The Good Quest

 Selin Ozunaldim is a Turkish youth leader and gender-equality activist from Istanbul known for her global advocacy work focused on gender equality, education access, and women’s empowerment. 

She serves as a National Gender Youth Activist with UN Women, representing Turkey in the United Nations’ HeForShe movement and advocating for meaningful youth participation in policy and social change efforts. Selin founded Türkiye’s first Girl Up club and the Girls Who Code Türkiye initiative, creating spaces to empower girls in leadership and STEM fields.

 She’s been involved with international coalitions like the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative’s Transform Education campaign and has spoken at global forums including the Generation Equality Forum, working to amplify young voices in decision-making spaces and champion gender equity worldwide.  

 Emily Otteni is a parent and advocate who has worked to raise awareness about harlequin ichthyosis, an extremely rare and severe genetic skin disorder that affected her children. 

Emily and her husband Nick navigated the daily challenges of caring for their sons, Miles and Holden, both of whom were born with the condition — a rarity that affects about 1 in 500,000 births and requires intensive, lifelong supportive care. 

Tragically, their son Holden passed away at five months old due to complications related to the disorder, but Emily continues to share her family’s story to educate others, support rare disease awareness, and promote understanding of what life with harlequin ichthyosis entails 

 Fatih Amin is a young climate activist and environmental leader from Québec, Canada who has been deeply involved in sustainability, youth engagement, and climate action initiatives. 

He has participated in programs like the YMCA’s C-Vert urban ecology program, volunteered on environmental projects, and played a key role in organizing awareness campaigns and sustainability-focused events in his community. Since May 2023, Fatih has served on the Board of Directors of ENvironnement JEUnesse (ENJEU), a major environmental organization in Québec that empowers youth on climate and sustainability issues. 

He also co-founded the Intercollegiate Eco-Expo, a collaborative event series that brings together collegial environmental clubs across Québec to foster dialogue, projects, and collective climate action among students. 

Fatih has spoken at international forums — including a session at the Adaptation Futures 2023 conference organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) — and co-facilitated environmental engagement workshops for students, helping bridge climate awareness with real-world action. 

His work focuses on empowering young leaders, expanding sustainability networks, and driving meaningful environmental progress.  

  Michael Bugary grew up in Monterey, California.  At the age of 12, Michael knew his dream was to be a professional baseball player.  In high school, he played for multiple travel teams, playing all over the country and other parts of the world.  After receiving many accolades, he was considered a top prospect as a first baseman and left-handed pitcher.  Michael received multiple Division-I scholarship offers, ultimately choosing the play at the University of California, Berkeley.   

During spring training in his second professional season, Michael suffered an arm injury that would prematurely end his career.  After being released by the Red Sox organization and without the ability to perform as he once did, Michael struggled with depression.  He felt like he had lost his self-worth and his identity.  

 Unable to cope with his new reality Michael turned to opiates and other substances. Michael battled his addiction for years unwilling to accept a life without baseball. Working as a private baseball coach and personal trainer, Michael lived a double life, hiding the depths of his struggles with depression and mental illness. His addiction only worsened and in 2014, with the help of his family, Michael went to a treatment center in Phoenix, Arizona to get help. Michael managed to stay sober for a while, but in treatment he was never honest with himself and quickly fell back into some of his old habits, continuing to battle the ups and downs of addiction. 

 In August of 2015, Michael was diagnosed with a lacrosse ball sized Brain tumor. A medulloblastoma located in his cerebellum. He had to endure multiple brain surgeries and nearly two months of intense chemotherapy and radiation. After his treatment and being declared cancer-free, his reality had once again changed. In constant pain from the side effects of his treatment, he fell further into his depression and addiction. Hopeless and alone he was unable to take care of himself and moved back to California to live with his family. He continued to struggle, but his life suddenly began to turn around when he met his therapy dog, Lingo.