grantees » Albert Joe Bongay

Albert Joe is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Young Volunteers for the Environment-The Gambia (YVE-The Gambia). YVE-The Gambia focuses primarily on involving youth in local projects that incorporate concepts of sustainability, climate change adaptation, spread poverty-oriented and sustainable solutions to energy production and environmental preservation. Albert Joe has displayed impressive work in lobbying, advocacy and networking in the field of environmental justice through various efforts. Specifically, he facilitated numerous youth workshops on environmental leadership, initiated the Green Eco Kids project for green entrepreneurship in schools in The Gambia, conducted a case study on community-based management and poverty awareness in local communities, and contributed to the National Stakeholders’ Workshop on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change.  

Integrated sustainability in local development is an important theme of many of the projects that Albert Joe pursues.  He wanted to further develop some of his ongoing projects, as well as pursue new ones. To conquer this challenge, Joe used his JWH Initiative grant to pursue an advanced diploma at the Institute of Professional Administration and Management (IPAM) in Banjul, The Gambia and studied Project Management with an emphasis in project leadership and human resources management. This career-enriching course provided Joe with leadership skills, along with insight into team and project management. He has also learned “how to maintain team spirit and be mindful of communication and motivation among team members.”

Looking back at the progress he has made, Albert Joe reflects that the skills he has learned enable him to set concrete goals for his ongoing and future initiatives. Albert Joe plans to use his talents in various new projects such as creating a school community garden in Gambia and a waste disposal project. His environmental leadership and project management skills will surely help him in successfully completing these projects, while making a positive impact on Gambia’s environment.