Global Game Changers, a collection of 50 social enterprise stories, wins 2026 recognition from the Axiom Business, Nautilus, and Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
Yana Bijoor, a junior at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, has earned three international honors for her debut book, Global Game Changers: 50 Stories of Impact and Innovation.
The book won the Silver Medal in the Business Stories & Fables category at the 2026 Axiom Business Book Awards and the Silver Medal in the Rising To The Moment category at the 2026 Nautilus Book Awards. It also earned a Finalist placement in the Social Change category at the 2026 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
The self-published collection profiles 50 social entrepreneurs and innovators who are working to solve real problems around the world. Bijoor wrote it from a high school student’s perspective to introduce readers, especially other young people, to these founders and their ideas.
“These 50 changemakers prove that meaningful impact doesn’t always require permission or credentials,” Bijoor said. “It requires curiosity and the willingness to start. I hope the book inspires more young readers to look at global problems and ask what they can do.”
The Axiom Business Book Awards honor the year’s best business books across more than 20 categories. The Nautilus Book Awards honor books that promote conscious living, green values, wellness, social change, and social justice. The Next Generation Indie Book Awards rank among the largest international award programs for independent publishers and self-published authors.
Across the collection of stories, four kinds of changemakers are profiled: founders, funders, policy makers, and community activists. All changemakers point to an obvious truth: no single catalyst will solve the world’s crises, whether hunger, inequality, or climate change. Each catalyst plays a unique, complementary role in building a better future. Together, they form an operating system in which innovation, capital, policy change, and grassroots power work together to create lasting impact.
Product catalysts, such as Brian Gitta’s non-invasive malaria diagnostic and Dr. Salma Bougarrani’s affordable wastewater cleaning solution, show the power of real-world solutions. These innovations need funding to scale, underscoring the role of funding catalysts. Impact investors like Dimple Sahni, who uses capital to influence change, and Omer Imtiazuddin, who mobilizes capital to scale solutions, amplify product catalysts by turning local ideas into global movements.
Policy catalysts like Simone Brody, who prioritizes people in data-driven decision-making, and Neil Padukone, who promotes local climate action, build systems in which change can happen. By influencing policy or pushing for market accountability, they ensure systems support innovations, creating sustainable change. People connectors like Kherann Yao and Catarina Lorenzo, who let passion guide action, ground the system in human connection. By amplifying voices through dedicated advocacy or igniting change with community activism, they enable broad and lasting progress.
Bijoor shows that the world’s challenges are interconnected, as are the solutions. When these changemakers work together, they demonstrate that impact multiplies when collective effort and intention are combined.
Bijoor writes Inventaid, a weekly newsletter that profiles social enterprises solving global problems, and she is the Founder and CEO of TruthSpot.ai, a nonprofit that teaches students to identify deepfakes. She lives in Brooklyn with her family. Global Game Changers: 50 Stories of Impact and Innovation is available as an ebook on Google Play, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.