Noel Ifeanyi Alumona’s selection recognizes an approach to peacebuilding that begins by changing how boys and men understand masculinity, power, and violence.
ABUJA, NIGERIA | October 2026
Noel Ifeanyi Alumona, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Boys Champions, has been selected as one of 10 inaugural finalists for the $250,000 Pankaj Award to End Conflict, an international recognition established by One Young World and powered by Regent Global.
The award recognizes leaders developing approaches to preventing conflict, reducing violence, and building more peaceful societies.
Alumona’s selection draws attention to a dimension of peacebuilding that is often overlooked: the importance of engaging boys and young men before harmful beliefs and behaviours become deeply established.
Through Boys Champions, Alumona has spent eight years working with schools, families, and communities to address the social expectations that can encourage aggression, emotional suppression, and unequal relationships.
The organization’s programmes combine education, mentorship, sports, and community dialogue to help boys develop empathy, manage conflict, and understand their responsibilities toward others.
For Alumona, violence prevention is not limited to responding to incidents. It also means examining the experiences and influences that shape how young people understand power and relationships.
“We often talk about ending violence after someone has already been hurt. But what if we invested just as much effort in understanding how boys learn to use violence in the first place? What if we taught them early that disagreement does not require aggression, that being a man does not mean controlling others, and that respect is not a weakness? Those are the questions that have guided our work at Boys Champions.”
The recognition follows years of community-based programming in Nigeria, where Boys Champions has worked to make conversations about masculinity, mental health, and gender equality part of everyday learning.
Alumona is expected to join fellow finalists at the One Young World Summit in Cape Town, South Africa, in November 2026.
His selection comes as Boys Champions continues to explore opportunities to strengthen its research, expand school-based interventions, and demonstrate how early engagement with boys and men can contribute to lasting peace.