Once Restless, Always Restless: Alumni Stories
Celebrating 40 years of youth-led change through the journeys of our alumni.
In 2025, Restless Development marks four decades of empowering young leaders. From grassroots volunteering to global advocacy, our alumni have led change across sectors and continents.Â
Meet Juliet Nakazibwe, from a shy university graduate in rural Uganda to a confident leader on Restless Development’s Uganda Hub team.
In 2005, she joined SPW (now Restless) as a volunteer peer educator teaching organic farming and environmental education; today she shapes partnerships and champions youth leadership across her country.
Meet Abdul Mans-Kanu, who turned a six-week Restless Development entrepreneurship course in Sierra Leone into a thriving stationery business.
Despite daily transport costs and initial hurdles, Abdul won a £1,500 start-up loan, hired three apprentices, and later joined Restless as a programme coordinator, using those same skills to empower others.
Meet Devota, once too shy to speak up, she first discovered her voice as a volunteer with Restless Development’s Tutimize Ahadi project in Tanzania.
Devota led a team of changemakers to survey 3,000 villagers on gender and family-planning issues, held local leaders to account, and now sits on her Ward Development Council pushing for youth-friendly services.
Your Story. Our Legacy.
We’d love to hear where your Restless journey has taken you—whether you volunteered last year or back in the 1980s. Your story will remind the world that youth leadership works, and energize our community of alumni.
Please email jacobwood@restlessdevelopment.orgÂ