T&T young leaders named in QECT 100 awards

Two na­tion­als are among re­cip­i­ents of the Queen Eliz­a­beth II Com­mon­wealth Trust 100 Young Lead­ers Awards 2026.

The awards mark what would have been the 100th birth­day of Queen Eliz­a­beth II on April 21. The Trust named 100 awardees from across the Com­mon­wealth fol­low­ing a se­lec­tion process that re­viewed ap­pli­ca­tions from mul­ti­ple coun­tries.

The re­cip­i­ents from Trinidad and To­ba­go are Re­nee Eliz­a­beth Niomie Atwell, Founder and Ex­ec­u­tive Di­rec­tor of Girls of Im­pact T&T; and Maya Kir­ti Nanan, Founder and Di­rec­tor of the Autism Sib­lings and Friends Net­work. Man­ag­ing Di­rec­tor of Sur­vival Schol­ars, Daw­sh­er Charles, who is based in Trinidad and To­ba­go, was recog­nised for Grena­da.

The Trust said the awardees rep­re­sent work in ed­u­ca­tion and em­ploy­a­bil­i­ty, en­vi­ron­ment, food and agri­cul­ture, health, and in­clu­sion. It said the pro­gramme will in­clude en­gage­ments, train­ing, and net­work­ing ac­tiv­i­ties.

British High Com­mis­sion­er Jon Dean said the se­lec­tion re­flects par­tic­i­pa­tion from Trinidad and To­ba­go with­in the group of awardees. He said the re­cip­i­ents re­flect val­ues linked to ser­vice and youth par­tic­i­pa­tion.

Chair Stephen Ball said the awards mark the cen­te­nary of the Trust’s found­ing pa­tron and recog­nise young peo­ple across the Com­mon­wealth. He said the pro­gramme high­lights work linked to com­mu­ni­ty ini­tia­tives and op­por­tu­ni­ties for young peo­ple.

Atwell leads Girls of Im­pact T&T and serves as Pub­lic De­fend­er. Her work in­cludes pro­grammes on lead­er­ship, men­tor­ship, and civic en­gage­ment. She has rep­re­sent­ed the re­gion at meet­ings of the Unit­ed Na­tions, CARI­COM, and UN­ESCO.

Nanan leads the Autism Sib­lings and Friends Net­work and serves as Ad­min­is­tra­tor of Rahul’s Club­house. Her work in­cludes pro­grammes for autis­tic youth and fam­i­lies. She was named Com­mon­wealth Young Per­son of the Year 2023.

Charles leads Sur­vival Schol­ars. Her work in­cludes pro­grammes us­ing pup­petry to teach life skills to chil­dren. Her ini­tia­tives op­er­ate in com­mu­ni­ties and in­clude train­ing for youth.

Recog­ni­tion events are ex­pect­ed to take place across Com­mon­wealth coun­tries with sup­port from British High Com­mis­sions.