Kehkashan Basu
Green Hope Foundation – Canada, Dubai UAE
At only 20 years old, Kehkashan Basu is already a global influencer, environmentalist, TEDx Speaker, social enterprise innovator and author. In 2012 (at age 12) she founded the Green Hope Foundation to provide a platform for engagement and empowerment of children and youth, especially those representing vulnerable groups, and turn them into changemakers who address the sustainability issues at a local level.
Born in the United Arab Emirates on June 5, World Environment Day, she has always been passionate about protecting the planet. By 8 years old she was persuading those around her of the importance of environmental action. It was not just empty talk: Kehkashan soon put her words into action by planting trees and bringing together young people locally to collect and recycle waste.
Today, the foundation has 2060 members in 16 countries across the Middle East, India, Brazil, the USA, Canada, Europe and South-East Asia. Empowering young people is Kehkashan’s passion, and she spends a lot of time personally training and guiding many of them through workshops on mangrove conservation and tree planting.
Kehkashan is a tireless civil society advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals and holds leadership positions in several organizations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she continues her advocacy work through webinars and the #WomenImpactingTheWorld series. She is the winner of 2021 the “World Literacy Award for Significant Contribution to Literacy by a Youth.”
Alongside her practical activities and international advocacy, she has also written a book called “The Tree of Hope”, in which a young girl turns a desert landscape into an oasis by planting trees and persuading her friends to join in.
Green Hope has, to date, planted over 5,000 trees worldwide. Alongside tree planting, Kehkashan encourages children and adults to make a personal pledge to the tree of hope.
Kehkashan is a 2020 L’Oreal Paris Women of Worth Honouree, and the recipient of the 2019 Innovator of the Year Award for Sustainability Education, the John Muir Conservation Award for Habitat Restoration, the Energy Globe Award, the Turner Prize for Social Change, the Lewis Perinbam Impact and Innovation Award, the Women Super Achiever Award, Winner of the World Literacy Award for for Significant Contribution to Literacy by a Young Person, Winner of Canada’s Global Energy Show Emerging Leader Award, a member of the World Humanitarian Forum Youth Council and Winner of the Pax Christi Toronto Teacher of Peace Award. A powerful voice for future generations, she has spoken at over 500 United Nations and other global fora across 26 countries.
Publications: The Tree of Hope
Website: https://greenhopefoundation.com
Video 1) Lifestory Kehkashan Basu
Video 2) TEDx: Why Youth are Key to Sustainable Development
