Amanda Blankfield-Koseff

South Africa

Amanda founded The Youth Citizens Action Program (Y-CAP) in 2009 while working at the non-profit Afrika Tikkun. This was in response to the lack of active citizenship education in schools. The programme was so successful that it was moved to its own youth empowerment organization, Empowervate Trust, in 2013. The program is a project management and social entrepreneurship course that runs in hundreds of schools in collaboration with national government. Amanda holds an honors degree in organizational communication from Unisa, and an undergraduate degree from Bond University (Australia). Amanda has had experience in journalism, events management, door-to-door sales, and marketing communications. She worked as a marketing manager for six years at NPO Afrika Tikkun where she discovered her passion for youth development. She married Jak Koseff in May 2013. They have two giant cats. She loves singing, playing the guitar, composing songs, watching films, running, nature in all its splendour, human resilience, and the ability to triumph over adversity.