as a trainee consultant for an international development consultancy in London.