MCW GLOBAL AWARDS 2021 ALUMNI VENTURES FUND GRANTS
New York, NY, USA, July 1, 2021 – MCW Global awarded two Alumni Ventures Fund (AVF) grants, totaling over $9,500 to Daniel Kwaku Owusu from Ghana and Lourence Balatbat from the Philippines. Both young leaders are working with grassroots organizations on projects that will make a difference in their own communities.
“During this time of so much uncertainty across the world, AVF continues to cultivate, further develop and propel innovated approaches created by talented youth leaders,” says Charmaine Peart-HoSang, member of the AVF selection committee.
“AVF has continued to encourage talented young leaders to bring innovation to their communities, by providing them with resources and mentoring. We are proud of our many alumni who have made their world a better place,” added Sharon Kess, member of the AVF selection committee and founding AVF donor.
Each AVF recipient will receive one year of professional mentorship and a grant to help turn their ideas for change in their communities into concrete projects. Drawing from their experience of developing a “vision plan” as participants in MCW Global’s Young Leaders Access (YLA) Program, AVF recipients will continue their project’s implementation.
The AVF grant will support Daniel’s mission “to use action research and education to drive peri-urban and urban aquaponics to ensure sustainable farming activities among households.” The grant will ensure household food security and empower the younger generation in Ghana.
In the Philippines, the AVF grant will support Lourence’s mission “to create youth-responsive and youth-inclusive systems of governance that will guarantee proportional youth representation and decision-making power over matters affecting their present and future civic, economic, political, and social lives.” Through Beyond Three Billion (B3B), Lourence envisions a world where young people under 35 are proportionately represented and actively involved in decision-making processes across all levels of governance.
With the addition of Daniel and Lourence, MCW Global will have awarded 21 grants to program alumni – totaling over $76,000 since establishing the Alumni Ventures Fund in 2009. Preparations are now underway for MCW Global’s 24th Young Leaders Access Program to be held virtually this year from September 15th to December 15th.
For more details on the Alumni Ventures Fund, click here.
To donate to the Alumni Ventures Fund, click here.
