Meet the YES! 2025 Grant Winners
Each year, the Youth Energy Summit celebrates bold ideas and young leaders shaping Africa’s clean energy future.
Our 2025 Grant Winners were selected from a competitive pool of applicants and represent a new generation of innovators, advocates, and entrepreneurs already driving real impact across the continent.
How to make the most of YES!
If you’re attending YES! 2025, their stories are a must-read.
Grant Winner's Success Stories
Sheila Wambui Wairimu
Youth Energy Advocate, Kenyatta University
“Helping organize the YES! KU event stands out as a highlight. It led to something much bigger, a signed MoU between YES! and Kenyatta University, opening up new avenues for collaboration and youth engagement in energy.
Seeing an idea grow into institutional partnership reminded me of the power youth voices can hold when given space to lead.”
Ongor Ouma Kennedy
Co-founder, SmartMicrogrid Africa
“My greatest success so far was and still is developing my prototype version alpha of Smart-Microgrid Africa and it got recognized in the IEEE KSYP competitions as one of the leading innovations.
This is because developing the prototype had me experience a lot of failures that nearly broke me and my team but we pressed on.”
Nancy Wangari
Project Engineer, CSI Energy Group
“My most profound achievement to date is the co-founding and nurturing of the Ashrafu Interactive STEM and Mentorship Program (ISMP) since 2018.
This initiative, born out of a fusion of my passion for gender equality and academic pursuits in energy, has now thrived for three impactful years.
Ashrafu ISMP is not just an organization; it is a beacon of hope centered in Laikipia, Kenya, specifically designed to empower girls from marginalized communities by providing them with transformative opportunities to embark on their journeys in STEM courses, coupled with invaluable mentorship.
My biggest success, therefore, lies in the tangible, positive change we’ve instigated in the lives of these girls, symbolizing the embodiment of my commitment to education, gender equality, and the betterment of society.”
Melanie Wamalwa
Co-Founder, Sustainergy Solutions
“My biggest success has been breaking barriers and becoming a voice for change in spaces where young women like me are often underrepresented.
Coming from a community where access to education, let alone a career in engineering, is a privilege, completing my degree wasn’t just a personal achievement—it was a symbol of possibility for other girls in similar situations. But beyond academics, my proudest accomplishment has been using my knowledge to give back.
My recent ongoing research on how to optimize mini-grid projects in different grassroot areas in Kenya inorder to achieve SDG7,which will interlinkage with SDGs 1, 3, 8, 9 and 13.
This success means a lot to me because it reflects both resilience and purpose. It proves that with the right passion and persistence, you can rise above your circumstances and use your journey to light the path for others.”
Isshack Mutalla Mohammed
Local Pathways Fellow 2025, Sustainable Development Solutions Network
“My biggest success so far is getting selected by the UN as the local pathways fellow because has deepen my knowledge in the global development and also given me the opportunity to engage in forums that I never dream of looking at where I grew up a typical village. I believe that it will help me to achieve my dream of becoming the UN Sectary-General in the future.
What makes this my biggest success is not just the idea itself, but the fact that it has inspired hope among other young people in rural areas, showing them that we don’t have to wait for change, we can build it ourselves.
It represents my growth from a survivor of hardship to a problem-solver working for impact. That transformation means everything to me. Thank you.”
Elisha Jones Nsojo,
Chairperson- IET Student Chapter, IET
“My biggest success has been designing and implementing a project that integrates DC fast charging points with photovoltaic (PV) systems a project aimed at advancing sustainable energy solutions while addressing climate and community challenges.
This innovation directly tackles two critical issues: the lack of reliable, clean energy infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) and the dependency on fossil fuels in regions with abundant solar potential.
Conclusively, this success stands out because it merges technical expertise with actionable social impact, reflecting my drive to turn visionary ideas into tools for a sustainable future a mindset I’m eager to amplify through collaboration at the Youth Energy Summit.”
Garda Rosemary
Building Services Engineer, Prodesign Engineering Consultants
“My biggest success is not something you’ll see on a certificate. It’s neither a title nor an award. It’s the subtle but strong fact that I didn’t and won’t give up. There were so many times when it would have been easier to give up, when my school fees ran out and I had to pack my things, when I watched my peers advance while I remained behind, when the idea of becoming an engineer felt more like a fantasy than a goal. But something inside of me refused to let go of the belief that I was intended for greater. And when the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship awarded me the chance to study engineering in Mauritius, I didn’t go alone I carried every young person who dared to dream in quiet.
My biggest success is my community looking at me and knowing that it can be done because I did it and I am still on the journey. It’s in showing them easier ways to get to where I am and more by making the information they need easily accessible to them. So yes, my biggest success is my resilience.”