Global Citizen and the Waislitz Foundation announce the 2025 Global Citizen Waislitz Award Winners

New York City, Melbourne, Australia | August 6, 2025 - Global Citizen, the world’s leading international advocacy organization, and the Waislitz Foundation, working to create positive impact, locally and globally through innovative projects that empower individuals, today announced Osei Boateng of Ghana as the winner of the 2025 Global Citizen Waislitz Grand Prize Award. Other 2025 award recipients are Maryanne Gichanga of Kenya, who receives the Global Citizen Waislitz Disruptor Award, and Joshua Ichor of Nigeria, who receives the Global Citizen Waislitz People’s Choice Award. 

Now in its eleventh year, the Global Citizen Waislitz Award continues to champion the fight against extreme poverty by recognizing individuals making extraordinary impacts in their communities. With a total of USD $300,000 awarded annually, each of the three prize winners receives USD$100,000 to further advance their organization’s work. Applicants are evaluated on individual merit across five key criteria: global citizenship, proof of concept, disruption, scalability, and adaptability. 

To date, the awards have honored 32 changemakers from around the world including Bangladesh, Colombia, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, the United States and more, with the Waislitz Foundation disbursing over USD$2.35 million in support of grassroots solutions to end extreme poverty NOW. 

“Since 2014, the Waislitz Foundation and Global Citizen have partnered to spotlight those who are driving grassroots change in the fight against ending extreme poverty. Now, 11 years on, I am immensely proud that we have recognized 32 remarkable young leaders from 15 countries whose efforts are creating sustainable, transformative impact in their communities and beyond,” said Alex Waislitz, Chairman and Founder of the Melbourne-based Waislitz Foundation and a recent recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). “This year’s recipients, Osei Boateng, Maryanne Gichanga and Joshua Ichor exemplify the extraordinary impact and innovation we set out to recognize and support. I congratulate them and remain committed, along with the Waislitz Foundation, to supporting and growing these awards for many years to come.”

"For over a decade, the Waislitz Foundation has stood alongside Global Citizen in our shared mission to end extreme poverty. Together, we’ve helped scale the work of 32 courageous leaders creating positive impact in their communities," said Hugh Evans, Co-Founder & CEO, Global Citizen. "We’re proud to celebrate this year’s winners, three bold changemakers whose impact is immediate and lasting. Their work is a powerful reminder that meaningful progress most often comes from community-driven solutions.”

Global Citizen Waislitz Grand Prize Winner: Osei Boateng, of Ghana
Osei Boateng is a healthcare entrepreneur from Ghana whose mission is driven by personal loss. After losing his grandmother and aunt to preventable conditions due to poor access to care, he committed his life to transforming healthcare for underserved communities. He is the founder and executive director of OKB Hope Foundation which provides primary and preventive care through health vans equipped with medical supplies and staffed by experienced healthcare providers. Under his leadership, the foundation has served over 10,000 individuals in 80 rural communities and delivered mental health education and resources to over 3,000 students. Osei envisions shifting healthcare from a reactive to a proactive approach. The Global Citizen Waislitz Grand Prize Award will enable Osei to expand the mobile fleet, reach more remote areas, and scale a proven, life-saving model that ensures no one is left behind due to geography.

Global Citizen Waislitz Disruptor Award Winner: Maryanne Gichanga, of Kenya
Raised by a smallholder farmer in Kenya, Maryanne saw her mother struggle to feed the family as pests, poor soils, and climate shocks wrecked their crops, forcing her brother to drop out of school due to poverty. That pain shaped her purpose. Maryanne co-founded AgriTech Analytics to equip smallholder farmers, especially women and youth with an AI-powered IoT sensor that conducts onsite soil health diagnostics in 4 minutes and also detects pests and diseases in real time. They now serve 9,930 farmers monthly, enabling up to 75% yield gains and 63% lower farm input costs. The Global Citizen Waislitz Disruptor Award will help Maryanne onboard 15,000 smallholder farmers each month and reclaim 135,000 hectares of degraded land to end poverty from the ground up.

Global Citizen Waislitz People’s Choice AwardWinner: Joshua Ichor of Nigeria
Joshua Ichor is a Nigerian hydrologist who nearly lost his life to a waterborne illness in 2010. That moment inspired his mission to end water poverty. In 2021, he founded Geotek Water Solutions, which builds solar-powered water kiosks and real-time water monitoring systems that detect contamination and water infrastructure failure. His organization operates in conflict-affected and underserved communities across Nigeria and the Sahel. Since launch, it has installed over 1,000 water infrastructure and monitoring systems, delivering clean water to more than 100,000 people. His work reduces water infrastructure downtime and restores water access in fragile communities. The Global Citizen Waislitz People’s Choice Award will enable Joshua to further scale Geotek’s work to reach 200,000 people by 2026 and expand into five new regions in Africa. 

Previous Global Citizen Waislitz Grand Prize Award winners include: 

• Dysmus Kisilu, Founder and CEO of Solar Freeze
• Peter Njeri, CEO of Mega Gas Alternative Energy
• Kristin Kagetsu, Co-Founder and CEO, Saathi
• Bina Shrestha, Co-Founder Build up Nepal 
• Haroon Yasin, Co-Founder and Chairperson of Orenda
• Charlot Magayi, Founder and CEO of Mukuru Clean Stoves
• Koketso Moeti, Founder and Executive Director of amandla.mobi
• Caitlin Barrett, CEO of Love Mercy Foundation
• Tabitha Mpamira-Kaguri, Founder and Executive Director of EDJA Foundation
• Wilma Rodrigues, Founder, and CEO of Saahas Zero Waste
• Clarisse Uwineza, for her work converting organic waste into fertilizer in Rwanda
• Twesigye Jackson Kaguri, Director of Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project, working to make education more accessible to AIDS orphans in Uganda
• Anoop Jain, Founder of Humanure Power, for his work in rural India building sanitation facilities. 

Click here for more information about the 2025 Waislitz Global Citizen Awards.

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