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Six years of building inclusive circular economy solutions recognised at the Global Excellence & Leadership Awards Africa 2026
Michelle Korevaar has been awarded the Outstanding Female Leader in Sustainability & Social Equity 2026 at the Global Excellence & Leadership Awards Africa 2026, recognising more than six years of leadership in developing innovative, community-centred solutions that address plastic pollution while creating meaningful social and economic opportunities.
As Founder and Executive Director of ChangeMakersHub and the EcoChangeMakers Programme, Michelle has championed a vision that environmental sustainability and social equity must go hand in hand. Her work has focused on ensuring that vulnerable communities are not left behind as the world transitions towards a more sustainable and circular economy.
The EcoChangeMakers Programme was created to bridge a critical gap: empowering citizens with the awareness, know-how, opportunities, and support needed to become active participants in environmental solutions. Through schools, youth engagement, experiential learning, skills development, community action projects, and behaviour change initiatives, the programme has demonstrated how environmental challenges can be transformed into opportunities for education, empowerment, and economic inclusion.
At the heart of the programme is a scalable blueprint designed to be easily adopted and replicated. Through its Train-the-Trainer philosophy, EcoChangeMakers enables like-minded NGOs and community organisations to become part of a growing network of changemakers while advancing their own community development goals. This approach accelerates impact, builds local ownership, and creates pathways for sustainable long-term change.
The programme’s reward and recognition model further encourages participation by making sustainability engaging, measurable, and accessible. Learners, educators, youth, and community members are incentivised to take action while developing skills that prepare them for emerging opportunities within the green economy.
“This recognition is not about one individual,” says Michelle Korevaar. “It reflects the collective efforts of educators, learners, community leaders, partners, volunteers, and supporters who believe that real change happens when people are empowered to become part of the solution. Lasting impact is created when environmental action also creates opportunities for people.”
The award comes at a time when communities worldwide are facing increasing environmental pressures, growing resource constraints, and the urgent need for practical, scalable solutions that deliver measurable outcomes.
Looking Ahead: A New Opportunity for Collaborative Impact
Building on the success and learnings of the EcoChangeMakers model, 2026 marks an exciting next chapter.
Michelle has been invited to contribute to the Dutch Water Authorities’ Blue Deal South Africa Project in Theewaterskloof, an area of strategic importance to the Western Cape’s water security and the broader resilience of the region.
The opportunity provides a platform to explore how citizen participation, environmental stewardship, skills development, circular economy principles, and community engagement can work together within a place-based model that delivers measurable and visible outcomes.
Working alongside an ecosystem coalition of partners, stakeholders, and community representatives, the initiative seeks to demonstrate how collaborative action can strengthen environmental resilience while creating meaningful social and economic value.
For businesses seeking credible and relevant Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), Socio-Economic Development (SED), Corporate Social Investment (CSI), and sustainability partnership opportunities, this represents an opportunity to participate in practical action rather than simply supporting awareness initiatives.
At a time when organisations are increasingly being called upon to demonstrate authentic commitment to sustainability, the Theewaterskloof initiative offers a pioneering opportunity to become involved in a measurable, visible, and impactful programme with the potential to inform future replication and scaling.
Partners interested in contributing to environmental resilience, water stewardship, youth development, community empowerment, skills transfer, and circular economy innovation are encouraged to engage early as the initiative evolves towards its Impact 2030 vision.
By bringing together communities, civil society, business, educators, and public sector stakeholders, the goal is clear: to create a model that demonstrates how environmental restoration and social development can be achieved together, ensuring that no one is left behind in the transition to a sustainable future.
About EcoChangeMakers
EcoChangeMakers is a community-centred environmental education and action programme developed by ChangeMakersHub. The programme mobilises citizens through awareness, know-how, practical action, and community engagement to create measurable environmental and social impact. Through experiential learning, skills development, youth participation, and circular economy initiatives, EcoChangeMakers empowers communities to address plastic pollution, protect natural resources, and create pathways into the emerging green economy.
For partnership enquiries, collaboration opportunities, or to learn more about the Impact 2030 vision, interested organisations are invited to connect with ChangeMakersHub at startaripple@changemakershub.org