YGL Mastercard Fellowship

Victoria Alonsoperez is an electronics, telecommunication, and electrical engineer, entrepreneur and inventor. She is the founder of Chipsafer, a patented platform that can track cattle remotely and autonomously. She has won numerous awards including the World Intellectual Property Organization Best Young Inventor Award and the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Young Space Leader Award. Alonsoperez is passionate about space exploration and served as chair of the Space Generation Advisory Council, a global NGO in support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications, and was the youngest member of the Space Foundation Board. Currently she is United Nations Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Daria Kaleniuk is co-founder and executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a powerful national organization that has shaped Ukraine's anti-corruption legislation and efforts. Daria's organization ensured that Ukraine’s newly elected parliament designed strong anti-corruption legislation, including the laws on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the special anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, open property registers and electronic asset declarations. Daria has also founded critical resources to track money laundering and corruption internationally.

Kerstin Forsberg is founder and director of Planeta Océano, an organization empowering coastal communities in marine conservation. As a social entrepreneur and biologist with 10 years in conservation, she’s designed and developed dozens of environmental initiatives across Peru, including research, education, and sustainable development efforts. These include building participatory platforms such as the Marine Educator’s Network of Peru, fostering community-based eco-tourism, researching shark and ray fisheries, and promoting policies for threatened species. Kerstin has served as a consultant for the inter-governmental, governmental, and private sectors, including UNESCO and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. As a public speaker, she’s presented in over 16 countries, including venues such as the Royal Geographical Society, World Economic Forum and in the context of the Ibero-American Summit. Kerstin is a Key Partner Network member of UNESCO’s Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development. She has been recognized as one of the '50 World's Greatest Leaders' by Fortune and a 'Next Generation Leader' by TIME, a top “30 under 30 Social Entrepreneur” by Forbes and one of the “10 leading social entrepreneurs in Latin America” by Univisión. She’s a Rolex Award for Enterprise Laureate, an Ashoka Fellow, Kinship Fellow and a NEAq Marine Conservation Action Fund Fellow.

Dr. Krithi K. Karanth is Chief Conservation Scientist and Director at the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Adjunct Faculty at Duke and National Centre for Biological Sciences. She has a Ph.D in Environmental Science and Policy from Duke (2008), a M.E.Sc from Yale (2003), and, B.S and B.A degrees from University of Florida (2001). Her research in India and Asia spans 21 years and encompasses many issues in human dimensions of wildlife conservation. She has conducted macro-level studies assessing patterns of species distributions and extinctions, impacts of wildlife tourism, consequences of voluntary resettlement, land use change and understanding human-wildlife interactions. She has published almost a 100 scientific and popular articles. Krithi served on the editorial boards of journals Conservation Biology, Conservation Letters and Frontiers in Ecology and Environment. She has mentored over 130 young scientists and engaged > 500 citizen science volunteers. In addition, Krithi has been covered by over 100 international news outlets including Al Jazeera Television, NPR and BBC. She is a a National Geographic Society’s 10,000th grantee and most recently was awarded the Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2019.