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The ten winners of the Zeitgeist Young Minds (ZYM) competition have been announced. 16/04/2012

The annual contest is designed to find exceptional and inspiring 18- to 24-year-olds from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa who are having a positive influence on the world.

With almost 100 entries to choose from, the panel of all-star judges, including Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow, had a tough job to choose just ten winners, but the following entrants were successful:

• Ada Umeofia, 19 from Nigeria
• Alex Leboucher, 21 from France
• Elliot Verreault, 23 from Sweden
• James Boon, 23 from the UK
• Joel Mwale, 19 from Kenya
• Jordan Ridge, 23 from South Africa
• Maaike Veenkamp, 23 from the UK
• Sibusiso Tshabalala, 20 from South Africa
• Simeon Oriko, 23 from Kenya
• Simon Straetker, 19 from Germany 

Hip hop artist and Zeitgeist judge Akala said, ‘It was a pleasure to be involved in judging the ZYM competition and to see so many brilliant young thinkers actively taking a role in positive change all over the world. My hat goes off to all the entrants and especially the winners. It’s inspiring to see young people use their talents to help others and serve their respective communities.’

The winning ideas reflect the youth empowerment and social entrepreneurial spirit among today’s young people, demonstrated by James Boon, 23 from Bath. He recently launched a socially responsible enterprise called Elephant Branded, which sends a school bag to a child in Asia and Africa for each product sold on his website.