Get to Know the 2022 Billion Acts Awardees

2022 marked a year of milestones across the PeaceJam & Billion Acts of community. Together, we celebrated 25 years of PeaceJam magic, redefined our own work for peace, and reached 101 Million Acts of Peace in over 171 countries! 

In the past year alone, our global community shared over 10 million impact-projects and everyday acts of peace! From youth-led projects tackling global poverty, and cross-cultural PeaceJam initiatives to global campaigns on gun violence - all of you showed up for your communities (and the world) in bright and innovative ways.

This is especially true for the real leaders behind this whole movement - the over 1.5 million youth who are reimagining their communities worldwide. The 2022 Billion Acts Awardees represent the power of youth-led movements. We invite all of you to join us to celebrate the six Billion Acts Awardees - as well as our shared milestones and impact from this past year. 

Here’s how you can join in on the celebrations!

• Visit the Awardee Support Page to learn more about the 2022 Awardees and their initiatives!
• Help our Awardees reach their mini-grants by clicking the support tab below their videos! You can vote each day.
• Register for the 2022 Billion Acts Awards Show!
• Help us amplify the work of our Awardees and community on social media by sharing posts/videos.
• Click here to learn more ways to get involved leading up to December 9th!

Read below to learn more about the 2022 Billion Acts Awardees - written by our PeaceJam Southeast team!

Restoring Hope

Cape Town, South Africa

Key-Issue Areas: Education & Community Development, Alleviating Poverty, Global Health & Wellness, Ending Racism/Hate

2022 Billion Acts Awardee Restoring Hope was dreamt to life over seven years ago by a group of young friends in Cape Town, South Africa. Co-founders Dale Hendricks, Mikhail Kroutz, Devin, Marlon and Kelly Jacobs  jumped into action after learning just how many young people were going to school hungry each day in their communities. Alongside several friends, they realized that many of their communities were facing similar problems acquiring basic needs and services. South Africa is currently one of the most unequal countries in the world, affected by racial and spatial segregation, colonialism, and apartheid. 

Together, this group of friends stepped in and created Restoring Hope with the aim to restore a sense of hope in previously disadvantaged communities and enrich the lives of its citizens. Since the pandemic, they have provided over 100,000 healthy meals to families and continue to feed 1500 youth each week. They also supply thousands of vital resources and countless services to their communities each year. Restoring Hope has become an organization that works alongside disadvantaged communities to empower them to reach their full potential in different aspects of their lives with the resources that are available to them. 

Connect

• Learn more about the story behind Restoring Hope here!

• View the collective impact of their countless initiatives at billionacts.org/restoringhope

• See how Restoring Hope brought together Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchu and South African youth to take action in the Cape Flats community!

• Follow Restoring Hope on Facebook (@restoringhope021), Instagram (@restoringhopect) and Twitter (@restoringhopect)

• Tune in for daily messages of hope from co-founder Dale Hendricks (@daleybread7) on instagram

Re-Earth Initiative - Xiye Bastida and Joseph Wilkanowski 

Global

Key Issue-Areas: Protecting the Environment, Human Rights for All, Ending Racism/Hate

Design by the Re-Earth Initiative 

Co-founded by Xiye Bastida and Joseph Wilkanowski, the Re-Earth Initiative was created with the goal of allowing everyone to have access to the climate change movement. The group was formed on in the Spring of 2020, with the purpose of convincing concerned global citizens to make an individual and systemic pledge towards climate action. From there, Re-Earth was born and continues to bring the climate movement to everyone through global protest, events, and education programs.

Xiye and Joseph both were drawn into the climate movement after witnessing firsthand how climate change disproportionately affects different marginalized communities. Xiye and her family were forced to leave their own hometown in Mexico after being impacted by severe droughts and flooding. These experiences, among others, led her to become a voice for indigenous and immigrant visibility in climate activism worldwide. Joseph, originally from Colombia, first became involved in activism after realizing how much low-income communities are impacted by problems such as climate change. 

The Re-Earth Initiative uses a vast scale of different ways for people to positively create change in the Climate Movement. Due to Covid-19, Re-Earth was able to expand its physical project to add a digital platform to further open access for people to become involved in the Climate Movement. Re-Earth values inclusivity, accessibility, and unity in its environmental strategies. The initiative has over 300 members spanning 40 countries and strives to uplift the voices of those who have been historically marginalized to be an integral part of creating solutions to address climate issues.

Connect:

• Head over to Reearth.org to learn more about the movement
• Receive updates from Re-Earth projects and events in your mailbox!
• Take-action with the Re-Earth Initiative!
• Follow the Re-Earth Initiative on Facebook (@Re.Earthorg), Instagram (@reearthinitiative), and Twitter (@reearthinit)
• Keep updated with Xiye Bastida on Instagram (@xiyebeara) and Twitter (@xiyebastida)
• Follow Joseph on Instagram (@jospehwilk_) and Twitter (@josephwilkanow4)

Azuraye Wycoff & the Yellow Barn Farm

Longmont, Colorado

Protecting the Environment, Global Health & Wellness, Community Development

Just outside of Boulder, Colorado, sits the Yellow Barn farm, a regenerative agriculture farm founded by Azuraye Wycoff, who never envisioned that she would transform her family’s 100-acre equestrian farm into a regenerative agriculture initiative. Revitalized for low-scale, high-quality food production, community-supported agriculture, and sustainability education, The Yellow Barn Farm is committed to creating a holistic and fully integrated farming and eco-community, and to build local resilience by linking farms and communities to create sustainable food, education, and economic systems. To date, over 1k lbs of food have been produced for and alongside indigenous communities. 

The Yellow Barn is working to increase soil CO2 carbon sequestration, feed and herd animals through silvopasture farming techniques, and provide fresh food to the community. The silvopasture on Yellow Barn farm is designed to convert pasture space into a diverse woodland ecology, which feeds livestock, grows crops, and creates a healthy ecosystem. Overall, the Yellow Barn Farm includes 60+ acres of soil in regeneration and over 3,500 newly planted trees. An estimated 10,000 pounds of carbon are sequestered by the farm each year. Azuraye, along with her team and partners work every day to create a community built around regenerative and sustainable practices, education, collective action, shared resources, and collaborative play. 

Connect:

• Visit the https://www.yellowbarn.farm/ 

• Learn more about the regenerative agriculture practices at YBF!

• Sign-up for the Yellow Barn Farm monthly newsletter

• Follow them on Instagram @yellowbarn.farm or Facebook @allensfarm 

• In the Boulder, Colorado area? Get involved at the Farm!

Elliott Lancaster

Newcastle, United Kingdom

Protecting the Environment, Alleviating Poverty, Global Health & Wellness, Conflict Resolution

Elliott Lancaster is a young entrepreneur from New Castle, UK, who is on a mission to use education and technology to create healthier and more sustainable communities. Elliott Lancaster is an advocate for mental health, social enterprise, sustainability, and solutions to homelessness. In 2016, Elliot established a social enterprise and mobile app, Utter Rubbish, to address illegal waste dumping, which contaminates natural ecosystems, and update local residents on recycling policies in real-time, which helps reduce waste in a cost-effective and efficient way. 

Through the app, communities are able to better address illegal waste dumping and other sources of pollution at the source. The app also provides missing information around pollution hotspots and allows communities to create green spaces, bring awareness campaigns to the public, and compare waste management costs for communities. By creating a greater engagement with recycling and waste management, Utter Rubbish uplifts local and regional sustainability projects. The process of launching this project included governmental partnerships, stakeholder collaboration, virtual roundtables, and much more. Elliott has also created a global network of sustainable changemakers, and been strategically involved in sustainable peacebuilding initiatives in the Middle East and Cambodia. He has been recognized as Microsoft Innovative Educator, Global Student Prize Top 10, and Points of Light Awardee by the Prime Minister. Elliott continues to collaborate with officials, communities, and important stakeholders in order to advance policy-changes and innovative solutions to environmental problems.

Connect:

• Learn more about how Utter Rubbish is using technology to create more sustainable and healthy communities
• Check-out this interview where Elliott describes how social enterprises like Utter Rubbish can solve pressing environmental problems
• Follow Elliott and Utter Rubbish on Facebook (@utterrubbishltd), Twitter (@elliottkeele),  and Instagram (@utterrubbishltd)

Mitzi Jonelle Tan 

Metro Manilla, Philippines

Protecting the Environment, Advancing Women, Ending Racism/Hate, Conflict Resolution

Mitzi Jonelle Tan is a full-time Climate Justice Activist based in Metro Manila, Philippines. After meeting with Lumad indigenous leaders in 2017, Mitzi realized that “collective action and system change is what we need for a just and green society”. She is the co-founder of Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP). First assembled in 2019, YACAP is a nationwide alliance of youth organizations, individuals, and student councils whose main objective is to advocate for immediate youth-led global climate action. 

Mitzi serves as the convenor and international spokesperson for YACAP, which also functions as a chapter of  Fridays For Future (FFF). Mitzi is also an organizer with FFF International and FFF MAPA (Most Affected Peoples and Areas) which helps to make sure that voices from the Global South are centered within climate-related discussions and decisions. After a series of hurricanes hit the Philippines in 2020,  Mitzi and her YACAP assisted in rebuilding affected communities. Mitzi Jonelle Tan continues to create change by organizing youth on both the national and international level to advocate for more communities centered around people and planet. 

Connect:

• Read more about Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines at yacap.org!
• Are you a youth leader in the Philippines looking to get involved with YACAP? Click here to learn more!
• Follow YACAP on Facebook (YACAPhilippines) and Instagram (@yacaphilippines)
• Follow Mitzi and her work on Instagram (@mitzijonelle), Twitter (@mitzijonelle), and TikTok (@mitzijonelle) 
• Follow Fridays for Future MAPA on Instagram (@fridaysforfuturemapa)
• Join Fridays for Future International to #fightfor1.5

Zainab Bie

Delhi, India

Key Issue-Areas: Protecting the Environment, Advancing Women & Children,  Clean Water for All, Community Development

As a child, Zainab observed youth in India skipping school to sift through garbage dumps and came to understand that these children were gathering metals that could be sold to help support their families. These experiences led Zainab to envision a more circular economy that could advance both sustainability and economic opportunity.  Zainab soon began to study “ Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” and became the youngest to qualify for the LEED Green Associate certificate at just 17 years old! This made her the youngest sustainability professional in the world.

Zainab was a successful catalyst for several community campaigns, such as the designation of her school as a “Single-Use Plastic Free Zone.” She later created her own initiative called the SDG Era which offers the space and resources for youth across India to be involved in campaigns to advance regional and global sustainability goals. The network has continued to grow outside of India as well, and now connects changemakers from eleven countries. Zainab is also actively involved in UN level teams working on awareness and action campaigns around the SDG goals. She is a member of the Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Network, as well as UNITAR. Zainab has also spoken alongside government officials such as the Indian Prime Minister in forums around sustainable development. Zainab is deeply committed to creating more free, sustainable, and equitable communities. 

Connect:

• Learn more about Zainab & the SDG Era initiatives here!
• Join the SDG Era “Sustainable Army”
• Follow SDG Era on Facebook (@SDGera), Instagram (@sdg_era), and Linkedin (@SDGera)

Follow this link to support and learn more about the 2022 Billion Acts Awardees! We can't wait to celebrate with all of you on December 9th!