Ma Thinzar Shunlei Yi is an active, informed and responsible individual from Yangon, Myanmar. She is interested in youth engagement, governance and peace. She is one of organizers of International Peace Day Celebrations 2013 and 2014 at a nation-wide level inviting Peace Ministers and delivering CSOs’ Demands for Peace in Myanmar. She co-organized the first-ever Myanmar Youth Forum in 2012 and again in 2016 for the development of national youth policy in Myanmar. She also organized the South East Asian Youth Forum (ASEAN Youth Forum) in 2014 for the ASEAN Summit. She also led the international campaign called #MyFriend, to promote friendship among young people through social media.

The coalition she led with CSOs’ voices were taken into account in Parliament for the ward/village tract administration law amendment. She mainly advocates for the law reform to root out the military administration at a local level as Advocacy Coordinator at Action Committee for Democracy Development (ACDD). She was nominated for the N-Peace Award in 2015 for Peace Generation Category. She was honored as one of ten youth awardees for “Emerging Young Leaders Award” 2016 by U.S Department of State in 2016 for her efforts on positive social transformation. She conducted many volunteer events and youth development training sessions, seminars, workshops related to volunteerism, governance and education. She has been named as youth advocate, youth catalyst, youth expert in various occasions and has been invited as youth speaker at a national, regional and international level.