Young Think Tankers Pitching Contest

Tuesday, 5 September, 12:00 pm (UTC), online

To register for the event, click here.

Think tanks lie at the confluence of research and policy, and the work they generate is crucial for evidence-based policy making. As part of an ongoing initiative, Southern Voice has been engaging with Young Think Tankers (YTTs) of its network, viz., the early career researchers and policy professionals. These YTTs are future leaders and the inclusion of their voice in development policy discourse is critical for centering the youth perspectives in the global agenda.

In line with this, Southern Voice has curated a Pitching Contest in partnership with On Think Tanks. The objective of the contest is to foster collaboration among the young think tankers of the Global South. The contest call witnessed immense interest among the young researchers and received around 300 applications, out of which 10 proposals were shortlisted after a rigorous review process. These finalists belong to ten different countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The finalists are:

Azizah Fauzi, 25, Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (Indonesia)
Aiman Hadi, 33, Akkon University (Yemen)
Diego Peñaranda Molina, 25, Aru Foundation (Bolivia)
Eliasu Ali, 28, Africa Centre for Energy Policy (Ghana)
Elvis Kiptoo, 30, Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (Kenya)
Isabelle Santos, 22, Behavior, Institutions and Public Policy Research Lab (Brazil)
Ibrahim S Bangura, 31, Future Leaders Initiative SL (Sierra Leone)
Regean Mugume, 31, EPRC (Uganda)
Ronaldo Blake, 24,Caribbean Policy Research Institute (Jamaica)
Sofía Fernández Crespo, 27, CIPPEC (Argentina)

The event finale will take place online, where the participants will defend their pitches before an esteemed panel of judges:

Andrea Ordóñez (Co-chair) – Executive Director, Southern Voice
Enrique Mendizabal (Co-chair) – Founder & Director, On Think Tanks
Sofia Borges – Senior Vice President, UN Foundation (New York)
Gabrielle Andela Kelle – 1st Vice-President, The Okwelians (Cameroon)
Dr. Vaqar Ahmed – Joint Executive Director, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (Pakistan)