Yeraly Baimagambetov

Youth Ambassador,
ASPIRE 2030

Yeraly Baimagambetov is a 15 year old student based in Kazakhstan, and he is passionate about game development - with a focus on quality education - as a pathway to youth empowerment. He has been recognized as a Youth Ambassador of the ASPIRE 2030 global campaign co-organized by UNESCO.

He finds joy in education through his personal experiences. In Grade 8, he was engaged in a school talent show on which he and his friends played on boomwhackers. One of his friends made a mistake right on the first note, which led to a false start and it was difficult to keep playing without laughing. However, everyone still liked it, and that to him makes the experience worthwhile. On a more serious note, as he progresses through school, he realized that in order to accomplish his goals, he cannot solely rely on motivation, and that he needs to develop a stronger sense of discipline. Without discipline, anyone including himself would give up on the slightest struggle, even if he is doing something that he is interested in. 

This dual-pronged approach has carried him well into his high school years, in both his academics and extracurricular activities. He is an avid game developer, and founded Balga Games. He is developing his first game, a precision action platformer called Samurai Journey, where players need to switch between human and ghost state, and use their respective abilities and restrictions to their advantage to pass a level. Concurrently, his YouTube Channel posts videos about his progress in his game and he shares his lessons learned along the way. He wants to use the Channel to promote his future games and as creating an additional source of income when one day, he will make game development a potential career option. 

Outside of game development, Yeraly takes up boxing. He is inspired by his father who is a boxer, and he decided to follow his legacy. Boxing gives confidence, health and self defense skills to protect people he loves. He is also passionate about singing, where he would perform Kazakh songs in big events in his school. There are very few people in his school who can speak Kazakh and sing, and he is one of them.

In the future, Yeraly aims to continue his interests in game development and multimedia marketing, and one day create his own gaming studio and partner with like-minded individuals and organizations. He will also consider becoming a solo game developer. Whichever path he chooses, he will be motivated and disciplined to maximize the impact he can create for future generations.