Junior Chamber International (JCI) South Africa, a non-profit organisation for socially active citizens age 18 to 40, has launched the Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) Awards. The awards will recognise young people who have excelled in their chosen fields and created positive change in South Africa.

“By recognising these young people, JCI South Africa hopes to raise the important contribution of socially responsible citizens in our country. The personal stories of discovery, determination and ingenuity will hopefully inspire other young people to be better leaders and create better societies,” says Bridgett Majola, Chairperson of JCI South Africa.

Majola, a finance and banking lawyer at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg, was recently chosen as as a Play Your Part Brand Ambassador for Brand SA. Play Your Part is a nationwide movement created to inspire, empower and celebrate active citizenship in South Africa. Majola's commitment to youth development and impact also earned her the honour of being named one of Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans in 2014.

Young South Africans between the ages of 18 and 40, who have excelled in various categories, may be nominated for a TOYP Award. JCI South Africa will appoint a panel of judges to select the 10 most outstanding young persons from the nominations received. The awards will be presented at an awards ceremony later in the year.

Nominations will be also submitted to the global TOYP awards, where they stand a chance of being selected as one of the 10 most outstanding young persons in the world. The international awards will take place at the 2017 JCI World Congress to be held in Netherlands in November.

“Since 1985, 11 young South Africans have been honoured as one of the Ten Outstanding Young People at the international awards, including Ms. Bongiwe Mlangeni of KwaZulu Natal (2011) and Mr Luvuyo Rani of Cape Town (2014). They were honoured for their efforts in the Business, Economic and/or Entrepreneurial Accomplishments category. Honourees selected in the past have represented the height of progress in numerous human endeavours. Many have gone on to even greater achievements, and continued to serve humanity in a variety of ways,” notes Majola.

The public can nominate a young South African who is excelling in his or her chosen field, serving the community and creating sustainable development by downloading nominations forms here: https://jci.cc/jciprograms/en/toyp.