Introducing the 2026 Winners

Grand Prize

Smart Israel

Founder/CEO, Smartel Agri Tech

Smart Israel is a Nigerian innovator and entrepreneur. Growing up in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, he witnessed how resource conflict, displacement, and climate change fueled hunger and malnutrition in his community. Inspired by those experiences, he founded Smartel, a climate-tech enterprise enabling climate-vulnerable communities to grow food without soil in almost any environment using AI-enabled, solar-powered hydroponic systems. Smartel has deployed over 3000 systems, helping thousands of farmers and families gain sustainable access to nutritious food. Winning the Global Citizen Waislitz Award will help Smartel reach 5,000 more households with affordable, climate-smart food production and expand its community hydroponic hub model.

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Disruptor Award

Diana Yousef

Founder/ CEO, change:WATER Labs

While working for NASA, Diana Yousef realized astronauts face the same challenge as HALF the world's population: they can’t simply flush away waste. No other invention has saved more lives than the flush toilet, yet 4.2B people still can't access one, because they lack water or sewer infrastructure. So, Diana & her change:WATER Labs team developed the "iThrone", a waterless, sewerless toilet that rapidly shrinks waste by evaporating its water content, making safe sanitation cheaper, cleaner & more deployable beyond the limits of infrastructure. iThrone toilets have already improved safe toilet access for >20K people in Uganda, Panama & the US. Winning this Award will help scale iThrone distribution to millions more by next year, amplifying its mission to make safe, sustainable sanitation possible for everyone, everywhere.

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People's Choice

Oghenekevwe William Emadago

Founder/COO, Girlified LTD

Oghenekevwe William Emadago is an O’Shaughnessy Fellow, PhD researcher, and co-founder of Girlified. Growing up in Northern Nigeria, he saw first-hand how girls miss school simply because they couldn't afford or access sanitary pads. He knew no girl should have to choose between her education and her period. This led him to found Girlified, where they transform agricultural waste into affordable and accessible sanitary pads that fight both period poverty and plastic pollution. Since 2021, they have produced over 2.8 million pads and reached more than 70,000 women and girls. Winning the Global Citizen Award will help him scale this innovation to reach 10 million women and girls annually by 2030.

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About the Awards

Celebrating its twelfth year, The Global Citizen Waislitz Awards are annual cash prizes totaling $300,000 that recognize the excellence of individuals in their work to end extreme poverty. The grand prize and two additional prizes are $100,000 each, for a total of three prizes. The awards are presented by the Waislitz Foundation and Global Citizen. The Waislitz foundation exists to create a positive social impact locally and globally through innovative projects that empower individuals to meet their full potential and make a measurable difference to the world.

“Ending extreme poverty is not a choice, it's an obligation. My hope is that it will inspire many thousands of people around the world to do what they can to improve the living standards of those in dire need," Chairman and Founder of the Melbourne-based Waislitz Foundation, Alex Waislitz.

The Waislitz foundation exists to create a positive social impact locally and globally through innovative projects that empower individuals to meet their full potential and make a measurable difference to the world.

Prize Details

The 2026 Global Citizen Waislitz Awards feature three awards totaling $300,000 USD. They will be profiled in editorial pieces that will be featured on the Global Citizen platform and social media.

🏆 Global Citizen Waislitz Prize
$100,000 winner based on all five criteria below

🚀  Disruptor Award
$100,000 winner who excels in the “Disruption” criteria

⭕️ Global Citizens’ Choice Award
$100,00 winner selected with input from online voting from the Global Citizen community

Evaluation Criteria

  • Global Citizenship
    How does the applicant embody and exemplify the values and practices of a Global Citizen?
  • Proof of Concept
    Does the applicant have a strong proof of concept with at least 1-2 years of impact towards ending extreme poverty?
  • Disruption
    Has the applicant created measurable impact in an innovative manner that disrupts the systems that allow for extreme poverty to exist?
  • Scalability
    How would this award enable/support the applicant to scale or improve their work?
  • Adaptability
    Can the applicant demonstrate examples of their ability to adapt and evolve to changing conditions?

Previous Winners

2025 WINNER

Osei Boateng

Osei Boateng is a Ghanaian healthcare entrepreneur driven by personal loss after losing his grandmother and aunt to preventable conditions. He founded the OKB Hope Foundation, which delivers mobile primary and preventive care to underserved communities. The foundation has served 10,000+ people across 80 rural communities and provided mental health support to 3,000+ students.

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2024 WINNER

Dysmus Kisilu

Dysmus Kisilu, founder of Solar Freeze, provides solar-powered cold storage to Kenyan farmers, boosting yields and reducing losses. A 2018 Obama Leaders Fellow, MIT Fellow, and Mandela Washington Fellow, he integrates AI to optimize harvests. His “Each One, Teach One” initiative trains youth in renewable energy for agriculture. The Waislitz Global Citizen Award will help him support 1 million farmers by 2030.

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2023 WINNER

Peter Njeri

Peter Njeri, a Royal Academy of Engineering Fellow and co-founder of Mega Gas Alternative Energy, converts plastic waste into clean cooking gas for low-income families. Growing up in Soweto, he experienced indoor air pollution firsthand and developed a patented solution now serving 10,050 families in Kenya. A Microsoft #Insider4Good Fellow and UN WFP Fellow, he holds a marketing degree and a leadership diploma from Cambridge. The Waislitz Global Citizen Award will help him reach 5,400 more families monthly.

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2022 WINNER

Kristin Kagetsu

Kristin Kagetsu is one of the co-founders/CEO of Saathi, a social enterprise in India that has an inclusive product and model to address lack of access to menstrual products in a sustainable way. She worked on multiple projects including plastic recycling, waste management & natural product development with MIT Design Lab (D-Lab) in Brazil, Nicaragua, & India.

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2021 WINNER

Bina Shrestha

Bina Shrestha, a determined South Asian entrepreneur, co-founded Build up Nepal to make housing safe and affordable after Nepal’s earthquake left 800,000 homes destroyed. Her eco-friendly brick solution reduces costs and creates jobs in poor villages. So far, Build up Nepal has helped 300 entrepreneurs construct 6,000 houses and create 2,900 jobs. With a goal of 200,000 homes by 2030, the initiative aims to disrupt the polluting fired brick industry linked to child labor.

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2020 WINNER

Haroon Yasin

At 19, Haroon Yasin founded his for company, settuping slum schools to teach street children. Nine years later, he launched Orenda, creating an engaging digital curriculum that integrates learning into daily life. Orenda’s mobile app has reached over 500,000 children, and its content, vetted by Pakistan’s government, has aired on national TV to 54 million people, many without access to education.

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2019 WINNER

Charlot Magayi

Charlot Magayi, founder and CEO of Mukuru Stoves, is an eco-entrepreneur on a mission to eradicate household air pollution in Africa. With over 7 years’ experience in the cookstove industry, Charlot believes in a world where every household is smoke-free and has dedicated her time, skills and knowledge to work towards achieving this dream.

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2018 WINNER

Koketso Moeti

Koketso Moeti saw the potential of cellphones to amplify the voices of poor women and hold the government accountable. Working to turn every cell phone into an active citizenship tool, Koketso founded amandla.mobi which is now a movement of over 900,000 active citizens across South Africa who campaign against poverty.

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2017 WINNER

Wilma Rodrigues

Wilma Rodrigues, founder and CEO of Saahas Zero Waste believes in persistence and practicality. Wilma has had a diverse career path – from being a tour guide and German language translator in the eighties, to a business journalist in the nineties, and for the past 18 years a pioneer in the Waste Management Industry. When not at work, Wilma likes to spend her time planting and nurturing trees, making compost and being around family.

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2016 WINNER

Clarisse Uwineza

Clarisse Uwineza, whose Environmental Protection and Organics organization focuses on converting organic waste into fertilizer in Rwanda, said that her project will “help reduce waste and empower farmers to produce more food.” Her BIORGOFERT project converts bio-organic waste into an environmentally friendly and clean fertilizer.

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2015 WINNER

Twesigye Jackson Kaguri

Twesigye Jackson Kaguri, the director of Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project, won the 2015 prize for his work in making education more accessible to AIDS orphans in Uganda. This includes developing schools but also helping the women - or “grandmothers” as he calls them - who raise these orphans.

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2014 WINNER

Anoop Jain

Anoop Jain, the founder of Humanure Power, won the 2014 prize for his work in rural India building sanitation facilities. Anoop believes that building toilets addresses the underlying causes of poverty, which affect broader health, social, and economic change desperately needed in India.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Global Citizen?

Global Citizen is a movement that inspires and empowers millions of people around the world to learn and take action in support of the most critical issues facing humanity. We work with global artists, influencers, and sports figures, to use their voice to create change and achieve our mission of ending extreme poverty. This leads corporate, government, and philanthropic leaders to make commitments in support of achieving the Global Goals. Global Citizen is a powerful social advocacy platform that has inspired real change impacting the lives of more than 1 billion people.

Who is Alex Waislitz?

Alex Waislitz is the founder of the Waislitz Foundation. The Waislitz foundation exists to create a positive social impact locally and globally through innovative projects that empower individuals to meet their full potential and make a measurable difference to the world.

Who is eligible to apply?

Entrants aged eighteen (18) years of age or older from anywhere in the world are eligible to apply for the awards. 

Can I nominate someone for the Awards?

No, applicants must apply for the awards themselves.

Are the awards for organizations as well as individuals?

The awards are for individuals or individual representatives of organizations. The prize will be awarded to an individual, but the money will be allocated to the organization that the individual works for.

Do you only accept non-profits?

No. We accept applications from any individual who is doing impactful work and who has a registered legal entity such as non-profit, for-profit, B-corp, social enterprise, etc.

I have a lot of great ideas, but am just starting out. Am I eligible for the Awards?

We are glad you are passionate about making a difference in the global community. However, these awards are for individuals who have demonstrated impact towards ending extreme poverty over a minimum of 1-2 years.

What does the judging criterion “Global Citizenship” mean?

Please reference the Global Citizen Manifesto

When does the application open? When does it close?

The application opens for submissions at 10:00AM PST on Tuesday, May 19th, 2026 and closes at 5:00pm PST on Sunday, June 14th 2026.

Can I apply in a language other than English?

Unfortunately, at this time we are only able to accept applications in English.
You are welcome to draft your application in another language and send us a translation. We are judging you on the criteria, not your expression.

What is the evaluation criteria?

Entrants will be evaluated based on individual merit, including the following five (5) key areas

  • GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: How does the applicant embody and exemplify the values and practices of a Global Citizen? (See Global Citizen manifesto)
  • PROOF OF CONCEPT: Does the applicant have a strong proof of concept with at least 1-2 years of impact towards ending extreme poverty? 
  • DISRUPTION: Has the applicant created measurable impact in an innovative manner that disrupts the systems that allow for extreme poverty to exist?
  • SCALABILITY: How would this award enable/support the applicant to scale or improve their work? 
  • ADAPTABILITY: Can the applicant demonstrate examples of their ability to adapt and evolve to changing conditions?

What is the grand prize and how is the winner chosen?

The Global Citizen Waislitz Award grand prize is a cash prize of $100,000 USD. 

Entrants will be evaluated based on individual merit, including the following five (5) key areas

  • GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: How does the applicant embody and exemplify the values and practices of a Global Citizen? (See Global Citizen manifesto)
  • PROOF OF CONCEPT: Does the applicant have a strong proof of concept with at least 1-2 years of impact towards ending extreme poverty? 
  • DISRUPTION: Has the applicant created measurable impact in an innovative manner that disrupts the systems that allow for extreme poverty to exist?
  • SCALABILITY: How would this award enable/support the applicant to scale or improve their work?
  • ADAPTABILITY: Can the applicant demonstrate examples of their ability to adapt and evolve to changing conditions?

The grand prize winner will be selected by the Waislitz Foundation based on the five (5) criteria listed above.

What are the additional prizes and how are the winners chosen?

There are two additional prizes at $100,000 each: the Global Citizen Waislitz Disruptor Award, and  the Global Citizens’ Choice Waislitz Award 

Entrants will be evaluated based on individual merit, including the following five (5) key areas:

  • GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: How does the applicant embody and exemplify the values and practices of a Global Citizen? (See Global Citizen manifesto)
  • PROOF OF CONCEPT: Does the applicant have a strong proof of concept with at least 1-2 years of impact towards ending extreme poverty? 
  • DISRUPTION: Has the applicant created measurable impact in an innovative manner that disrupts the systems that allow for extreme poverty to exist?
  • SCALABILITY: How would this award enable/support the applicant to scale or improve their work? 
  • ADAPTABILITY: Can the applicant demonstrate examples of their ability to adapt and evolve to changing conditions?
  • The Waislitz Global Citizen Disruptor Award will be awarded to an individual who excels in the “Disruption” criteria.

The Waislitz Global Citizens’ Choice Award will be selected with input from public online voting by the Global Citizen community.

What is the judging process?

Applicants will be judged against criteria by a group of judges appointed by Global Citizen.

Semi-finalists will be selected and notified by July 3rd, 2026. Those semi-finalists will move forward to a public vote and final round of judging.

From the semi-finalists, 3 winners will be selected by the Waislitz foundation and notified by August 3rd, 2026.

What happens if I am a semi-finalist?

If you are selected as a semi-finalist, we will reach out to you to request a headshot and bio for the public vote. We may also request supplemental financial information.

What weight does the public vote have in determining the Global Citizens’ Choice Award winner?

The public vote is a factor in determining the Waislitz Global Citizens’ Choice Award but not the only factor. The winner will be chosen by the Waislitz Foundation taking into account the results of the public vote and the five (5) criteria listed previously. 

When will I find out if I am a winner? 

You will be notified of your application status on or around August 3rd, 2026. 

If I am a winner, do I have to spend the award money a certain way? 

No. Any award money is unconditional. However, we do require winners to agree to provide regular written updates to Global Citizen and the Waislitz Foundation on their use of the cash prize.

Where can I ask questions not covered here?

If you have any questions that are not answered on the awards’ information page or in these FAQs, please email youthprize@globalcitizen.org. Regretfully, we will only be able to respond to questions not answered here.