As part of the side events of the upcoming #GDWeek 2023, the Global Diaspora Confederation will be featuring a group of young diasporas who will share their experiences, insights and recommendations in their work in SDGs as it pertains to partnerships with other organizations, Governments and stakeholders. The main aim of the Young Diaspora Talks is to spotlight the voices and narratives of young diaspora representatives, to inspire change and celebrate the contribution of diaspora youth to a global community.
Dr Kirstie Kwarteng is a migration and diaspora practitioner with 10 years of experience working with international organizations, academic institutions and civil society organizations. Dr Kwarteng's research interests include second generation diaspora communities, transnationalism and African diaspora populations
Hanyuan Karen Wang serves as the CEO and founder of Climind, a data-as-a-service platform that delivers actionable climate data infrastructure through AI technologies to facilitate mitigation and adaptation solutions. She is the first Chinese female to be selected as a young leader for the SDGs recognized by the United Nations. She was named Forbes' 30 under 30.
Richa Gupta is the co-founder and CEO of Labhya, a globally recognized India-based education non-profit that impacts 2.4 million vulnerable children. Richa's exceptional contributions to equitable education, well-being and vulnerable children, she served on the board of YuWaah, UNICEF India and have garnered multiple recognitions like Forbes 30 under 30
Alicja Lelwic-Ojeda is the Co-Director, Migration Youth and Children Platform. She is a policy advisor specializing in rights-based migration governance and participatory approaches to development. She has worked with the European Commission, European Partnership for Democracy, and the British
Government, developing transformative youth participation strategies at the national levels, researching Mobility Partnerships' implementation, assessing the impact of circular labor migration schemes on development, and supporting the African Union Commission's migration policy development.
Lani Anaya is a consultant in sustainable development and peace building with a special focus on youth and faith-based communities. She has conducted research, workshops and
advocacy on the Youth, Peace and Security agenda with different types of actors at national, regional and global levels.
She currently collaborates with MY World Mexico as a focal point for international partnerships and global representative of the Major Group of NGOs to the United Nations. She also co-leads the Latin American network Juventudes por la Paz, and is a co-facilitator of the Young Peacebuilders edition of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in the LAC region.
Elana Wong is a young advocate for migrant rights, civil and whole-of-society representation, currently serving as part of the secretariat for the Civil Society Action Committee and Global Forum for Migration & Development Civil Society Mechanism, housed under the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC). She formerly served as Co-Director (2021-2023) and Asia-Pacific Regional Lead (2020) for the Migration Youth & Children Platform, where she led youth participation in multiple migration advocacy processes at the global and regional processes, including the 2020 Global Compact for Migration Asia-Pacific Regional Review, 2021 Global Forum forMigration and Development, and the 2022 International Migration Review Forum
Raymond Soussa is the CEO of Transparently Lebanese and Founder of Eternal Sparks. He is passionate about serving impactful organizations and helping them find sustainability. He started Eternal Sparks to help Lebanese people suffering from terrible economic crisis.
Khadija Torah is an Afro-European youth worker passionate about International cooperation, advancing diversity and inclusion, fostering interfaith dialogue, promoting global citizenship education and empowering youth.
She is a United People Global Sustainability Leader 2023, also a youth delegate at the Council of Europe, a global shaper (World Economic Forum), a peacebuilder in Dove (Interfaith Dialogue on Violent Extremism), and a CWFL (Center for Women, Faith & Leadership) Alumni at the The Institute of Global Engagement (IGE)
