Year 2 of 120 Under 40 Kicks Off in March 2017
Year 2 of 120 Under 40 will kick off this spring! Nominations will be accepted between March 22 and May 17.
If you were nominated in 2016 but did not win, you can be re-nominated for 2017 if you still meet the eligibility criteria. (Please note that the 2016 winners are not eligible to be re-nominated.)
Mark your calendars for March 22, and start thinking now of who you’ll nominate, and who can nominate you!
Stay up to date on year 2 of 120 Under 40 by visiting the website and following us on Facebook and Twitter!
News & Notes from 2016 Winners
In early January, Brian Mutebi (Uganda) celebrated the opening of the new offices of his organization Education & Development Opportunity-Uganda (EDOU). The office is in the base area of its newest project, HerWallet, which provides soft loans to support the businesses of urban poor women, as well as information on family planning.
As Brian writes, “The women call themselves ‘widows of the living’ because they are married but more or less are like widows. The husbands are absent and thus the economic weight of running their families rests on the women. … We combine financial literacy training with family planning because planned parenthood has a direct correlation to improved economic livelihood.”
Tlaleng Mofokeng (South Africa) was facilitator of the first day of a three-day bootcamp for 130 girls from across South Africa, which took place in the lead-up to World AIDS Day on December 1. The bootcamp was hosted by the National Department of Health and supported by the South African National AIDS Council and the Gauteng Provincial Health Department. Tlaleng’s day covered such topics as sexual and reproductive health and rights, teen pregnancy and cultural/religious beliefs. She used storytelling as a tool, and all involved shared their stories and lived experiences.
Tlaleng continues to make numerous media appearances to speak about sexual and reproductive health topics, and is in the running for Most Influential Young South Africans, in the Science and Technology category.
Rise Up, the organization founded and directed by Denise Dunning (United States), received a $2.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create ENGAGE (Enabling Girls to Advance Gender Equality), a new program aimed at ending early marriage in Malawi and enabling Malawian girls to stay in school. ENGAGE was also named a strategic partner in the White House Let Girls Learn initiative.
In addition, Rise Up and the David & Lucile Packard Foundation are currently accepting applications for the second cohort of their Youth Champions Initiative, which supports visionary young champions of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Packard Foundation priority countries. (Winner Ankita Rawat was a 2016 Youth Champions Initiative Fellow!) The application deadline is January 15, 2017.
This month, Patricee Douglas (Guyana) completed her medical internship at Georgetown Public Health Corporation; she intends to become an obstetrician/gynecologist. Patricee continues to volunteer as the SRHR counselor for Women Across Differences, and in November she chaired the graduation ceremony for teen mothers who completed Women Across Differences’ year-long Comprehensive Empowerment Program for Adolescent Mothers.
She has also been named to the 2017 cohort of the Kectil Program, which aims to “identify and nurture highly talented youth in developing countries who have the potential to make a positive difference in their communities and countries.”
For additional articles and stories about the 2016 winners of 120 Under 40, visit Media Coverage.