Isaac Opoku raises Ghana’s flag high in London with Commonwealth honour

Ghanaian youth leader Isaac Opoku has been received by the Ghana High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Secretary General in London, as he celebrates being named one of the QECT 100 Young Leaders 2026.

Isaac, founder of the Starlight Foundation, visited Her Excellency Mrs Sabah Zita Benson, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and Her Excellency Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, alongside two fellow Ghanaian awardees. During the visit, he shared his personal story, explained why he started the Foundation, and spoke about its work with children and families across Ghana. The three young leaders also presented the award plaques they had received.

The High Commissioner said she was impressed by their work and proud that they had raised the flag of Ghana high within the Commonwealth. Madam Botchwey, the first Ghanaian and the first African woman to serve as Commonwealth Secretary-General, spoke of her pride in seeing young Ghanaians recognised at this level and of her belief in the work they are doing.

“To sit before two Ghanaian women leading at the very top and hear them say they are proud of us was something I will carry for a long time,” Isaac said. “This award is for every child in Ghana who has been told their dreams are too big.”

The QECT 100 Young Leaders Award, given by the Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Trust, marks what would have been the 100th birthday of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Isaac was first named an awardee on 21 April 2026 and received the award in person this October at a ceremony at Asprey in Mayfair, London. As an awardee, he was also invited to a reception at St James’s Palace, where he spoke with His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla, and met Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester.

For Isaac, the recognition goes back to where it all began. Born and raised in Accra by a single mother, he founded the Starlight Foundation in 2018 to support children living and working on the streets and their families. Through more than 50 initiatives, the Foundation has since reached over 40,000 people. Its Centre for Design and Innovation in Accra offers a STEAM model built for vulnerable communities, and its learning resources on menstrual hygiene, personal safety, digital literacy and children’s rights are now used in schools across Ghana.

Its flagship programme, Menso Meka Ho Bi, meaning “I’m also privileged”, works with whole families so that children are not supported in isolation but within homes that can sustain their progress. The Foundation also contributed to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment 27, giving Ghanaian voices a part in shaping global children’s rights policy. This year, at the invitation of the National Youth Authority, it submitted written input to Ghana’s first National Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security.

The QECT honour adds to a growing list of recognition for Isaac and the Starlight Foundation. In 2023, Isaac was named Man of Excellence in Philanthropy at the Ghana Business and Entrepreneurs Awards. In 2024, he received the Bright Futures Award for Community Impact and was named Young Philanthropist of the Year by Humanitarian Awards Global. The Starlight Foundation was named Leading Youth-Led Education NGO 2025 by Acquisition International in the UK, and this year it was named Best Child Welfare & Empowerment NPO 2026 – Ghana at the 9th annual African Excellence Awards by AI Global Media, also in the UK. The Foundation’s Let Her Know initiative has been nominated by the Ghana National Commission for UNESCO for the 2026 UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education. In addition, Starlight has received approval from the YOUNGO LCOY Working Group to host a Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) in Ghana in 2026, joining a global network of youth-led climate conferences recognised under the YOUNGO framework under the United Nations.

The Foundation has also submitted inputs to the United Nations on Gen-Z Activism and Civic Space and on the Post-2030 Youth Education and Learning Agenda, contributing young Ghanaian voices to global policy discussions.

As a graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Isaac began his career at the Ghana Audit Service, where he developed the original concept for the Citizen Eye mobile application. His communications work with Parliamentary Network Africa later helped build the public pressure that contributed to Parliament passing the Right to Information Bill in 2019. Now based in the UK, he was elected this year as a councillor on Campbell Park Community Council in Milton Keynes and volunteers as a Peer Mentor with Connection Support. He also holds a master’s degree from Cranfield University among other qualifications.

His message to young Ghanaians at home and abroad is simple.

“Do not wait to be chosen,” he said. “Start with what you have, serve the people around you and stay consistent. Ghana has so much talent. We just need to believe it is enough.”

With the Starlight Foundation now planning to expand across West Africa, Isaac says the work at home will remain at the heart of everything he does.