Inspiring Women on a Mission: The Next Generation

Sometimes a Woman on a Mission is actually a girl.

The recent mass shooting in Parkland has galvanized hundreds, if not thousands, of people who want the violence to end. Possibly the most visible of these advocates is Emma Gonzalez, who had righteous fury in her voice and tears streaming from her eyes as she read from a speech she scribbled on the back of her AP History notes earlier this week.

Yes, her history notes - because Emma Gonzalez is a senior in high school.

It very well may be that Emma and her classmates, swearing #NeverAgain, are the ones who will finally move the needle on the debate over the best way to address gun violence. With the utter fearlessness of the young, they are taking on a big issue and vow that they will not be deterred in this fight.

That is the very bright, very silvery lining on a terribly dark cloud – and it is something we should cherish.

Our recent history is filled with some extraordinary girls and young women who have taken on the big battles: eradicating hunger, promoting education, curing cancer and saving our environment. Here are just a few: 

Positive Impact for Kids

When she was just 12 years old, Leanne Joyce was devastated when her doctor told her that she had to immediately stop the sports she enjoyed because it would endanger her life. A heart condition affecting her aortic valve meant she could no longer compete as a jump roper, a swimmer or a gymnast.

One day when she was awaiting test results at a hospital, a couple of teenage volunteers handed her a gift, a positive experience that relieved the stress she was feeling. She wanted to replicate that experience for other children and tried to raise money by holding a bake sale at a grocery store. When the grocery story told her it could only help nonprofits, she went ahead and created one.

Positive Impact for Kids now raises funds to help hospital staff better meet the emotional and physical needs of their pediatric patients. They provide items like laptops, tablets and gaming systems to help kids pass the time while they are inpatients at medical centers.

Leanne originally set a personal goal of raising $100,000 by the time of her high school graduation this year. She met it a year early, however, Positive Impact for Kids has raised more than $138,000 to date.

The Ladybug Foundation

A 5-year-old girl sees a man eating out of a dumpster on a cold night in Canada and is troubled. She tells her mother how sad it makes her, and the mother suggests that the little girl do something so her heart doesn’t hurt so much. She promptly works with her first grade teacher to arrange a bake sale to raise money for the homeless. She reaches out to business leaders and politicians and makes presentations, collecting money in jars decorated with ladybugs, her good luck charm.

Within three years, the little girl starts a foundation. 

That was back in 2004. Hannah Taylor is now in her 20s and continues to lead The Ladybug Foundation, which has raised more than $4 million for 65 shelters, missions and food banks across Canada. She was honored last year as one of six recipients of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award, which honors leaders aged 30 or under for their humanitarian work.

And Hannah is working to make sure that the future generations are poised to make a difference in the world. She’s created another initiative, makeChange, an online multimedia classroom resource that empowers and encourages children from kindergarten through high school to find a cause they are passionate about and make an impact.

Kids Saving the Rainforest

In 1999, Janine Licare and Aislin Livingstone, both 9-year-olds living in Costa Rica were concerned that the rainforest around their home were disappearing and it was devastating the wildlife there, particularly the mono titi monkeys. With great optimism, they sold paper-mache items and painted rocks to raise money, only to be disappointed they couldn’t buy much land with that!

So, unable to save the rainforest by owning it, they instead created a foundation that works to teach others about the importance of the rainforest and create rope bridges for the monkeys (deprived of the trees they usual use to get from place to place, the monkeys were using electrical lines and getting electrocuted in the process).

Now, almost two decades later, Kids Saving the Rainforest has a reforestation program, a wildlife rehab center and a sanctuary. There are education programs throughout the world and tours and volunteer opportunities, which raise money for the foundation.

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation

Okay, spoiler alert – this one is a heartbreaker. But it also shows how a cause can outlive its founder.

Shortly before her first birthday, Alexandra Scott was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer. She fought for three years and then received a stem-cell transplant. She asked her mom if she could have a lemonade stand once she got out of the hospital, so she could give the money to doctors so they could help other kids like her.

That year, Alex and her family raised $2000 and it became an annual event. People learned about Alex’s causes and held their own lemonade stand fundraisers, donating the proceeds to Alex’s cause.

In August of 2004, Alex succumbed to her illness, but she died knowing that she (with a little help from her friends and family) had raised more than $1 million for childhood cancer research.

Since 2005, the foundation in her name has funded more than 800 research projects at 135 institutions to put an end to childhood cancer – one cup of lemonade at a time.

Malala’s Fund

This is the one you probably already know about – after all, the founder is the youngest winner of a Nobel Peace Prize.

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for female education in a part of the world where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. She began writing a blog under a pseudonym detailing her life under Taliban occupation, then was featured in a documentary. She began giving interviews and appearing on television.

When she was 15, she was shot by a Taliban gunman, who attempted to murder her as retaliation for her activism. The attempt on her life sparked outrage and an outpouring of support. During her recovery, her family relocated to the United Kingdom, and it is there that she started the Malala Fund.

The charity focuses on areas where the most girls miss out on secondary education, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and countries housing Syrian refugees like Lebanon and Jordan.

I absolutely love the banner on Malala’s sight, which embodies the optimism that all of these nonprofits have about their causes:

“If one girl with an education can change the world, what can 130 million do?”

Are you a Woman on a Mission? A #ChangeMaker working hard to make the world a kinder, brighter place for those in need? I'd love to share your story.

All you have to do is fill out this form and share with me your vision, your mission, your journey and the impact you're making through the work of your small nonprofit. I'd love to feature you as a Woman on a Mission AND bring a little more attention to your good work with a little marketing love!