AYV News, July 30, 2025
Adama Finda Borway, a young changemaker from Sierra Leone, has been named one of the Top 50 Global Finalists for the 2025 Chegg.org Global Student Prize. She is one of only 13 young Africans to be selected from thousands of applicants around the world.
The Global Student Prize is a $100,000 award given to one exceptional student who is making a real impact in their community and beyond. The award is organised by Chegg.org in partnership with the Varkey Foundation and aims to celebrate the achievements of young people who are using education to improve the lives of others.
Adama’s story is one of strength and determination. She grew up in Kono district, Eastern Sierra Leone, where many girls still face early marriage and limited access to education. Her mother, a survivor of child marriage and domestic abuse, raised her until she passed away during Adama’s final year of secondary school. Despite this loss, Adama refused to give up on her dreams.
At just 18 years old, she started the She-Empowerment League (SEL) — a grassroots movement that provides leadership training, vocational skills, and mental health support to girls and young women in rural communities. So far, SEL has helped over 500 girls in 14 communities learn skills like tailoring, digital literacy, menstrual hygiene, and business development. Many of the girls have gone on to start their own small businesses.
Adama also serves as Sierra Leone’s Global Girls and Young Women Representative on the She Leads Board, where she helped push for important laws like the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
Now, Adama dreams of building a Skills and Leadership Center in Kono District that will train more than 500 girls every year.
Her nomination for the Global Student Prize puts Sierra Leone on the global map for youth leadership and education. If she wins, she plans to use the prize money to make her dream centre a reality.
The final winner of the $100,000 award will be announced later this year.
