Ashna Mahepal

Ashna is the co-founder and CEO of Foundation Young Help Suriname. A social enterprise in Suriname (South-America) that exposes youth between ages 15 – 38 to opportunities of inspiration and engages them through practical project based skills development towards realizing their (entrepreneurial) dreams while simultaneously contributing to the SDG 2030 agenda goals. Ashna is an alumna of the Young Leaders of the America’s Inititive (YLAI) of former president Obama which is a network in the Western Hemisphere of 248 young business and social entrepreneurs creating change in their communities. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering – Information Technology (from the Anton de Kom University in Suriname) and a Masters Degree in Public Administration and Governance from the International Institute of Social Studies (of the Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands). As a civil servant she has worked for the government of Suriname for the past 9 years as coordinator and project manager of private sector strenghtening and infrastructural development projects and is currently part of the staff of the Cabinet of the Vice President of Suriname.