I did not leave the NSSCJ training with just ideas, I left with urgency.
Returning home, it became clear that the real work begins where training ends: in communities where challenges are not abstract, but lived realities. From unsafe water and sanitation gaps to escalating climate and environmental pressures, the need for practical, community-driven solutions is urgent.
Instead of waiting for change, I chose to build it.
Together with fellow NSSCJ-V alumni, I co-founded Green Frame Africa (GFA); a platform born from shared experience and a shared conviction that young leaders must move beyond conversations into action. What started as a network of trained individuals is evolving into a movement of practitioners working across communities to address environmental and climate change challenges at their roots.
Through GFA, we are engaging communities directly facilitating dialogue, mobilizing youth, and co-creating solutions that are not only relevant but sustainable. Whether advancing green growth practices, raising climate awareness, or strengthening local participation, our work is grounded in one belief: communities are not beneficiaries; they are leaders of their own transformation.
For me, impact is not defined by intention, but by what changes on the ground. It is reflected in conversations that shift mindsets, in small actions that build momentum, and in communities that begin to take ownership of their future.
NSSCJ did not just train me; it connected me to a network that is actively shaping change across borders. Today, that connection lives on through the work we are building, the systems we are challenging, and the future we are intentionally creating.
This is not the continuation of a program.
It is the beginning of a movement.
Written by Kadist Asrat from Ethiopia, Cohort V
