Global CSR Foundation Honors Young Leaders at its 7th Summit Held at the United Nations

Young leaders present SDG-aligned social entrepreneurial ideas as the Foundation returns to the UN venue where its first summit was held in 2018

NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, October 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Global CSR Foundation (GCSRF), in partnership with the Young Global Leadership Foundation (YGLF), hosted the 7th Global CSR Summit and Award Ceremony on October 16, 2026 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Held in the West Terrace, the afternoon gathering brought together diplomats, civil society leaders, business executives, educators and young changemakers under the theme "Intergenerational Leadership for a Sustainable World."

The summit marked a homecoming for the Foundation. GCSRF held its very first summit in this same UN space in 2018, where it announced the Three Joint Action Declarations: the Social Impact Entrepreneurship Action, the Global Education for SDGs Action, and the Global Impact Investment Action. Several of the partners who stood alongside the Foundation that day, including Dr. Linda Stillman and Bruce Knotts, joined again this year.

"Eight years ago we stood in this room and made three promises about entrepreneurship, education and investment for the Sustainable Development Goals," said Jing Zhao Cesarone, Founder and CEO of the Global CSR Foundation. "This year we came back with the next generation beside us. I've spent more than thirty years building bridges between East and West, and what moved me most this time was hearing young people tell the world, in their own words, how they plan to carry that work forward."

Young Leaders Take the Stage
A centerpiece of the program was a series of presentations by six young leaders, who each shared a social enterprise idea aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The presenters were Jingxuan Liang, Pinzheng Zhao, Harris Huang, Minghao Ma, Yinuo Gao and Jia Yan. Their projects addressed issues ranging from sustainable energy and mental health to access to leadership opportunities, reflecting the summit’s focus on partnership across generations. Here is a brief summary of each young leader's speech:

Jingxuan “Diana” Liang, a Class of 2028 student at Brookline High School in Massachusetts, drew on her experience as a debater and as founder of her school’s DECA chapter to argue that real leadership meant taking responsibility for the people our decisions affect, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals 16, 8 and 17.

Minghao Ma, a Class of 2028 Earth Science student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, reflected on his summer at the energy storage company TrinaStorage to make the case for affordable, dependable and responsibly made clean energy, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals 7 and 13.

Pinzheng “Hubery” Zhao, a Class of 2029 student at Lexington High School, presented CARE, an AI-powered streaming platform his team was developing with better captions and audio descriptions for people with hearing loss or vision impairment, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals 10 and 9.

Yinuo Gao, a Class of 2027 student at Cheshire Academy, presented Quantum Pen, a low-cost portable tool he co-created that let students run hands-on light wave experiments, and the project was a finalist in the 2026 US National Innovator Challenge. His work supported UN Sustainable Development Goals 4, 10 and 9.

Harris Huang, a Class of 2029 student at Marlborough College in the United Kingdom, spoke about using wildlife photography to raise awareness of the habitats animals depend on, and shared his hope that his work would support conservation and environmental education in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals 15, 13 and 4.

Jia Yan, a Class of 2028 student at Great Valley High School in Pennsylvania, shared his book project, built on interviews with musicians and psychology experts, about how music, empathy and listening can support young people’s mental health, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 4.

Honoring Global Impact Leaders

The program featured two award ceremonies. In the 100 Global Impact Leaders Award Ceremony, presented by GCSRF and The European magazine, the following honorees were recognized:
• Dr. Linda Stillman, Founder, Young Global Leadership Foundation: Youth Leadership Impact Award
• Bruce Knotts, Chair, NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, and President, Citizens for Global Solutions: Global NGO Leadership Award
• Dee C. Marshall, CEO, AI Training Plus, and Founder, Global AI Adoption Day: AI Inclusion Leadership Award
• Rosalind Panda, Founder, Oqulus Tech and Jupitor AI: Digital Inclusion Leadership Award
• Ernie Kwok, Founder, Rockiesconnect Investment and YATOP: Global Social Impact Leadership Award

Three keynote speakers carried the afternoon's message forward. In his keynote, Michael J. Jordan, founder of MJ Method Communications, spoke on the importance of public speaking, reminding the young leaders that a great idea only creates change when it's communicated with clarity, conviction and trust. Haley Brown, author, artist and CEO of HCBrown LLC, spoke about youth leadership and taking initiative on aspirational ideas. Dean J. Fusto, school president, author, Klingenstein Fellow and member of the EdD Executive Cohort at Columbia University, responded to the young leaders' presentations, congratulating each of them and challenging them to take their ideas one step further.

With Thanks to Our Partners
The Global CSR Foundation extends its heartfelt thanks to the partners who made the 2026 summit possible, including the Young Global Leadership Foundation, Boston Institute of Education, ACME Society, LipManTV, We Independent, Larson International Group, and Global ESG Leadership Association.
Their support brought generations together at the United Nations to show what responsible leadership looks like in practice. The Foundation looks forward to building on this work with them, and with the young leaders honored this year, as it carries the Three Joint Action Declarations into the years ahead.

About the Global CSR Foundation
The Global CSR Foundation (GCSRF) is a U.S.-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in Chicago, with a presence in Beijing and Paris. Founded by Jing Zhao Cesarone, GCSRF advances corporate social responsibility, social impact entrepreneurship, global education for the SDGs and impact investment by connecting leaders across sectors, cultures and generations. Since its first summit at United Nations Headquarters in 2018, the Foundation has convened business, government, NGO and youth leaders through summits, awards and youth leadership programs on three continents. Learn more at www.gcsrf.org.

Sofia L.C.
Global CSR Foundation
info@globalgcsrf.org