Kehkashan Basu, M.S.M., MBA is an iconic global influencer, educator, environmentalist, ecofeminist, champion of women and children’s rights, TEDx speaker, Climate Reality Mentor, author, musician, peace and sustainability campaigner. She is the recipient of Canada's Meritorious Service Medal and the International Children’s Peace Prize. A Forbes 30 Under 30 and the first-ever Winner of the Voices Youth Gorbachev-Schultz Legacy Award for her work on nuclear disarmament, Kehkashan is a United Nations Human Rights Champion, a National Geographic Explorer, a UNCCD Land Hero, a UN Habitat Young City Champion, the Regional Organizing Partner for North America for the NGO Major Group and one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women. Kehkashan is the Founder-President of global social innovation enterprise Green Hope Foundation, that works at a grassroots level in 29 countries, empowering over half a million young people and women, especially those from vulnerable communities, turning Education for Sustainable Development into ground-level action by harnessing clean energy technology for social good. She has spoken at over 500 United Nations and other global fora. She is the Co-President of the World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy, Trustee of the Parliament of the World's Religions, and Co-Lead of UN Women Generation Equality Forum's Action Coalition on Feminist Action for Climate Justice. She is the recipient of several awards that include the Spirit of the United Nations Award, World Literacy Award for Significant Contribution to Literacy by a Young Person, Canada's Global Energy Show Emerging Leader Award, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy's Emirates Energy Award and the Pax Christi Toronto Teacher of Peace Award. Kehkashan was listed as one of the Top 100 SDG Leaders in the world in 2019 and was named the 2019 Innovator of the Year at the HundrEd Innovation Summit for her global work on Sustainability Education. In 2025, she was named as one of the Top 50 Rising Stars in ESG by the Financial Times and Oxford Saïd Business School. Kehkashan holds an MBA from Cornell University and an Honours BA with High Distinction in Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto.
Kehkashan Basu
Kehkashan Basu has been impacting the global fraternity with her work on children’s rights, promoting gender quality, mitigating climate change and social upliftment. Born on 5th June, which is also World Environment Day, she feels that it was pre-ordained that she should grow up to be an eco-warrior. Spreading the message of peace, happiness and sustainability has been her passion since she was only 8 years old and she has worked tirelessly to enlist the support of children and youth across geographical boundaries. In 2013, at the age of 12, she was elected for a 2 year term as UNEP’s (United Nations Environment Programme) Global Coordinator for Children & Youth and a member of its Major Groups Facilitating Committee and she is the youngest person and the first minor, ever, to be elected into this position in the history of UNEP. She is also a United Nations Human Rights Champion for her work on protecting children’s rights.
Her internationally acclaimed work on sustainability has resulted in her appointment as the Honorary Advisor for the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development – New York, a member of KidsRights Youngsters, Global Advisory Council member of Young Men 4 Gender Equality -USA, members of World Oceans Day Global Youth Advisory Council and EarthEcho International Youth Leadership Council. She is also the youngest member of Canada’s Women in Renewable Energy forum.
Kehkashan is the founder of a youth organization, GREEN HOPE FOUNDATION, which seeks to provide a networking platform to children and youth, especially girls, to carry forward the Rio legacy through several environmental workshops and ground level projects on promoting gender equality, climate justice, stopping land degradation, biodiversity conservation, waste segregation and reversing land degradation. It now has over 1000 members across Middle East, India, Brazil, USA, Canada, Europe and SE Asia.