Celebrating Exceptional Young Minds

Its time to celebrate the ten winners of our ‘Zeitgeist Young Minds’ online competition.

All are aged between 18 and 24 and have done something exceptional through science, the arts, education and innovation. They will attend Google’s annual Zeitgeist event near London on May 21 and 22, alongside some of today's greatest minds and innovators. While in London, they will participate in masterclasses and have their voices heard.



A panel of prestigious judges chose the winners. It included UK Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox, social entrepreneur and hip-hop artist Akala, award winning inventor Emily Cummins, software developer and founder of metaLayer.com Jonathan Gosier, and Channel 4 news presenter and correspondent Jon Snow.

The winners are:

• Ada Umeofia, 19 from Nigeria: WeBuilt: Africa is a design-centered social enterprise that redesigns and constructs market stalls for poverty-stricken Africans by recycling found building materials in slums. View the entr
• Alex Leboucher, 21 from France: The Schoolbag (NGO) connects young people to education and a sustainable future by enabling children to pursue an education by providing eco-friendly school supplies. View the entry
• Elliott Verreault, 23 from Sweden: It'sOneHumanity: The Humanitarian Social Network is inspiring a new humanitarian culture by leveraging the stories of humanitarian workers with the help of social media. View the entry
• James Boon, 23 from the UK: Socially responsible enterprise ElephantBranded.com, sends a school bag to a child in Asia and Africa for each product sold on the website. View the entry
• Joel Mwale, 19 from Kenya: Skydrop Enterprise Inc has brought safe drinking water to a community of 5,000 and has become a profitable enterprise from selling bottled water across Kenya and Uganda. View the entry
• Jordan Ridge, 23 from South Africa: Made by Mosaic is a job creation project fro women in South Africa addressing the challenges of economic development in the townships. View the entry
• Maaike Veenkamp, 23 from the UK: Off The Bench is a project with a core aim to empower young people through positive activities. View the entry
• Sibusiso Tshabalala, 20 from South Africa: Developed reading clubs and a library renovation programme in South Africa to encourage critical thinking and thoughtful debate within local high schools. View the entry
• Simeon Oriko, 23 from Kenya: The Kuyu Project trains school children on how to use social media for social change and promotes digital literacy. View the entry
• Simon Straetker, 19 from Germany: An independent filmmaker, promoting conservational and social projects around the world making videos that engage young people with their natural environments. View the entry

Congratulations! We're looking forward to hosting these talents here in the UK.

Posted by Elizabeth Dupuy, Event Manager, External Relations