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Previous winners include...
Alina Kurska is the Director of International Affairs and Director of Ukrainian Programs at Global Empowerment Mission (GEM)
In her work, Alina always prioritizes the opportunity to directly participate in GEM humanitarian missions in different countries of the world, depending on the localization of a natural disaster or conflict, in order to provide direct assistance, study the crisis situation on the ground, participate in negotiations with local authorities, communicate with people who need help, collect and analyze information on the amount and type of assistance needed, in order to be able to quickly respond and deliver targeted assistance. In 2023-2024, Alina personally took part in GEM humanitarian missions in Turkey, Syria, Israel, Egypt (supporting people from Gaza), Japan, Jamaica, California (USA), Haiti, Maui (Hawaii) and Ukraine, including the missions as close as 1 km to the front line and liberated areas, where GEM is the first and sometimes the only organization that on an ongoing basis delivers humanitarian aid: food, water, hygiene products, generators and other vital items.
Alina has been overseeing all programs of GEM Ukraine branch and facilitated creation of various partnerships. A notable partnership Alina established is with the UNHCR in Ukraine in fall 2023. This collaboration led to a comprehensive rebuilding project in Myrotske village in Kyiv, culminating in the complete restoration of an apartment building by March 2024.This partnership model, where UNHCR provided building materials, GEM covered labor costs and managed the project is a testament to Ms. Kurska’s ability to forge effective and innovative collaborations. As a result, 50 residents were able to return to their homes after more than two years in temporary housing, setting a precedent for similar collaborations in other regions.
Demonstrating high professionalism, leadership skills and the best human qualities, a desire to develop and improve her professional skills, as well as a desire to contribute to improving the humanitarian situation in the world, drawing public attention to problems in the humanitarian sector, Alina Kurska makes an invaluable contribution to the work of our charitable organization - GEM, and most importantly to our common cause - providing assistance and serving people.
Raquel Weintraub is Chief Operating Officer at CADENA Foundation
Raquel has been involved in social and humanitarian projects for over a decade, which led her to becoming an active member of CADENA in 2014. Her career began as a volunteer by leading and creating educational programs, which led her to become the international Chief Operating Officer of CADENA International and lead the organization.
As the Chief Operating Officer of Cadena Foundation, she manages 15 offices and headquarters. Her role as the Director of Global Strategy at CADENA International from January 2022 to April 2023 further exemplifies her leadership and commitment to maximizing the organization's impact worldwide.
Raquel's involvement in over 40 humanitarian interventions across diverse contexts and more than ten countries, including Ecuador, the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Kenya, and Poland, highlights her invaluable contributions to those in need. Her leadership in opening six new offices in 2022 to extend the organization's humanitarian reach showcases her strategic vision and impact-driven approach.
During her tenure as the Project Manager for Educational Initiatives from February 2020 to January 2022, Raquel's efforts to develop educational content and training programs have equipped numerous young individuals with essential humanitarian knowledge and skills. Her initiatives, such as the CADENA College, have empowered young leaders to take action in their communities.
As a volunteer for over six years, Raquel's commitment to humanitarian causes has been unwavering. Her participation in Cadena Initiative 2014 and her contributions as a member of Juventud Cadena demonstrates her passion for creating positive change.
Raquel's contributions have extended beyond Cadena Foundation, as seen in her role as a Humanitarian Productions Consultant, where she led impactful projects for organizations like the International Planned Parenthood Federation and CEPREDENAC.
Raquel's academic pursuits, including pursuing a Master's in Humanitarian Action Leadership at the University of Hebraica, reflect her continuous dedication to enhancing her abilities and making a difference in the lives of others.
Raquel Weintraub's impressive achievements, compassionate spirit, and profound impact on her community align perfectly with The Young Humanitarian Hero of the Year Award criteria. Her exceptional efforts resonated with the high-profile panel of industry experts judging the entries and therefore was announced as winner.
Jessica Adams is the Head of Marketing and Communications for Syria Relief and its parent organisation, Action For Humanity
The campaign Jessica executed in May 2022, which included an advocacy report written by her, which she secured an exclusive in The Guardian and supported with an op-ed in the Independent, highlighted that 133 of her organisation’s schools were due to close due to a reduction in funding. In a few short weeks, her campaign secured enough funding to keep the schools open, thanks in part to securing a meeting with FCDO – meaning she is directly responsible for 40,000 Syrian children staying in school and reducing the risk of child marriage, child labour and the other growing harms that children in Northwest Syria are at risk of.
Through devising creative mass-market campaigns like Christmas and winter appeals, or through targeted campaigns appealing to specific demographic like Muslim donors, she has been responsible for a 203% rise in online donations alone to the organisation in her first two years at the organisation. Another striking campaign she led was with the English Football Association and former Premier League Footballer Mohammed Sissoko, where she organised the FA to donate thousands of items of England kit and football gear and took Mr Sissoko and trained FA coaches to a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon to distribute the kit, give football lessons to the children and to raise awareness and funds to help projects like this, which championed psychosocial support and the inclusion of girls into sports, as well as the physical aspects.
In her time at the organisation, she has overseen the exponential rise in reputation and media appearances of the organisation, ensuring the communications activity highlighted such important issues as the prevalence of PTSD symptoms amongst refugees and IDPs, the impact of air strikes on educational facilities in Syria and how war crimes are being normalised. She also ensured that Syria Relief’s communications activity ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Syrian Civil War meant that the global media paid it more attention and raised public awareness in March 2021. She also manages, leads and mentors a team of young NGO creatives, all of whom are under 30 too, building their skills and driving capacity, helping foster the next generation of young humanitarians, and sharing with them her values of prioritising the dignity of the beneficiary above anything and championing localisation.
Siena Castellon is a 17-year old autism and neurodiversity advocate, who also happens to be autistic dyslexic and dyspraxic and has ADHD
When Siena was 13, she created a website, www.qlmentoring.com, to mentor and support bright students with learning disabilities and autistic students. She created the website because she found that all the online resources were focused on supporting the parents of kids with learning disabilities and/or autism. There were no resources specifically focused on supporting kids like her. On her website, she shares the tips and tricks she used to help her overcome the difficulties caused by her learning disabilities and her autism. She also provides bullying advice. Siena has a twitter account, @QLmentoring, with over 5,000 followers which she uses to raise awareness of autism and learning differences.
In November 2018, Siena launched her Neurodiversity Celebration Week campaign, which aims to encourage schools to recognise the strengths and talents of their students with special educational needs, instead of just focusing on their weaknesses and difficulties. On the week of March 15 -21, 2021, over 1,400 schools and over 865,000 students took part worldwide. The free resources Siena created for schools to use had 900 downloads and her video was viewed over 1,200 times. Over 200 businesses, charities and government agencies also took part in Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2021, including The U.K. Royal Navy, Savills, Deloitte and IBM. Siena gave presentations to over 2,200 AstraZeneca employees, the U.K. Ministry of Defence, Network Rail, GMB Union, Tradeweb and many schools. The week was a global event that helped shine a light on neurodiversity equality, acceptance and inclusion.
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