New CNN International Series Profiles YouthActionNet™ Leaders

Television viewers around the world are now able to trace the successes and challenges faced by two YouthActionNet™ leaders as part of a new CNN International series entitled, “Be the Change.” This new series will feature video diaries and blogs produced by six men and women who are volunteering their time and energy to serve others. YouthActionNet™ is a program, launched by the International Youth Foundation (IYF) and Nokia, that invests in the power and promise of young people to create positive change.

Among those selected to participate in the series are YouthActionNet™ Fellows Jennifer Staple, founder of Unite for Sight, an international eye health organization, and Vimlendu Jha, founder of Sweccha – We For Change Foundation. Over the past seven years, Jennifer has grown Unite for Sight from a US-based campus initiative to a global organization serving over 400,000 people. Vimlendu’s pioneering efforts to save India’s Yamuna River were highlighted in Our Time is Now: Young People Changing the World, an International Youth Foundation publication.

“An important focus of YouthActionNet™’s work is to tell the story of today’s global youth movement and the efforts of committed young social entrepreneurs like Jennifer and Vimlendu,” said IYF President and CEO William Reese. “We applaud CNN for its commitment to spotlight the efforts of young people whose far-reaching contributions often go unrecognized in the mainstream media.”