5 inspiring young people who are changing the world
5 inspiring young people who are changing the world
There is nothing more vital than trying to improve the world. It may seem like we're just one person who can't make the changes you want to see in the world, but it's not true at all! There are millions of inspiring young people out there who have made incredible changes in their communities and countries for the better. So, whether you're 8 or 80, there's always a way to make a difference! These five amazing young people show how even one idea can help transform our planet.
Amika George (MBE)
Jahkil Jackson
Gitanjali Rao
Jaylen Arnold
Marley Dias
Amika George
Amika George in England worked tirelessly to ensure that girls had access to free of charge period products at schools. She persuaded the UK government to provide these items for students attending state schools and colleges in every region of England through her not-for profit organization. For services to education, she was given an MBE last year.
She discovered that girls in the UK miss up to a week of school every month because they are unable to obtain period supplies. She was shocked and irritated by this news, and she knew she had to act. Amika, 17 at the time, started a petition with the British Government seeking for more menstrual hygiene education in schools.
While still in school, she founded the #FreePeriods organisation in April 2017 and continued her activism through organised peaceful protests and articles published in Vogue, The Telegraph and The Guardian. In 2019, two years after her campaign began, it was reported that England's Secondary Schools would receive funding to give free sanitary products to low-income young people.
Since then, Amika has continued her activism, and is especially active on social media sites such as Instagram, where her #FreePeriods movement took off! In January this year, she published her book "Make it Happen" a guide to on how to get involved in activism and changed the world for the better.
When talking to Vogue about her book when she was awarded the Spotlight of the Year award at Vogue Women Of The Year 2021 she had this to say about how to start making the changes you want to see in the world "The world that we live in is different. You see young people integrating activism into their everyday lives. And that’s what my book is about—to inspire people to start small."
Jahkil Jackson
When Jahkil Jackson was only 8 years old, he started Project I Am, an organisation that began to help out the homeless in his hometown of Chicago. Since the age of 5 Jahkil has helped his aunt distribute food to individuals dealing with homelessness which inspired him to want to make a difference, leading him to create Project I Am. From his work with Project I am, he met with President Barack Obama, who named him one of 2017's most influential people for his activism.
Starting in Chicago helping the homeless by giving them 'blessing bags' filled with supplies ranging from hand sanitizer, socks and deodorant all while providing other necessities including bottled water and granola bars. Now aged 14, through his efforts to help the homeless, Jahkil has lead Project I Am's fundraising efforts in raising $200 thousand in just a few years.
Project I Am began in Chicago and has impacted the lives of over 60,000 men, women, and children from all around the world. Project I Am has expanded from Chicago to other cities such as Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Atlanta, and many more locations to assist those in need.
The organization has also aided people throughout the world. With the assistance of friends and family, Jahkil's tireless effort has assisted in providing aid to those affected by natural calamities and violence. This includes assisting hurricane survivors in The Bahamas and Puerto Rico (as well as US states Florida and Houston), Guatemalan volcano victims, Orphans in Mbabane, Swaziland, and Ghana.
Making a difference, according to Jahkil when talking to Thrive Global, is "committing to a cause that you are passionate about. This can be assisting the homeless, being a mentor to a youngster since they don't have role models at home, reading books to seniors in senior citizen facilities, or cooking food at a soup kitchen... There are so many options."
Gitanjali Rao
At the age of 15, Gitanjali Rao was named the first-ever kid of the year by The Times in 2020 for her scientific breakthroughs. She has used her scientific knowledge and technology to tackle a variety of real-world issues, including polluted drinking water, opioid addiction, and cyberbullying. As a young woman, she is shattering perceptions on who works and can be successful in STEM and has become an inspiration to young scientific minds across the globe. As an author, she has published “Young Innovator’s Guide to STEM”, guiding students, instructors, and teachers through a pre-planned 5 stage process leading to innovation.
When Gitanjali was growing up, she had an avid interest in science and knew that she wanted to use science to help others. When she learnt about the public health crisis in Flint, Michigan, where drinking water became contaminated by lead. She wanted to help through her scientific knowledge, especially upon seeing the impact it was having on those living in Flint. She began working on a device called Tethys after learning how the water had been contaminated. The device can be attached to a phone and used to identify lead in water immediately. She is still testing the device with the Denver Water Facility, but she expects it will be available for public use in 2022.
This isn't the only amazing invention by Gitanjali. Epione is a gadget for early diagnosis of prescription opioid addiction using genetic engineering that was developed by Gitanjali. She was motivated to create the device after seeing a member of her family go through drug dependency and wanted to assist others identify warning signs, so they could get access to the help they need earlier.
Her most recent invention, Kindly, is all about making the online world a kinder place. Kindly is an AI-based, anti-cyberbullying service called that launched in May 2020. She was inspired to create Kindly after her own experiences seeing bullying in schools growing up, she wanted to invent something to help students with feeling less at school. Kindly is a browser plugin and app that warns people about the consequences of their words and gives them the option to rethink if their comments and messages would affect others online negatively. It encourages users to consider if the things they say on social media are contributing to a kinder internet.
Gitanjali's achievements are remarkable, but she has no plans to slow down! She is still writing books and running seminars for young innovators. She wants to live in a world where there is better representation of women in stem. When speaking to Time Magazine about wanted to see more diversity in STEM she said "My goal has really shifted not only from creating my own devices to solve the world’s problems, but inspiring others to do the same as well. Because, from personal experience, it’s not easy when you don’t see anyone else like you. So I really want to put out that message: If I can do it, you can do it, and anyone can do it."
Jaylen Arnold
After being bullied for having Tourette's syndrome and autism, 8-year-old Jaylen Arnold conceived the notion of the Jaylen's Challenge Foundation. Wanting to make a difference to other young people being bullied Jaylen set up the foundation - Jaylen's Challenge Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness and fighting bullying through education and community service.
After moving schools and facing daily bullying for having Jaylen decided to take a firm stance. Instead of fighting back, he set out to transform the world one person at a time by encouraging people to accept who they are, that we're all human, and that we should try to be more sensitive towards one another rather than bullying one another for our differences.
Jaylen has spoken to over 185,000 children in 20 US states since launching the Jaylens Challenge Foundation. During these talks, Jayden shares his experiences with bullying and encourages other young people to be tolerant of others and encourages those facing adversity to speak out and remember their self-worth.
Jayden has a special gift for connecting with people who are being bullied as well as those who do the bullying. He's been recognized by for his work with troubled youth. Many of these young people confiding in him about their own personal issues and acknowledging them - recognizing that they have the power to affect change within themselves to create a better world for themselves and others.
When Jaylen won the Diana legacy award he wanted to spread the message that the "more we understand each other, the more we will love the differences we have and the similarities we share"
Marley Dias
Marley Dias is an author and activist. In November 2015, when she was only ten years old, she began a movement called #1000BlackGirlBooks. She noticed that the most prevalent characters in stories were white boys and wanted to see herself represented in the novels she was reading, so she established the campaign. This movement led to her being speaker at the White House's United States of Women event, speaking alongside Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
The purpose of the campaign #1000BlackGirlBooks is to collect books with black girls as the main character.Her original goal was to collect 1,000 books with black girls as the main characters. Since launching the project in 2016, she has collected more than 13,000 books.
Speaking to Crate&Barrel she told the story of where the idea for the campaign came from "When I entered fifth grade, I noticed that a lot of the books showed the same type of narrative and did not include stories of girls like me. I became frustrated, not only as a person who loved to read, but as someone who valued my teachers’ experience, valued my classroom and wanted to learn more about the world around me."
Since this campaign she is still spreading black stories to young people through the Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices, a new Netflix series where she is the executive producer and host. The program pairs children's books by Black authors read by black celebrities such as Lupita Nyong'o, Tiffany Haddish, and Jill Scott.
Speaking about why she became and continues to be an activist, Marley had this to say "It’s really about continuing to make sure that kids and teenagers feel safe about who they are, feel strong in their identities and have the support from educators and schools to be their best selves and to help others while doing it."
So be Inspired to change the world and inspire other young people
If you ever feel like you can't make a difference, take a look at the people on this list. They all started out as regular young people who wanted to make their corner of the world just a little bit better. And if they can do it, so can you!
Want to see more inspiring stories from young people? Check out Spotlite and see more positive stories from young people like you around the world. Feeling motivated? We hope so! Share these stories with your friends and family, and let’s work together to make 2022 the year we change the world for the better.