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The next generation of changemakers continue to astonish us!
Every year, this category reminds us why we do what we do. And 2025 was no exception.
At this year’s Global Good Awards ceremony at BMA House, we had the privilege of announcing the winners of the Canon Young Champion of the Year – two young people, doing extraordinary things, completely on their own terms.
The Canon Young Champion of the Year is the only dedicated youth title at the Global Good Awards, and it exists to recognise young leaders driving positive change across any area of sustainability – and to use their examples to inspire others to act. This year’s winners were selected from a seriously strong pool of applicants by a panel of judges including Amy Brereton, Executive Director of Enactus, Katie Rabone, CEO of Community People, and Jodie Bailey-Ho – herself a Canon Young Champion runner-up in 2023 and Diana Awards winner in 2024.
Here’s a little more about them.
🎵 Samantha Fung – U16 Winner
Samantha is originally from Canada and currently studying in the Netherlands – and in between all of that, she founded Music For Every Child, a registered charity run entirely by student volunteers, which uses music therapy to support children with developmental disabilities and disadvantaged youth. Over 1,000 sessions a year, across 30 schools, reaching more than 500 children – and now expanding into Kenya, Uganda, Liberia, and Chad.
📖 Allison Choong – U21 Winner
Allison is a Malaysian youth activist and illustrator who co-created Safiya Speaks Up – a multilingual children’s book and mentor’s guide on sexual and domestic violence, which has now reached over 10,000 girls globally. Her work dismantles stigma around gender-based violence, using art and advocacy to spark conversations in classrooms and communities across Malaysia that quite simply weren’t happening before. She’s also partnered with the UN and trained educators along the way.
A huge thank you to Canon EMEA
None of this would happen without the support of Canon EMEA, who are celebrating their sixth consecutive year sponsoring this category – a milestone that coincides with the tenth anniversary of their Canon Young People Programme (CYPP). Through CYPP, Canon has worked with over 50 global partners, reaching more than 10,000 young people across Europe, the Middle East and Africa through storytelling workshops, exhibitions and speaking opportunities. It’s a long-standing, genuine commitment to using creativity and imaging for good – and it means the world to us, and to the young people we’re able to celebrate because of it.
As Canon EMEA’s Sustainability & Government Affairs Director Peter Bragg put it: “Congratulations to this year’s GGA Canon Young Champions. We celebrate the sixth cohort of winners as we also mark the ten year anniversary of the Canon Young People Programme, a milestone in our commitment to enabling young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to tell the stories that matter most to them.”
Each winner received a Canon R50 Content Creator Kit – a fitting prize for two such compelling storytellers.
To Samantha, Allison, and every young person out there quietly (or not so quietly) working to make things better: you inspire us more than you know. Keep going! 🌍
