The Seed Fund program, one of Aspire Institute’s Extended Leadership Programs, provides crucial initial funding to Aspire Leaders Program graduates with visionary ideas for community transformation. It acts as a launchpad for grassroots innovation, offering financial support and resources to bring bold concepts to life. In this year’s Seed Fund Round 1, we helped over 80 young leaders around the world turn their innovative ideas into active change, creating a positive impact in their communities worldwide.
Discover some of their inspiring work below:
Agriculture
AgriNova.Drc
Sadi Macimo | Democratic Republic of Congo
A project empowering smallholder farmers to access markets and finance, promote local livestock feed production, and add value to agricultural goods.
Let’s Cultivate Together
Ezechiel Djakpa | Benin
An initiative establishing a shared garden to enhance food security, promote agroecological practices, and strengthen social cohesion.
O’ Pasta
Maryam Siddique | Pakistan
An initiative producing natural and healthy pasta, created to provide nutritious food that helps prevent diseases such as obesity, while keeping consumers energized.
Seeds of Change
Anselma Quiñonez | Ecuador
An initiative raising awareness and providing free screenings for hypertension and diabetes, focusing on government office and high-risk workers.
Transforming Agriculture through Permaculture and Value Addition among Youth
Daniel Chibwe | Malawi
A project empowering 50 young farmers with practical skills in permaculture and chili production.
Empowering Women and Youth in Black Soldier Fly Larvae Farming
Ronald Alinaitwe | Uganda
A training initiative equipping women and youth to transform organic waste into Black Soldier Fly larvae — a sustainable, high-protein, and eco-friendly feed alternative for poultry, pigs, and fish.
Sustainable Gully Rehabilitation through Tire Vessel and Organic Waste Recycling
Loise Nkatha | Kenya
A project restoring degraded gully land by transforming waste tires into planting vessels and combining them with organic materials like manure and paper waste to revitalize soil fertility.
Community Empowerment
Reviving Reetha
Sushma Paudel | Nepal
This project revives traditional ecological knowledge by transforming Reetha into sustainable products, empowering women and youth to launch eco-friendly microbusinesses.
Clean Drinking Water
Abu Bakar | Pakistan
This project provides safe drinking water to a rural community by installing a new hand pump to replace an old, rusty one previously shared by 50 households, ensuring consistent access to clean water, improving health and daily living conditions for local families
DataBloom Africa
Henry Duah | Ghana
This initiative bridges the gap between learning and opportunity by offering foundational tech skills, mentorship, and hands-on projects that prepare students and early-career professionals for a rapidly evolving job market.
EmpowerHer
Diadié Magassa | Mali
EmpowerHer supports out-of-school girls and young women aged 15–25 who face systemic barriers to education and employment. Through a nine-week training program, participants gain marketable skills that enable them to generate income and build self-reliance.
Global Women
Ximena Sandoval | Mexico
Global Women empowers Latin American women to access international decision-making spaces through free, Spanish-language training, provides mentorship and practical skills in scholarship applications, professional development, and global advocacy
EcoVisionaire Haïti
Viergina Jeanty | Haiti
EcoVisionaire raises awareness about plastic pollution in Haiti by engaging youth and communities through education campaigns, clean-up activities, and creative upcycling of waste into useful products.
Unofficial Mentorship Program
Fatma Kuş | Poland
The program supports international students entering Poland’s tech sector through personalized mentoring, expert workshops with professionals from companies like Netflix, AWS, and access to AI tools and collaborative projects.
Global Impact Briefings
Emily Ekshian | Unites States
Global Impact Briefings brings professionals and community members together in Washington, D.C., to discuss pressing local and global challenges—from climate resilience to social equity.
Pholo Innovation & Empowerment Center
Mookho Ramokoena | Lesotho
A community-based initiative that equips youth and women with practical skills in sewing, design, and entrepreneurship.
RainSaver
Asba Durrani | Pakistan
This initiative helps families collect and store rainwater using affordable tools like plastic drums, pipes, and mesh.
EmprendeMoms
Rosa Lucia Bazan | Peru
A free 9-week training program that empowers mothers in Peru to build and grow their businesses.
Agripolymer
Vivian Kahara | Kenya
This project develops an MVP for an air-to-water generator designed to provide clean, sustainable water for underserved communities.
Rebel Guide For Difficult Times
Geovanna Gonzalez Paredes | France/Ecuador
A project that empowers people and communities with the tools and knowledge to prevent, anticipate, and respond effectively to violence through awareness, training, and accessible information.
Education
AlumBridge
Braian Song | USA & Spain
A platform connecting students with alumni mentors to offer personalized guidance, career advice, and professional networking opportunities.
Mater.ia Ed-Tech
Milko Gonzalez | Bolivia
An ed-tech platform that empowers Latin American teachers with high-quality resources, micro-courses, certifications, and tools.
Marelex Digi
Tedi Chinasho | Ethiopia
A youth-led initiative that combines legal advocacy and digital engagement to promote the conservation and sustainable use of freshwater and marine resources in Ethiopia.
Excellent Kids
Edson Morgado Boane | Mozambique
This project provides academic assistance and training to children to help them improve their Portuguese and English language skills.
StitchLab
Karen Montaño | Colombia
StitchLab is a low-cost simulator designed to strengthen suturing skills among medical and nursing students.
AI Chemisphere STEM Mentorship Program
Valentine Lahunzu | Kenya
AI Chemisphere bridges the gap between classroom science and real-world innovation by equipping secondary school students with essential STEM and AI skills.
Alas para Volar Foundation & Rural Model United Nations Initiative
Paola Cespedes | Costa Rica
Alas para Volar Foundation supports young single mothers in rural areas, providing them with scholarships, mentorship, and emotional support to continue their education and rebuild their lives.
Digital Soft Skills & Innovation Workshop
Zikrullah Faizan | Malaysia
A two-day program for secondary school students from SMK Tun Sharifah Rodziah on essential digital and creative skills.
Tech4Deaf
Flora Bansika | Tanzania
Tech4Deaf leverages artificial intelligence and digital tools to make education more inclusive for deaf students in Tanzania.
Yaku Wasi
Harol Fernandez | Peru
A volunteer-driven health education program that empowers young community leaders to promote better access to clean water and sanitation.
Rabies Awareness and Perception Among Primary and Secondary Schoolchildren
Laurie-Anne Tejiodonkeng | Cameroon
A volunteer-driven health education program that empowers young community leaders to promote better access to clean water and sanitation.
Bridging the Gap: Accessible Legal Education for Sustainable Growth
Jaela Sarango | Ecuador
A digital education platform that offers clear, practical, and accessible courses on law and administration for entrepreneurs, workers, and citizens.
Casa Nicolo – Nicolo House
Angie Lorena Leguizamon Rincon | Colombia
The project addresses the urgent problem of poor-quality education available to vulnerable Venezuelan migrant children, who face barriers to inclusion and learning opportunities.
CommuniTea
Rocio Britos | Argentina
ComuniTea is a community-based project in San Juan, Argentina, that combines nutrition and education. It offers weekly English and literacy classes inside local community kitchens (merenderos).
SafeZone
Geoffrey Banda | Zambia
SafeZone is an interactive mobile game designed to educate young adolescents in Africa about HIV/AIDS prevention, stigma reduction, and healthy decision-making.
Environment & Sustainability
Youth-Led Awareness and Training For An Ethical Food System
Abraham Morris | Liberia
This project addresses the ethical, environmental, and social impacts of factory farming in Careysburg, where industrial livestock operations contribute to soil erosion, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Seed For The Future – Environmental Education and Community Engagement in Ambalamanasy II
Joselita Rahantarisoa | Madagascar
Seed for the Future aims to combat environmental illiteracy and climate inaction by educating students.
Green Flow
Ammar Alzawareh | Jordan
Green Flow is an environmental innovation project developing a natural, low-cost water purification system using materials such as sand, charcoal, and gravel.
Phoolbatti: Turning Floral Waste to Incense Sticks
Sumi Shakya | Nepal
This project is all about turning the floral waste generated from the temples into incense sticks with natural essence.
Design & Development of an Electrical Energy Generating Speed Breaker
Yves Ndjoh | Cameroon
The Electrical Energy-Generating Speed Breaker is an innovative system that converts the kinetic energy of moving vehicles into electricity that can be used to power traffic signals and infrastructure.
Eco-Polish – Turning Banana Waste Into Green Shoe Shine
Eyasu Bulcha | Ethiopia
Eco-Polish is an eco-friendly, biodegradable shoe polish made from banana peel waste and other natural ingredients.
The Venture
Alimamy Bangura | Sierra Leone
Empowering the underserved town of over 2,500 internally displaced people that has been influenced by eco-anxiety through high-impact moringa and mangrove cultivation to rebuild the ecosystem and biodiversity loss, spur economic democracy, and livelihoods.
Healthcare
iScreen4Kids
Gabriel Agbeshie | Ghana
iScreen4Kids provides free, on-site eye screening services for school children in underserved communities.
Effect of Date Palm Pollen on Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Bassant Samier | Egypt
This project investigates the therapeutic potential of date palm pollen (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in alleviating symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Combating MPOX Through Awareness: Community-Led Sensitization and Prevention Campaign
Isatu Turay | Sierra Leone
This campaign empowers youth as Health Ambassadors to lead community-based MPOX education and prevention efforts
Healing Minds
Abdissa Awel | Ethiopia
Healing Minds is a 9-week psycho-education program for cancer patients in Addis Ababa.
Community Health Workers ConnectBot
Egide Tuyisingize | Rwanda
An AI-powered multilingual chatbot designed to support community health workers in Rwanda by providing real-time health information, patient education materials, and decision-support tools to improve service delivery at the community level.
Development of a Novel Theranostic Agent for Alzheimer’s Treatment
Ahsen Ceylan | Turkiye
This project focuses on developing a novel nanotechnology-based theranostic system for Alzheimer’s treatment.
Technology
CiaoNest
Momina Kanwal | Pakistan
CiaoNest is an AI-powered student housing platform that connects university students with verified, affordable accommodations.
