Five Filipino youth leaders bound for One Young World 2024 Summit

Rappler will bring five exceptional Filipino youth leaders to the youth empowerment summit in Montréal, Canada

MANILA, Philippines – From over 200 participants, Rappler chose five young Filipino leaders to represent their community and causes in the One Young World 2024 Summit in Montréal, Canada, from September 18 to 21, 2024.

This group of fellows applied through Rappler’s call for participants last June.

Hailing from various sectors, the selected youth leaders are changemakers in their own communities. They will have the opportunity to listen to a lineup of inspiring speakers, share learnings with each other, and network with hundreds of young leaders from over 190 countries. Rappler CEO and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa will be among the speakers at the One Young World Summit.

Two community leaders from Luzon, two from Mindanao, and one from Visayas were selected for this program.

The five selected delegates showcased a clear sense of purpose, leadership skills and qualities, and have demonstrated a strong commitment to addressing critical issues in their respective sectors. 

Aside from bringing these five delegates to the summit, Rappler will be hosting live community chats, led by the delegates, about their advocacies. This series of One Young World live chats will take place from mid-August to early September, in various chat rooms in the Rappler Communities app.

Rappler app users will be able to directly interact with the delegates, and converse with communities concerned about their advocacies, through these live chat events. Details about these live chats can be found below.

Rhoda May Ebad — Alabel, Sarangani Province

Rhoda May Ebad is a Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairperson in Poblacion, Alabel, Sarangani Province. As a citizen journalist and youth leader, she banks on people’s stories to spark change in her community.

Ebad also leads community building initiatives and youth empowerment organizations. 

Alyssa Belda — Quezon City

Alyssa Julianne Belda is the secretary-general of Move As One Coalition, a broad civil society coalition of 140 organizations advocating for a safer and inclusive public transportation system in the Philippines. She is also co-convenor of Ilog Pasiglahin and Make It Safer Movement, which advocate for the sustainable developent of Pasig River and rights of cyclists, respectively.

Belda has been organizing communities for climate justice and sustainable mobility, and pushing for people-led urban development. 

Jerry Yubal — Baybay City, Leyte

Jerry Yubal is a campus journalist and the executive editor of Amaranth, the official student media organization of Visayas State University Main Campus. 

He recently graduated from Rappler’s Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship program and continues to contribute as a stringer. Yubal advocates for youth participation and community journalism.

Dun Abiera — General Santos City, South Cotabato

Dun Concha Abiera is the founder of Yabong Philippines, a non-profit organization that promotes youth participation in governance and media and information literacy. 

She is also the CEO of a multinational marketing agency. Abiera advocates for making digital spaces accessible and safer to everyone.

Princess Jeanne Gairanod, MD — Manila

Dr. Princess Jeanne Gairanod is the chief resident for patient services of the Philippine General Hospital–Department of Pediatrics. 

Gairanod advocates for equitable access to healthcare. Throughout her advocacy work and as a pediatrician, she led campaigns and engagements centered on core issues such as malnutrition, child protection, and teen pregnancy. 

Get to know them better and their advocacies through a series of community chat events happening from August 22 to September 13 via the Rappler Communities app. – Rappler.com

The app is downloadable, for free, from both App Store and Play Store, and can also be accessed via desktop. See the action by joining any and all chat rooms in the Communities tab.