OYW 2025 Reflections

One Young World, Munich — what stayed with us

Lorenzo Leoni Sceti

Layide Oshun

One Young World is, at its core, a gathering built on possibility. It’s an annual summit that brings together young leaders from every corner of the world, activists, creatives, entrepreneurs, policy shapers, and people who simply care enough to try. It’s not a conference in the traditional sense; it feels more like stepping into a collective mindset where everyone is pulling in the same direction. The conversations move from global issues to personal stories, from the huge and overwhelming to the tiny and practical. And what you start to understand, almost without realising, is that this community isn’t about arriving with the answers, it’s about showing up with the willingness to do something.

Being there feels like being plugged directly into a current of hope. In the moment, surrounded by so many open, kind, smart and genuinely passionate people, you don’t fully register how much it’s shifting you. It’s only once you’re back home, back in the rhythm of your real life, that it hits. You replay the talks, the unexpected conversations, the small sparks of perspective you didn’t know you’d picked up. And slowly you see the way it stays with you, in decisions you make differently, in questions you ask yourself, in the sense that trying, even in small ways, matters more than you realise.

Below are the moments that stayed with each of us.

Layide’s takeaways

1 - “The gap is shortened through conversation.” Sena and Stacey from the Colour-full podcast were my standouts from the week. Their session conveyed the conversation never had and the taboo around discussing the differences between us vs the power of not only addressing these differences but using them as learnings to draw us closer together instead of pushing us apart. I loved their frank way of talking about their differences of growing up in South Africa (pre and post Apartheid) and what these meant for their experiences and also how the work is never over but a constantly evolving conversation.

2 - “Always be curious and be ready to ask questions, no question is a dumb question.” Rio Ferdinand was one of the most anticipated conversations during the conference. He spoke about the freedom of choice but coupled with the knowledge of opportunity. He spoke on the difficulty of growing up in non-affluent areas but how exposure to different activities all fed into his incredible football career (including ballet). He spoke to the curiosity that his foundation hones and encourages and the power of alternative routes in education.

3 - “Accountability has to be loud.” Bill Browder gave an incredible speech on his experiences uncovering machination across the globe to prevent justice and his team’s fight to bring to light these atrocities. By championing justice and transparency and also forcing leaders to be open and honest about funds and partnerships. Which also helped in the development of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act which helps govern and prevent governing bodies from conducting human rights violations and corruption.

4 - “It is important to frame our history when talking about our purpose in the world.” Zero waste marketing by Marcus McDowell was impactful in how to market to your audience in an ever changing world. His company Golden Isle works with BIPOC start up companies to build their audiences and brand with “zero waste.” He spoke widely about the idea of collaboration and also co-creating with strengths in mind vs just the outcomes, providing a holistic approach to brands and marketing. Out of all the talks this appealed to me a lot especially his finishing statement of “A lot of minority founders have agreed that instead of following the playbook that it needs we need to create our own.”

Lorenzo’s takeaways

1 - Hot Take: You Can Fight the System from the Inside. One of the standout sessions for me was Hot Take: You Can Fight the System from the Inside, featuring Enrique Collada Sánchez, Jie Huang and Zaynab Mohamed. Hearing from such a diverse group of public leaders was grounding, but Enrique’s story stayed with me the most. He shared that he became mayor of his rural village, El Recuenco, at age 26. What made this so surprising to me was the fact that he openly admitted he had practically no experience in politics at all. He simply recognised that if he wanted something to change in his community, he could either wait for someone else to step up or try himself. And he tried.

It made me rethink how often we convince ourselves that we need qualifications, connections or years of prior experience to make a difference. Hearing him speak made me pause and ask whether that mindset is actually holding many of us back. Everyone starts from zero, and sometimes the most important step is just deciding to begin.

2 - Rio Ferdinand and the power of being real. I also had the chance to hear Rio Ferdinand speak. As a Manchester United fan, seeing someone who I have only ever watched on a screen talk so openly about his upbringing, the challenges he faced and the purpose behind his work with the Rio Ferdinand Foundation was genuinely impactful. What struck me most was the contrast between the version of him we usually see and the honesty he brought to that stage.

It reminded me of a similar moment earlier in the week when Terry Crews stood on the One Young World stage and spoke with the same level of openness about his own hardships. Watching people whose public presence often seems confident, polished or larger than life, choose to share the more vulnerable parts of their story definitely hits in a different way. Both moments made me rethink what leadership looks like, and how powerful it is when someone uses their platform to be real in a way that helps others feel seen and understood.

3 - Entrepreneurship Awards. The Entrepreneurship Awards were another highlight for me. Hearing from founders like Alex Schulze, Carlos Andrade and Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph made it clear how many ideas begin from deeply personal experiences. One example was 4ocean, co-founded by Alex Schulze, which started from a simple realisation that plastic pollution on beaches needed urgent, practical action. Another was Manzana Verde, led by Carlos Andrade, created to give people in Latin America access to healthier, affordable meals in places where that is not always easy.

Both of these businesses started because the founders understood the problem from the inside. It reminded me that innovation does not always come from trying to invent something completely new. Sometimes it comes from noticing what does not work in your own community and refusing to ignore it.

Closing thought

Even now, a week after being back, we are still processing everything from One Young World. It is the kind of experience where the impact sinks in slowly. You keep replaying conversations, talks and moments that challenged how you think about the world and your place in it. What stays with us most is the recurring question that each speaker, in their own way, made us ask. What small actions can we take in our day to day lives that actually make a difference?

To learn more about OYW and prepare for next years head to www.oneyoungworld.com

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