Meet Tiffany Kelly, founder of Legacy Project
As we open Global Youth Awards Month, we’re delighted to share a welcome from Tiffany Kelly, founder of Legacy Project and the person whose vision helped begin this celebration of young changemakers.
Tiffany is an entrepreneur, author and leadership development specialist whose work connects personal empowerment, community and environmental responsibility. Across her projects, she returns to a question that sits at the heart of Legacy: what becomes possible when people have the confidence, support and opportunity to fulfil their potential?
The beginnings of Legacy
Founded in 2010, Legacy Project grew from a commitment to supporting young people and creating opportunities for them to shape their communities.
Following the London riots, Tiffany saw a need to challenge the negative stories being told about young people. Alongside those headlines were young people helping with the clean-up and making positive contributions, and Tiffany decided those stories deserved attention too.
The Positive for Youth Awards began in 2012, giving young people a platform to share their work and be recognised for it. The celebration later developed into the Global Youth Awards, bringing together changemakers across countries and continents.
For Tiffany, recognising an achievement is part of a longer relationship. The intention has always been to help young people build connections, find support and continue developing their ideas beyond the Awards themselves.
A career built around unlocking potential
Alongside Legacy, Tiffany is a founding partner of RoundTable Global, a leadership and organisational development company.
Her experience spans working with individuals, teams and communities internationally. RoundTable has delivered leadership, cultural evolvement and personal and organisational empowerment programmes in more than 35 countries, as well as coaching and mentoring hundreds of people, including young people.
That work has shaped an approach to leadership that values creativity, compassion and collaboration. It also informs her interest in helping people question the assumptions that limit what they believe they can achieve.
Tiffany is the author of Shine, published in 2020, and has led empowerment workshops, leadership summits and conversations about social change.
Connecting people and planet
Tiffany is also co-founder and CEO of Beyond Bamboo Global, which provides planet conscious leadership, responsible sourcing and procurement, particularly within hospitality.
This work considers how everyday business decisions, including what organisations buy and who they buy from can support environmental and social change.
Her wider experience includes co-founding, curating and moderating House of Balance gatherings in Davos during the World Economic Forum and at COP28 in Dubai.
Across these different settings, there is a connection with Legacy’s purpose: helping people recognise their ability to influence the world around them, and creating opportunities to put that ability into practice.
Recognition that leads to connection
Today, Legacy brings together the Global Youth Awards, Global Change Ambassador Network and Global Youth Hub.
Together, they offer different ways for young people to share their work, learn from others and build relationships that can help their ideas grow.
As Tiffany writes in her founder’s message:
“When we invest in young people, we are investing in a more conscious, connected and regenerative world.”
This November, that belief runs through every finalist profile, guest contribution and award announcement we share.
Watch Tiffany’s welcome
Watch Tiffany’s welcome below as we begin Global Youth Awards Month.
Whether you are a finalist, nominee, judge, speaker or supporter, thank you for being part of this community.
Leave Tiffany a message below, and tell us: what would help you take the next step with an idea you care about?
Explore Tiffany’s work