Rise partners with trusted global organisations in the public, private, and social sectors—including schools, non-profits and businesses—to elevate and support talented youth worldwide. The programme connects these future leaders with needs-based scholarships, networking opportunities, and the potential for additional funding as they tackle the world's most pressing problems.

Learn about the seven Rise global winners that are attributed to UWC:

Paing Thu Thu Khin

Paing is a Burmese community leader who is passionate about providing educational equity for young girls in rural Myanmar. Motivated by her desire to uplift marginalized communities, Paing’s Rise project aims to demystify a normal bodily function by providing menstrual education to nunneries serving orphaned girls and refugees. Paing is attending UWC Changshu China on scholarship and plans to use her education to create an equitable future for all in her country.

Çağan Okur

Çağan currently attends UWC Mostar and is a Turkish philosophy and physics enthusiast. Driven by his desire to address the challenges faced by people with autism, Çağan developed a VR-compatible electronic circuit for his Rise project to assist with the diagnosis of autism that created VR spaces for therapy-based education. As a dedicated advocate for autism awareness, Çağan has conducted seminars, organised science sessions and created educational resources in multiple languages. Through his efforts, Çağan has reached thousands of people and made a significant impact on the autism community and hopes to scale this solution for the global autism community. Outside of academic interests, Çağan enjoys basketball and music, especially playing piano.

Retaj Ahmed Hassab Elnabi Gamie 

Retaj is a Sudanese refugee and an Amala Alumnus who participated in the UWC-Amala Changemaker Foundation Programme in Amman, Jordan with a passion for empowering her community. She finds her soul among trees and nature and is driven by her desire to help refugees integrate into their host societies. Retaj created PwrGee, for her Rise project, a series of workshops designed to impart entrepreneurship skills. Her project has instilled hope and fostered community among refugee youth. As a dedicated advocate for refugees, Retaj aspires to establish an educational centre to rehabilitate refugees and advocate for their rights on global stages such as the United Nations.

Eloi Prat Padró

Eloi is a Catalan teen studying at UWC Mahindra in India with a passion for technology and community engagement. For his Rise project, Eloi developed Nisha News of the Valley!, a digital newsletter in Marathi that aims to empower local students by providing a platform for them to explore interests, contribute to public discourse, and foster civic responsibility. Eloi aspires to become a great scientist and innovator whilst also being dedicated to his family and country.

Marika Pescosolido 

Marika is an aspiring physicist and passionate flamenco dancer from Rome, Italy. For her Rise project, she wrote a paper describing the sustainable waste-to-energy plant infrastructure she designed to eliminate carbon emissions and toxic pollutants. She has won numerous awards, including a UWC scholarship to attend UWC Robert Bosch College in Germany and participated in the prestigious National Summer School of Astronomy and Excellence. She plans to study physics and astronomy so she can answer the crucial questions and pressing challenges of the world, and ultimately help humanity as a whole.

Gokul Shrestha

Gokul, a Nepalese scholar, aims to collaborate with changemakers and solve humanity's pressing problems. He developed a cost-effective, corn-based filtration system to combat water pollution in his community. Despite growing up with limited resources, Gokul remains steadfast in his pursuit of knowledge and desire to make a lasting difference.

Diego Mauricio Flores Tavera

Mauricio is a Bolivian engineer who is driven by an insatiable curiosity and love for problem-solving. For his Rise project, he created an innovative recyclable exoskeleton to alleviate strain in labour-intensive jobs and promote recycling awareness. Mauri plans to pursue biomechatronics to develop advanced prosthetics and inspire others to make a positive impact.

 

The 2024 Rise Global Winners include the programme’s first winners from Bolivia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Niger, Panama, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Serbia, Sudan and Syria, with 49 nationalities represented in total. This year’s Winners are a diverse group of talented and driven young people who are committed to building a better future through innovative ideas and solutions, including a fully automated street cleaning robot, an eco-friendly fishing net alternative, increasing accessibility to quantum computing education for primary and secondary school students, and a 3-D printed mind-controlled prosthetic arm.

The Rise community – now spanning 400 winners and 1,600 finalists from 103 countries and nationalities – is committed to improving the quality of life for more people, enhancing human health and opportunity, and preserving as well as restoring essential planetary systems now and in the future. For more information, please visit: http://www.risefortheworld.org.