Helen Samuels
Executive Director and TEKIO Creator.
 Helen Samuels is among a rare group of innovative and courageous social entrepreneurs who are changing the way the world views solutions to our environmental and social challenges. With dogged determination, compassionate action and hands-on grassroots organizing, Helen has spent more than 15 years inspiring and supporting at-risk youth in Mexico and the United States. Her passion particularly extends to the "4 th World" - the massive and fastest growing social sector of over 1 billion youth who live in poverty and devastation in and around urban dwellings in Mexico and the United States. Her dedicated efforts have lead to the creation of more than 150 youth-run projects which have hence spawned an additional 500 projects themselves as they have replicated their sustainable practices through other youth networks.
Helen Samuels has dedicated her life to inspire and guide youth who wish to be active participants in forging the world in which they develop. As an Ashoka fellow, she has created an international network that supports urban, rural and indigenous youth, in their quest for sustainable employment opportunities. Applying appropriate technology and the latest developmental techniques, youth gain visibility and respect, as well as improve their communities.
Helen is completely bi-cultural and bi-lingual, having arrived in Mexico when she was only 5 years old. Her international projects are directed towards forging a future based on well-being for all and active participation by youth worldwide. With a background as a professional producer, interpreter and special event organizer, Helen has gained worldwide recognition for her leadership in facilitating the emergence of youth organizations. Helen has developed important relationships with supporters and youth organizations beyond Mexico as well, sparking connections & cultural exchanges with youth run networks and groups from Scotland, Romania, Indonesia, Peru, Greece, and Denmark - (and is now starting a project for youth groups in Rwanda).
Helen facilitates projects proposed by youth leaders who strive to offer their community an answer to poverty, drugs, violence, and crime. Helen is creating an extensive network of adult mentors who train the youth in alternative technologies and sustainable practices. Helen and her network of caring adults have enabled young people to express their yearning to be productive members of the community. These leaders have become replicators of their success by helping others start initiatives of their own.
Helen has altered the way the media, decision-makers, and others perceive urban youth cultures, as well as the way the youth perceive themselves. Examples of Helen's leadership in the international scene includes the creation of "Earth Crew" & "Urban Courage," a coalition of youth from gangs who became the first to present innovative community improvement projects with the perspective of gang members and graffiti writers at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Global Forum in Manchester, the World Summit of Children at the United Nations Organization's 50th Anniversary in San Francisco, as well as the New York PREPCOMs and Habitat II conference in Istanbul. Urban Courage won many awards and was invited by the United Nations Youth Unit to attend the World Youth Forum in Vienna, where they received a grant from Japan to create a community youth center.
Recently, her community-building activities have resulted in the creation of the "Green Room Project" - a consortium of environmental groups from the U.S. and Mexico which have been featured at the EDC Sponsored Youth Employment Summit in Veracruz, Mexico. The momentum of this activity is already exploding, with numerous invitations from other expositions and youth-led groups worldwide.
The following are links to a few of her projects and affiliations:
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