Ten young people were awarded the JCI Malta's Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) Award at this year's Gala Awards night held at the Palazzo Capua.
TOYP is an internationally recognized award, which celebrates the achievements and accomplishments of young people towards the betterment of society under ten different categories. This year JCI Malta received a total of 25 nominations under eight categories. The final ten were ranked by a trio of judges which were: H.E Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, US Ambassador to Malta; Mr Etienne Borg Cardona, CEO of Forestals Group and Mr Anthony P Tabone, CEO of SmartCity Malta.
The awards were given as follows:
Business / Economic / Entrepreneurial Achievement
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Dr Abdalla Kablan, founder of a new networking app called Scheduit that is set to change the way people network and create new business connections.
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Contribution to Children / World Peace / Human Rights
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Denise Farrugia D'Amato, who together with her husband had set-up a voluntary organization called 'Reaching Cambodia' aiming at raising awareness and funds to improve the lives of Cambodian children.
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Cultural Achievement
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Sean Buhagiar, for his innovative work in theatre such as the production of the popular and controversial play, 'Jiena nhobb, Inti thobb' and his artistic direction in various events such as 'Notte Bianca' and projects like 'Dr. Klown'
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Humanitarian / Voluntary Leadership
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Christine Cassar, for her involvement in disaster response work abroad and also her work in Palestine, where she runs two programmes on child health and disability in the West Bank and Gaza.
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Sarah Jane Caruana, for her active role with 'Zaghzah Azzjoni Kattolika' (ZAK) where she develops teenage children into leaders, through summer camps, youth exchanges and training courses.
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Ryan Mercieca, for the revitalization of the Gozo student organization which brought changes to better serve the needs of the Gozitan students, and the setting up of the 'Gozo Youth Council' and the 'Creative Leader Academy' as well in the setting up of the LGBTQI+ organization in Gozo.
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Moral / Environmental Leadership
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Mario Gerada, for his non-violent approach to building bridges between church authorities and the LGBTI community, as well as for having supported numerous youths in reconciling faith with their sexuality.
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Personal Improvement / Accomplishment
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Jacob Cachia, for his comeback as a survivor after being diagnosed with a brain infection that was set to claim his life, and his ordeal in overcoming three major operations. Jacob is now running an on-line support group for survivors to meet and share their experiences.
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Political, Legal or Governmental Affairs
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Dr Roberta Metsola, for her tireless work as an MEP in influencing decisions at a European Parliamentary level on various issues such as migration, working conditions, LGBT rights and many others.
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Scientific / Technological Development
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Denise De Gaetano, as a Maltese data scientist, she has been able to utilize her skills in a number of different sectors and resource projects.
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In addition, an overall award was presented to Christine Cassar who shall be nominated at a world level and if shortlisted amongst the World's Ten Outstanding Young Persons, she will be invited to receive her award at the 2016 JCI World Congress in Quebec City, Canada.
The TOYP Gala Awards night was held on Friday 23rd October.