The Accountability Lab catalyzes a new generation of active citizens and responsible leaders around the world. Our core work is through the Accountability Incubator: a two-year program of support for the very best “accountapreneurs”. This year the process was incredibly competitive; we had hundreds of applications across our three focus countries–Nepal, Liberia and Pakistan. We have now selected 17 of these amazing young change-makers that we’ll work with to transform their societies through new and sustainable ideas for accountability.

Drumroll please…read more about the 2016/17 Accountability Lab “Accountapreneurs” below!

Nepal Accountability Incubator

Basanta Adhikari

Basanta leads an organization called Bikalpa (“the Alternative”) that trains youth in eastern Nepal on civic leadership and advocacy for fundamental rights. With the Accountability Lab’s support he plans to lead youth groups in conducting performance surveys of local government agencies in his district. Twitter: @YouBasant

Medha Sharma

Medha believes that educating girls can create sustainable change in society- and she founded a nonprofit called Visible Impact to work towards that goal. With Accountability Lab’s support, she plans to train, mentor, and resource adolescent girls in the earthquake-affected district of Nuwakot to become pioneering citizen journalists through writing blog and news articles. Twitter: @shmedha

Govinda Siwakoti

 As co-founder of Nepali audio-visual company Onion Films, Govinda and his team have realized the power of film for social change. With the Lab’s support, he set up an Accountability Film School to empower young people in Nepal to speak up about economic, social and political issues in their communities. He now plans to bring this training program to more remote and marginalized areas of Nepal. Twitter: @onionfilmsnepal

Anita Thapa

 Through her nonprofit Sambhawana, Anita established a hands-on civic
education program that evaluates schools, builds custom curricula on democracy and governance, and enables students to lead community improvement projects. Anita plans to scale Civic Schools to many other schools in the mid and far-western regions of Nepal—helping them build a new generation of active citizens and responsible leaders. Twitter: apthapa

Liberia Accountability Incubator

Divine Key Anderson

 Divine is a filmmaker who shares his skills with other young Liberians to create positive social change. With Accountability Lab’s support, he founded the Liberia Film Institute (LFI) and plans to develop Accountability Film School sessions on the new LFI campus to train young people how to create films about key accountability issues in their communities.

Tetee Gebro

Tetee is a pioneering journalist, social and political commentator, who bravely talks publicly about critical integrity issues in Liberia. With the Lab’s support, Tetee is building out radio programming that will ensure the accountability of the written media in Liberia; and working to develop new forms of dissemination including through podcasts online with forward-thinking media houses. Twitter:@teteeg

John Kamma

 John is a former policeman who seeks to bring accountability and access to justice in the low-income, high-density neighborhoods of Logan Town and Peace Island in Monrovia. With the Accountability Lab’s support he set up a Community Justice Team of trained, local mediators to peacefully resolve disputes and work with the formal justice system to build trust and integrity. Twitter: @JohnWKamma

Jefferson King

 Jefferson co-founded Bush Chicken, a local media organization that is setting a new standard for journalism in Liberia. The team recruits, trains and deploys reporters all over the country to research and report independently and effectively on important issues in Liberia including issues of civic participation, corruption and governance. Twitter: @TheBushChicken

Leslie Lumeh

Liberia has a rich artistic tradition that is often overlooked by outsiders and Liberians alike. Leslie is a talented artist who is passionate about training young people to use art for social change. He has set up an accountability art movement- using art schools, murals and exhibitions to engage people around accountability issues and allow people to express themselves through their creativity.

Hip Co Accountability Network

Hip Co is a popular and rapidly growing form of Liberian Hip Hop music. The Lab is supporting a group of popular Liberian Hip Co artists who are developing messages of positive social change and integrity through their music. With the Lab’s support they are engaging young people in positive ways around their music and building a network to push for reforms on critical accountability issues within the industry such as copyright. Twitter: @takunj

Pakistan Accountability Incubator

Kausar Abbas

Kausar is building a community of “Accountability Ambassadors” in his community of Rawalpindi. He is training these young volunteers to monitor public services and close the loop when they identify problems or misallocation of budgets—starting with schools, healthcare, and water and sanitation services. Twitter: @ssdopakistan

Naeema Butt

Naeema is a dynamic theater director, theater of the oppressed trainer, and social activist on various international platforms. She plans to build out an organization that uses various forms of theater training and performances to bring attention to critical issues within communities. With the Lab’s support she is working to raise youth awareness about citizen rights and responsibilities, the role of political representatives, and the importance of integrity among public officials. Twitter: @NAEEMABUTT90

Muneeb Farrukh

Muneeb is part of the Technology for the People (TPI) Initiative in Lahore. He plans to coordinate and humanize public education related data in Punjab—so that it is not only credible, but also reflects the views of parents and children. He plans to work with key stakeholders to make the data more solution-oriented, and to assess whether government’s response to the data is relevant and adequate. Twitter: @TPI_LUMS

Abrar ul Hassan

Abrar is an accomplished film-maker, entrepreneur and founder of the 60 Second International Film Festival. With the Lab’s support, Abrar will set up an Accountability Film School in Karachi, to support citizens in understanding and addressing core causes of corruption. He will train youth to make short films that identify, highlight, and help solve accountability issues. Twitter: @abrarulhasan

Asif Khan

Asif believes that communities in Pakistan need to develop collective ownership of civic responsibilities. With Accountability Lab’s support in KP province, he plans to create radio documentaries that enhance citizens’ understanding of civic issues and their capacity to hold institutions accountable for inclusive and equitable service provision.

Mehwish Niaz

Mehwish believes that because of a lack of civic education, citizens are unable to understand their political and constitutional rights and thus cannot demand them from the government. With the Lab’s support, she plans to set up a civic school in South Punjab that will provide crash courses for young Pakistanis on active citizenship and the accountability of people in power to community members. Twitter: @niaz_mehwish

Talib Zaman

Talib understands clearly that corporate accountability is a critical problem in Pakistan and that a lack of accountability means that foreign companies are not investing in the country. With the Lab’s support, Talib plans to establish an online toolkit and training program to educate corporations around ethical business practices that encourage transparency and integrity. Twitter: @TalibUzZaman

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