Meet our judges for the 2025 OD Impact Challenge.
Nelago Iilonga
Nelago Iilonga is a Namibian, a Loan Consultant by profession, passionate and community development as well as youth development and entrepreneurship. She holds an honors degree in Public Management, a certificate in Advanced Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy from UNITAR Division for Prosperity, a certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation, a certificate in Protocol, Diplomacy and Etiquette as well as a certificate in Public Relations, Brand Reputation Management and Media Relations. She is a Young African Leaders Initiative – YALI alumni (cohort 21, public management track), a Global Shapers Windhoek Hub (Shapeskills) alumni. In 2023 Nelago served as an Opportunity Desk judge as well as an Application Reader for the Mandela Washington Fellowship. Her article titled “Education and Employment Match” featured on page 60 – 63 of the African Union Sauti Feminine Blog, published in July 2020. When she’s not at work or church she enjoys reading a good book or going for a run.
Mohammad Jaid Alam
Mohammad Jaid Alam is an accomplished Lean and Operational Excellence expert with over 16 years of experience. Holding a Mechanical Engineering degree and an MBA in Operations Management, he is also a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Specializing in Lean healthcare. Alam has led significant improvements across patient care, including a 25% boost in operating room turnover, a 40 % reduction in OPD waiting times, and a 50% cut in Door-to-Doctor wait times in the ER, among others. His efforts have delivered measurable improvements in both patient outcomes and operational performance, generating over $15 million in value through efficiency gains and resource optimization. In recognition of his contributions, he received the Excellence Achiever Award from Saudi Arabia’s Council of Health Insurance in 2022. Alam also holds certifications in Lean Management from Toyota Engineering Corporation, Japan, and Change Agent Skills from the Lean Enterprise Institute, USA. As a seasoned mentor and speaker, he continues to drive impactful healthcare improvements, advancing patient experience across Saudi Arabia.
Princess Onome
Princess Onome is a visionary social impact leader, entrepreneur, and public speaker, best known as the Founder of the Princess Onome Youth Foundation (POYF)—a non-governmental organization committed to empowering young people to discover their purpose, maximize their potential, and influence the world with impact and integrity. Driven by a passion for youth development, POYF focuses on capacity building, leadership training, political awareness, and entrepreneurship development, equipping young men and women with the skills, confidence, and strategic mindset they need to become catalysts of positive change in their communities and beyond. Through her foundation, Princess Onome continues to shape a new generation of transformational leaders with a global outlook. A serial entrepreneur with a strong track record in the network marketing industry, she has mentored and raised over 500 entrepreneurs, helping them build sustainable livelihoods and attain personal and professional breakthroughs. As an Ambassador of Norland Industrial Group, she has distinguished herself as a top achiever, seasoned business coach, and influential voice in the African entrepreneurial ecosystem. Princess Onome’s work reflects her unwavering commitment to youth empowerment, enterprise development, and nation-building, positioning her as a rising force in leadership and human capital development across Africa.
Juan Pablo Alvarado Herrera
Juan Pablo Alvarado Herrera is a Lawyer, Psychologist, and Specialist in Social Management from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali. He has worked with organizations such as ACTRA.NGO, MCW Global, Social Outreach Office of the Faculty of Education and Pedagogy at Universidad del Valle, a public university that serves more than 35,000 low- and middle-income students across southwestern Colombia and the Leonardo Da Vinci Foundation, leading youth-centered social impact initiatives in highly vulnerable communities.
With experience in social research, consulting, and program facilitation, Juan Pablo has supported the development, leadership, and wellbeing of hundreds of children and young people across Colombia. His work focuses on expanding educational opportunities, strengthening youth leadership, and building safe and empowering environments for community transformation.
He has been recognized with multiple Napolitan Victory Awards (2023–2025) and named one of Colombia’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) for his contributions to children’s rights, peacebuilding, and human development.
Aicha Dalila YARO
Aicha Dalila Yaro is a Burkinabè social entrepreneur committed to empowering women and strengthening community resilience through creative, market-driven solutions. Her entrepreneurial spirit emerged early—at age 10 she was already selling homemade juices, combining curiosity for business with an instinct for community engagement. This dual passion has shaped her seven-year career spanning gender-based violence advocacy, nonprofit leadership, and strategic project management.
In 2015, as a student, Dalila founded Aidy Pearls, a premium social enterprise producing high-end jewelry, bags, and accessories. The brand is built on a simple idea: art and economic empowerment can coexist. Under her leadership, Aidy Pearls has trained and equipped more than 400 women with the skills needed for financial autonomy. The enterprise now operates a shop in Ouagadougou, has growing representation in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, and reaches global clients through international shipping.
Dalila is currently developing a dedicated production center that will expand training opportunities and scale the enterprise’s impact. Her journey has included overcoming significant financial barriers, which she navigated by securing key grants and mentorship support. Her advice to young changemakers is clear: work with passion, build intentionally, and stay committed to solutions that outlive you.
Hilary Gitau Mwangi
Hilary Gitau Mwangi is a strategic Criminologist, Certified Intelligence Analyst, and Security Risk Management Professional with a strong background in community development, youth empowerment, and social impact advocacy. With experience in peace-building, education advocacy, digital rights, and grassroots capacity-building through programs such as the Presidential Fellowship, TheirWorld Global Youth Ambassador initiative, and the Pan-African Youth Ambassadors for Internet Governance fellowship, Hilary brings a unique blend of analytical rigor and community-centered leadership. Passionate about sustainable development, equity, and empowering vulnerable communities, he leverages data-driven insights and field experience to evaluate initiatives that drive meaningful and measurable social change. As a former Award winning a President’s Fellow, he echoes the words of Barrack Hussein Obama, ‘Yes, I CAN’. And it is his belief that young people indeed CAN become whatever they aspire to be, given the right platform, resources and guidance.
Enoch Opare Mintah
Enoch Opare Mintah is a PhD candidate in Governance and Sustainability (Kingston University London, UK) and holds to his credit an MRes, Master of Research (Kingston University London, UK); an MBA (University of Liverpool, UK); an MSc in Governance (University of Lincoln, UK); and a bachelor’s in English from KNUST. He is the ESG Advisory lead at Leaps and Heights Services Limited, UK, and the founder of the Leaps and Heights Foundation, Ghana. He writes on sustainability issues for the International Airport Review and Illuminem. Enoch is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and a Certified Business and Management Educator (CMBE), UK. As an African voice and global speaker on sustainability and ESG issues, Enoch has been dedicated to building the next generation of climate-conscious leaders across Africa. Through initiatives like the Leaps and Heights Graduate Awards Scheme, he celebrates and empowers young sustainability changemakers in Ghana. Enoch is an author and co-editor of the landmark 2025 first African sustainability casebook publication, “Sustainability Management and Strategy: An African Casebook.” He has served as a lecturer and academic consultant in the UK, India, and China, and regularly trains and advises leading African firms on sustainability integration across the business function and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). He is the visionary behind Study Sustainability Hub, the world’s first and largest sustainability hub and marketplace, and Sustainability News Africa, a platform with a news-tracker functionality for the Africa 2063 goals. Enoch was awarded the 2025 University of Liverpool Alumni Award, the UK Prime Minister’s Point of Light Award for the Ubuntu Project, an intercultural initiative connecting UK and Ghanaian students through storytelling and educational resource exchange. Working within the sustainability nexus in academia and industry has provided him with the opportunity to work with young people from diverse backgrounds, and he believes this has given him the required exposure to engage with African youth on green skills and career development to drive Africa’s green economy, as well as encouraging neo-green labour mobility within and outside the continent.
Ron Murowe
Ron Murowe is a God-fearing, results-driven Business Development Practitioner with 15+ years of cross-sector expertise in driving revenue growth, market expansion, and operational excellence. Ronald is a skilled team implementor well adept at turning market insights into actionable strategies, business funding strategies and optimizing value chains in emerging markets.