San Francisco, January 10, 2023 — The Asia Foundation is pleased to announce the 2023 LeadNext Fellows: Ambassadors for a Global Future class. LeadNext is The Asia Foundation’s dynamic new program focused on global citizenship for the 21st century. LeadNext builds a vibrant network of future leaders aged 18-25 from across the Asia-Pacific region and the United States and supports their growth, impact, and capacity to address today’s greatest challenges Over the next decade, profound structural changes will transform our geopolitical landscape; it’s imperative that the next generation of leaders are equipped to navigate these evolving changes. Positive and lasting change will depend on leaders who can move ideas and action forward to address rising inequality, find solutions to climate crises, mitigate conflict, and empower communities. The LeadNext program equips emerging leaders across cultures and disciplines with strong international networks, exposure to wide-ranging experiences, and leadership tools to thoughtfully steer the future. For decades, The Asia Foundation has invested in leaders at all levels, knowing that change depends on policies and programs and the people who lead them. The LeadNext program focuses on future leaders in the nascent stages of their careers. Meet the 2023 LeadNext Fellows: Phạm Nguyễn Đức Anh | Age 24 | Vietnam is a Leadership Development Fellow with Teach for Viet Nam in a rural secondary school and is focused on inequality and non-inclusion in the education ecosystem. Prakriti Basyal | Age 25 | Nepal is a policy researcher at Daayitwa, supervising fellowship programs and collaborating with ministries and parliamentarians. Prakriti is committed to bringing innovative policy changes to her country and is passionate about international relations and foreign policy. Mel Britt | Age 25 | United States is a field researcher and digital investigator at the University of California, Berkeley, and is broadly interested in democratization, global governance, and transitional justice. Weeryue Chiapaoyue | Age 20 | Laos is a co-founder of the WESHARE Project, a fundraising program to provide supplies to underprivileged schools. He is an expert in cross-cultural communication and an undergraduate student in engineering. Temuulen Enkhbat | Age 21 | Mongolia is the research and… Read more
LeadNext Fellowship
Announcing the 2023 LeadNext Fellows: Ambassadors for a Global Future
Tuesday, January 10th, 2023LeadNext Fellows: Citizens of the World
Wednesday, September 14th, 2022Meet the 20 young leaders from the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific who are the first graduates of The Asia Foundation’s LeadNext Fellowship program.
Meet the 2022 LeadNext Fellows
Thursday, January 20th, 2022LeadNext builds a vibrant network of future leaders Aged 18-25 from across Asia and the United States and supports their growth, impact, and capacity to address today’s greatest challenges. Asia Pacific Lochana Gayatri Anand Adivarekar | Age 23 | India Lochana is a Gender Trainer and works with adolescents and youth focusing on gender and sexuality. Currently, she is a Training and Advocacy consultant with YUVA where she mentors 13 researchers in the British Academy’s Youth Futures Program, which aims to create inclusive cities. One of her key roles is to engage youth in the process of policymaking and governance. Additionally, Lochana has initiated a movement named “Ubuntu” in order to create a gender-inclusive world, focusing on gender and sexuality education, by collaborating with colleges and youths. Mayabee Arannya | Age 23 | Bangladesh Mayabee Arannya is a feminist activist from Bangladesh working to end gender-based violence. As the Community and Strategy Leadat Kotha, a local feminist youth-led organization, she leads efforts to tackle the root causes of gender-based violence. Kotha’s work is at the intersection of education, research, policy advocacy, and art. Mayabeeispassionate about advocating for adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights and effective mental health and trauma management. She is a peer educator and peer educator trainer, facilitatingBangladesh’s first fully youth-led comprehensive sexuality education program. Mayabee has helped to organize multiple national protests against rape and sexual violence, promoting bodily autonomy, and gender equality, and calling for reforms of archaic rape laws. Ana Malia Melanie Angeles Falemaka | Age 18 | Tonga Ana Malia Falemaka is a first-year law student at the University of the South Pacific, Tonga. She is a youth ambassador and trainee at the Talitha Project Tonga, providing programs for young women and girls in Tonga. The programs focus on sexual reproductive health rights, confidence building, and self-esteem. Through Talitha, Ana is also a youth climate ambassador for Care Australia working on climate crisis advocacy. Recently, Ana participated in a panel discussion at one of the COP26 events titled “Cities for Children”. Additionally, Ana is a member of the With and For Girls Advisory… Read more