Young leaders compete to ‘change the world’

New Delhi: Nine young people from India had just five minutes to persuade a panel of judges on why their policy idea could make the world a better place. The winners have won places on Future Leaders Connect, a major initiative run by the British Council - the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

Four winners from each participating country will travel to the UK to meet the heads of policy organisations, British MPs and global leaders.Each competitor at the event at Shiv Nadar University on 7th August gave a five-minute speech explaining why their policy idea could improve the world and demonstrate that they are the leader that could make it happen.

The judging panel included Rupamanjari Ghosh- Vice Chancellor Shiv Nadar University, Tom Birtwistle - British Council Director North India, Professor Partha Mukhopadhyay - Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research and Sunny Sen - Editor, Corporate and Policy, FactorDaily were the judges and the event was watched by an audience of young people at the Shiv Nadar University and broadcasted online on British Council’s youtube channel. Competitors also took questions from both the expert panel and audience members. Almost ~450 of applicants from India had applied to become a member of the global network of emerging policy leaders this year, and two to four competitors were chosen from each country.

Competitors will join other winners from around the world to take part in a nine-day advanced policy and leadership development opportunity, including two days spent with politicians in the UK Houses of Parliament, where they will put forward their policy ideas on combating some of the world’s greatest challenges.Eleven other countries are taking part in the British Council’s Future Leaders Connect: Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Tunisia the USA and UK.

Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive of the British Council said, “An international outlook is vital for future leaders of all countries to understand and overcome the challenges our changing world presents. Through Future Leaders Connect we will help a new generation to understand practical policy development by putting them in contact with the leaders of today and helping them to develop the skills and international contacts they need to make positive change.”