Her Majesty The Queen will present Zambian youths, Gift Chansa and Sela Kasepa with the Queen’s Young Leaders Award at a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London, on the 26th of June, 2018. The 2018 Queen’s Young Leaders are focused seeking solutions to global issues like gender-based violence, climate change, food scarcity, mental health, and access to education.
Gift, 26, from Lusaka will receive a Queen’s Young Leaders Award for the tremendous work he is doing by using his talent and skills as a circus performer to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people in Zambia after co-founding Circus Zambia which provides participants in Chibolya town with circus, academic and life skills.
Sela, 21, from Kitwe will also receive a Queen’s Young Leaders Award for the exploring how science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) can help solve some of the challenges faced by her country by applying the knowledge she acquired from her own engineering studies to found and teach on Zambia’s first robotics development team.
The Chief Executive of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, Dr Astrid Bonfield CBE, said, “Through selfless determination, the Queen’s Young Leaders of 2018 are dedicating their lives to bring positive change to those around them. Their visit to the UK this June provides them with a unique opportunity to connect with each other and gain valuable lessons from experts and leaders from all walks of life which we hope will help transform the reach of their endeavours for many years to come. I am delighted that the work they are undertaking is being recognised by Her Majesty The Queen and I look forward to meeting this year’s winners and celebrating the remarkable difference that they have already made all over the Commonwealth. Now that we are in the fourth and final year of this special programme, we look proudly on the network that is the Queen’s Young Leaders and feel confident that the future will be driven by their courage and commitment towards making the world a better place.”
Gift and Sela were selected following a competitive process that involved thousands of applicants across the Commonwealth. They will join a network of 240 powerful young leaders, from 53 Commonwealth countries, who are driving a change to make the world a better place.
