Mamadu Saibana Balde is from Guinea-Bissau and  is a project manager, social entrepreneur and activist. He has a degree in African Studies from the University of Lisbon. After 10 years abroad, he decided to return to his homeland in 2013 to support  Guinea-Bissau’s development through Tchintchor.

Balde is the founder and CEO of Tchintchor. He is a young professional with five years of work experience in the field of youth, citizenship and education, who works to be the difference that is needed in the world. Balde has national and international experience as a volunteer, working with young people on citizenship matters, as well as participation in national and international conferences. He was selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship in 2018, which included participation in the University of Delaware’s Civic Leadership Institute and a fellowship position with the National Democratic Institute in Washington, DC. The fellowship is a program of the U.S. Department of State, administered by IREX.

Balde seeks to empower youth to engage meaningfully in democracy through awareness of the need to change the country, giving impetus to monitoring and accountability and building new spaces for youth engagement.