Grassroot Soccer Alums Among Young Leaders at Women Deliver 2013

From May 28-30, government leaders, policymakers, healthcare professionals, NGO representative, corporate leaders, and global media outlets convened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for Women Deliver 2013, a global conference focused on the health and empowerment of girls and women. In conjunction with the conference, Women Deliver selects, from thousands of applicants, a group of inspiring and dedicated young people under the age of 30 who are working to improve the lives of women and girls as the “Women Deliver 100 Young Leaders.” This year 3 of the 100 have ties to Grassroot Soccer.

Lizzie Waya and Elise Braunschweig at Women Deliver 2013.

Elise Braunschweig, currently earning her Master’s in Public Health in Developing Countries degree at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, was previously a key member of the GRS team in Africa responsible for project management. Among her many contributions to GRS, she helped launch and expand our Skillz Street program for girls in South Africa, which in 2012 was selected to the “Women Deliver 50,” a compilation of the 50 most inspiring ideas and solutions that are delivering for girls and women across the globe. She currently continues to provide insight to GRS on leveraging our work. You can see more about Elise and her work in this Huffington Post story.

Lizzie Waya, from Malawi, is currently a youth advocate and board member for Family Planning Association of Malawi, committed to enhancing access to sexual and reproductive health information. Lizzie previously served as a GRS Coach in our Malawi partnership with the Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation; in fact, she was one of our first coaches there and participated in our first Malawi Training of Coaches in 2008.

Yemurai Nyoni, from Zimbabwe, is a UNFPA Youth Family Planning Ambassador and chairs the National Young People’s Network on Sexual and Reproductive Health, HIV and AIDS. A native of Bulawayo, the home of GRS’s longest-running program, Yemurai trained and served as a GRS Coach for a short time prior to moving on to his current leadership roles.

You can view more information about these and the other Women Deliver 100 Young Leaders here.

Grassroot Soccer is proud to see these members of the GRS family stepping up to meet the challenges of creating a better world for girls and women.