Global Changemakers

So you must all be wondering, which “Famous Five” are representing Global Changemakers at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos? Here’s your first chance to meet them:

Anjali Chandrashekar (India)

Anjali is a two-time national award winning visual artist and activist who has been using her artwork to raise funds and awareness for many national and international organisations. She believes that art is a universal language and a tool that cuts across barriers of language, religion and literacy. Anjali is extremely passionate about the environment and the conservation of biodiversity, and she uses art as medium of education. Her paintings have also been used in international auctions to raise funds for diabetes research, buying insulin for children in developing countries and funding free dialysis for poor kidney patients. The sale of related merchandise has benefitted numerous organizations and NGOs that work against child abuse, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease and smoking. She is a Rotary Youth Ambassador and gives talks at various schools and forums to help empower youth. In addition she helps integrate and rehabilitate orphans, physically and mentally challenged children by teaching them art.  She has represented India at World School International Forum and the International Diabetes Federation. Anjali is currently in the 12th Grade at Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Junior College (PSBBJC) in Chennai, India.

Dan Cullum (New Zealand)

Dan is concerned most with the issues in the Pacific Islands near his home New Zealand. He dreams of creating awareness and making a tangible difference in the communities whose dire social situations are often overlooked because their needs are dwarfed by other world issues. To reach that goal, he has been working with underprivileged Maori and Pacific Island youth in South Auckland who are exposed to drugs, alcohol abuse and domestic violence through local camps for youth and sports events. He has won three national public speaking titles and most recently came 3rd at the English Speaking Union International Public Speaking Competition, where over 40,000 youth around the globe participated. Dan was Head Boy of Botany Downs Secondary College in East Auckland, and has always been active in sport, music and theatre. He is now studying at the University of Auckland on the University of Auckland scholars program, majoring in Politics and Economics.

Mai Shbeta (Israel)

Mai lives in a Peace Village called “The Oasis of Peace” (Neve Shalom-Wahat al Salem in Hebrew and Arabic), which is the only place in Israel where Palestinians and Jews choose to live together as a community. Mai’s father is a Palestinian Muslim and her mother is a Jew. Her activism focuses on fostering peace in the Middle East. She has attended numerous peace camps as a participant and a facilitator and has participated in and lead peace dialogues across Israel.  Mai feels that since she was a child, her mission in life has been to promote peace because no one in the entire world can tell her that peace is not possible – she sees her family as living proof that it is. Mai has just begun her first year of legal studies and is planning to study International Relations as a second degree before becoming a human rights lawyer.

Raquel Helen Silva (Brazil)

Raquel began working in her local community at the age of 9. For the last decade, she has been involved in various volunteer projects across the spectrum, from dance and teaching English to helping underprivileged children to collecting, separating and selling recycled materials to raise funds for community projects. She has served as a Brazilian Youth Ambassador in the USA since 2008, and in 2009 she was the only Brazilian delegate in the Women2Women America Conference. Raquel believes in the power of great ideas, curiosity and opportunities. She is currently enrolled at the Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, where she is studying International Relations, and the

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, where she is studying Government. Raquel is fascinated by different cultures, which is why she has learned how to say “butterfly” in more than 20 languages.

Trevor Dougherty (USA)

Trevor has been an online activist since 2007. He is one of CNN’s top citizen journalists, as about 100 of his “iReports” have been broadcasted as part of the network’s global news coverage. He is also a YouTube Partner and the youngest person ever to have moderated the YouTube homepage as a “guest editor.” A particularly empowered member of the Millennial Generation, Trevor has been harnessing the power of the Internet in creating social change through “viral” outreach. His videos have been viewed over 3 million times by people in at least 100 countries. In 2008 he organized the world’s largest human peace sign in Upstate New York, bringing 6,000 people together largely through targeted Facebook advertising and a low-budget online video clip. He finished high school in Swaziland, Southern Africa, affirming his belief that Internet access needs to be established as a right – not a privilege – for youth worldwide. Trevor will begin his tertiary education in the United States in the fall of 2011.