Our story

MaNaBu Movement is a 501 (c)(3) USA non-profit organization empowering children and youth and providing accessible opportunities for every young individual to reach their full potential through practical skills, community, collaboration, and life experiences outside the classroom. We aim to help youth build a world where collaboration, sustainability, and universal prosperity are the underlying foundation upon which this world is constructed.

Young people share a natural, bright-burning curiosity that can become dimmed or even lost as they enter the adult world. MaNaBu aims to nourish young minds with food for thought and nurture this curiosity into an eternal flame.

We achieve this by providing them with essential life skills to thrive, teaching the importance of compassion and human understanding, and generating an environment where collaboration, co-creation, and a sense of community are the keys to success.

The future will bring many new challenges, and our hope is to raise mentally strong young individuals who will be empowered to tackle them head on without bias but utilizing logic and empathy.

our story

Our vision

Empowered youth take the world into their hands, live their dreams and beliefs, and accomplish ideas that help propel our humanity.

The MaNaBu Movement projects make youth grow, glow, and collaborate, boosting their confidence, creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving skills and understanding the importance of circularity, gratefulness and compassion.

Our goal is to entertain and educate, but even more so is the desire to bring that MANABU DNA of learning and change to every young individual. To boost collaboration and sense of community while raising caring human beings who realize their potential, no matter how small, to make a difference.

MaNaBu reach to the Global Audience

By collaborating with a diverse group of thought leaders, educators, non-profits, businesses, artists, and athletes, we're on a mission to create a kinder, more regenerative futures for all.

MaNaBu Movements

Community-based actions empower children, families, and educators to unite, collaborate, and make a positive impact today.

MaNaBu Movement provides an alternative educational experience where the highest deference is paid to the way children want to learn – through means that are fun, engaging, and above all, encourage children to explore the skills and things they enjoy the most. It promotes a culture of collaboration, communication, and understanding among young people.

Founders

Tihana Pavic Smitran

As an entrepreneur, producer, and business mentor, Tihana is dedicated to regenerative futures, educational entertainment, and global projects that empower children and youth worldwide.

Her unique blend of creativity and business acumen has allowed her to build successful ventures and focus on transitioning towards a regenerative economy to create businesses and projects that deliver value to people and the planet alongside profit.

Her formative years were shaped by the harsh realities of a 5-year-long homeland war, during which children were left to fend for themselves. As a pianist and young athlete, she personally discovered the significance of grit and persistence in achieving success despite challenging circumstances.

This early lesson became the foundation for her commitment to uplifting peers facing similar struggles, underscoring how even the smallest gestures of support and empowerment can trigger transformative change in a child's life.

In 2017, she received the award for the 'Best Startup Female Entrepreneur in Croatia.' She is a US State Department Professional Fellow in Tech, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship and an alumna of the leading Silicon Valley Accelerator for women entrepreneurs and the Estonian Media-Tech Accelerator for the future of content. She holds an MA in Finance - Economic and Business International Program from the University of Zagreb and certificates from Harvard University, the United Nations Academy, and Futur.io Institute as a Leader in Sustainable Development and Execution (COP26).

Andreas Wil Gerdes

Andreas Wil Gerdes is a thought leader in the digital nomad movement and a key contributor to the telecommunications industry, having parlayed the technology that powers remote work.

He sold his first business at the age of 20. Working out of a garage, he successfully built what would become part of Orange PLC. He was one of the 7 winners of the European Award "Elite of the Future" (Elite der Zukunft), the nominators of which included BMW, Deutsche Bank, and many others.

Andreas has also been prominently featured in the Financial Times publication ‘101 Leaders of the New Economy’. He has inspired hundreds of entrepreneurs – creating a supernova effect through the power of his vision in motion.

But that’s not what he wants to be known for, he prefers another title, #father. His content across social media preaches a new ‘life-centric’ movement that allows parents to spend far more time with their children than the traditional educational system would like to see.

Andreas is one of many parents in the digital nomad community like Lona Alia, Lizz Quain, and Lily Bruns who are showing a new model for parenting while teleworking from every continent on earth and living a full life with their children.

In the 1990s, Andreas recognized Malta’s potential for teleworking and online innovation, making it his family’s home base and contributing to its growth as a digital nomads' and remote business hub.

Advisory circle

John Heinsen

John Heinsen

MULTI-PLATFORM PRODUCER
Transmedia Producer, Showrunner for Academy Awards for ABC/Disney, and former Vice President of the Producers Guild of America (PGA). John is a veteran of the FOX Broadcasting Company (where he oversaw FAMILY GUY and FUTURAMA), International Creative Management (ICM), and Castle Rock Entertainment and sits on the Influencer Advisory Board for the culture trends thinktank Sparks & Honey (Omnicom group).
Marc Buckley

Marc Buckley

OFFICIAL UN SDG ADVOCATE
Regenerative Futurist and Ecological Economist, Advisor to the United Nations and UNFCCC Resilience Lab, Expert for the World Economic Forum (WEF), book co-author, Chair of the HLWG of the UN Climate Change Global Innovation Hub on Nutrition and Health, and founding member of the Futur/io Institute. Marc is passionate about social innovation, disrupting old models, systems thinking, and dynamic modeling to solve our grand global challenges.
Martin McDonald

Martin McDonald

CHIEF CURIOSITY & EXPLORATION OFFICER
Courageous advisor. Excellent moral compass. Journey: Law, Automotive (BMW, Toyota, Lexus), Motorsport, (Formula 1 and WRC Teams, FIA & UIM Rights Holders, Moto, Powerboats, Sailing). Co-Founder P1 World Championship, Racing Simulators, Computer Games & Virtual Reality. Designer & founder of a Platform to connect humanity for evolutionary collaboration. Strategy/advisory for governments, blue chip, SME, Startups & personal brands. Passionate about real outcomes for Earth, humans, animals, sealife, impact investors, super delighted to be invited to Manabu Advisory Team.
Kamilah Gray Bains

Kamilah Gray Bains

GLOBAL MARKETING, STRATEGY & OPERATIONS
Kamilah is passionate about the power of media to do good in society, and during her time at Facebook, she led a team of engineers, product designers and more to build and launch a social good product to billions of users, raising millions of donations, all while juggling motherhood and her passions for tennis and interior design. Prior to Meta, Kamilah was a marketer at Bloomberg Media, CAA, HBO, Time Warner Cable and AMC Networks.
Ante Pavic

Ante Pavic

IT AND BANKING EXPERT
Accomplished professional and visionary leader at the nexus of Technology, Banking, and Cybersecurity. Ante seamlessly combines his extensive experience in technology and banking with a compassionate commitment to youth empowerment and environmental sustainability, showcasing a unique blend of professional prowess and societal impact.
Nick Bain

Nick Bain

WRITER, PRODUCER FOR TV, FILM AND BOOKS
Scottish Screenwriter/producer across live-action and animation with 15 years in the TV and film industries. He is now creating 'The Last Gonzo', an adult animation with Shadowmachine, alongside Oscar winners and nominees Peter Ramsey (Spiderverse) and Jim Uhls.

Leadership

Lumjana Shehu

Lumjana Shehu

Balkan Project Lead
Passion-driven Youth Empowerment Advocate and Marketing Manager focused on leveraging social media and new tech to drive positive change and reshape our world.
Hannah Dixon

Hannah Dixon

VA Program Training Lead
Founder of Virtual Excellence Academy, renowned Virtual Assistant & Freelance Coach who empowered over 30k+ Virtual Assistants globally, Ft. in Forbes, Biz Insider, Entrepreneur+
Priyanka Modi

Priyanka Modi

Worldschooling Education Lead
Visionary founder of EducationNext.in, an educational platform that aims to revolutionize the way people approach learning. With a deep passion for education, she advocates interest-based learning and embraces alternative methods of learning to empower individuals of all ages.
Enes Petromilo

Enes Petromilo

Virtual Assistance Project Trainer
Enes Petromilo is a vibrant young professional from Tirana, Albania, with a deep-seated passion for blending communication and creativity. His passion has always been engaging in projects that merge these interests, both professionally and personally. As a dynamic communicator and creative thinker, he’s committed to driving positive change and fostering an environment where potential meets opportunity.

Young Ambassadors

Maya & Magnus

Malta / Bulgaria
’We care about the planet and the planet’s pains. We want to understand it. We mean, we trash it. We would love if we would be more kind to the planet, anytime, anywhere.’

Jakov

Croatia
A creative soul, very empathetic, sensitive to the destruction of nature and inequality. Always curious and looking for answers, working on creating things that can help people lead better lives.

Annika

Southern California
I'd say the most important environmental issue is the role industrialization plays in our air quality. How can we call it "progress" when in the end we are poisoning ourselves and our planet?

Adi

India
Adi loves to travel, meet people and experience different cultures. He loves technology and wants to make a positive difference by helping others.

MANABU Center - Andes, New York

The MANABU Center is envisioned as a serene sanctuary for youth to immerse in nature, form bonds with peers from various backgrounds, and gain essential skills to thrive in life. It's a haven for fostering mindfulness, a holistic learning, and empowerment through a deep connection with the natural world.


Our Impact

Nobody is too young or too small to start a change in the world.

MaNaBu's first Movement was started by Maya, who, amid the pandemic, invited her peers and neighbors to clean up her favorite park in Croatia from cigarette butts. This wholehearted idea of a 7-year-old girl was followed by local TV and news. Although it seemed rather peculiar to see children cleaning, her honest efforts incentivized more than 22 local actions run by amazing families and children who joined our MaNaBu Movements throughout 2021 to clean up parks, gardens, schoolyards, beaches, and rivers.