Anyone Can Change The World

Kids have been, and always will be, important members of the community. Their ideas, dedication, and desire for good drive adults to do better and be better if they take the time to listen. While countless children look to change the world every day, these 20 have worked tirelessly to raise awareness for what they’re most passionate about.

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1. Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai is a female education activist and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, receiving it at only 17 years old. Malala’s story is well-known - she survived an assassination attempt while taking a bus home during an exam. Her fight for women’s education in Pakistan and worldwide led her to found a non-profit organisation, receiving a Time nomination for one of the most influential people globally, and she was awarded honorary Canadian citizenship.

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2. Nadia Comăneci

Nadia Comăneci was a Romanian Olympic gymnast during the 70s and 80s. In 1976, she received seven perfect 10s and three gold medals at the age of 14, and won two more golds during the 1980 Summer Olympics. She singlehandedly spiked gymnastics' popularity worldwide due to her talent and is considered the best female gymnast of the past 100 years.

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3. Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg is a Swedish climate and political activist who rose to fame in 2018. At only 15 years old, she began calling for stronger actions against climate change, refusing to attend school every Friday until Sweden complied with the Paris climate agreement. Greta is well-known for speaking out against politicians, supporting and organising climate and war-related protests, and was named Time Person of the Year in 2019.

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4. Jack Andraka

Jack Andraka was only in high school when he won the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. He came up with a method to detect early stages of pancreatic cancer. His work gained him entrance to Stanford University, and he worked with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to further his findings.

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5. Jaylen Arnold

After struggling with bullying for most of his childhood due to his Tourette's, autism, and OCD, Jaylen Arnold started an anti-bully advocacy movement that reached thousands. Jaylen won the Princess Diana Award in 2017 after spending his teen years speaking to over 300,000 kids across the United States.

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6. Jahkil Jackson

Jakhil Jackson launched Project I Am at 8 years old to raise awareness about homelessness, raising nearly $1 million USD and impacting 300,000 people worldwide. His philanthropic work has awarded him titles of Marvel Hero, Red Cross Youth Hero, and recognition by President Barack Obama as one of the world’s most influential changemakers.

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7. Enrique Esparza

Enrique Esparaza was only eight years old when he witnessed the final battle of the Alamo in 1836, and was the battle’s only survivor. His account of the battle provided a primary source for historical records today. Enrique passed away in 1917.

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8. Ann Makosinski

Ann Makosinski is a pioneer in Canadian invention, which began when she was 9 years old. Her vigilance resulted in her creating the thermoelectric flashlight in 2013, which does not require any kind of batteries or charging. Her work put her on Time Magazine's 30 Under 30 List before she graduated high school.

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9. Marley Dias

Marley Dias launched #1000BlackGirlBooks when she was in 6th grade, a campaign where she collected 1,000 books with Black female protagonists to donate to schools across the United States. Her work won her the 2017 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award and placement on the Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2018.

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10. Ryan Hickman

Ryan Hickman began his journey with recycling at 3 years old when he started collecting cans and bottles from his friends, family, and neighbors. He created Ryan’s Recycling, an Orange County-specific business that picks up recyclables from people's homes. Ryan’s work has resulted in over 400 community clean-up events and almost 2.5 million recycled cans and bottles.

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11. Anne Frank

This well-known girl gave us an in-depth look at what the Jewish population faced during the rise of Nazism in the 30s and 40s. Her only surviving family member followed Anne’s wishes to become a writer, publishing a version of her diary in 1947.

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12. Louis Braille

Louis Braille was a 19th-century educator and inventor of the Braille system after he was blinded as a young child. He presented his Braille system at only 15 years old, which has been incorporated into languages worldwide and remains virtually unchanged.

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13. Nicholas Lowinger

When Nicholas Lowinger was five years old, he started visiting homeless shelters with his mom. When he noticed that many of the kids didn’t own footwear, he started the Gotta Have Sole foundation as a service project as part of his bar mitzvah. Today, Nicholas is the CEO of Gotta Have Sole and has provided over 6,000 pairs of shoes to children in need.

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14. Orion Jean

Orion Jean is currently 13 years old and is the founder of the “Race to Kindness” initiative, a movement that has spread meals, toys, books, and now acts of kindness worldwide. Orion’s efforts have also resulted in him writing two books and winning Time’s 2021 Kid of the Year.

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15. Claudette Colvin

Claudette Colvin played a massive role in the 1950s civil rights movement after refusing to give up her seat to a white woman at the age of 15. Her act of protest resulted in her getting arrested nine months before Rosa Parks. Her trial resulted in Alabama determining that bus segregation laws were unconstitutional.

The Visibility Project, Claudette Colvin on Wikimedia

16. Sophie Cruz

Sophie Cruz is a teenager whose advocacy focuses on the continuance of the DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans) program. At 5 years old, she ran out in front of Pope Francis’s car, urging him to Rescate DAPA. This interaction resulted in Pope Francis meeting with the United States Congress, encouraging more openness for immigrants and refugees.

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17. Melati and Isabel Wijsen

These sisters were 10 and 12 years old when they started their efforts to reduce plastic consumption in the Indonesian province of Bali. Their campaign, known as Bye Bye Plastic Bags, resulted in over 20,000 people cleaning up 65 tons of waste in 2018.

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18. Ryan White

Ryan White was only a child when he was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Due to a broad amount of misinformation about the disease in the 80s, Ryan was barred from attending his classes following his diagnosis. His efforts to return to school resulted in him becoming an advocate for AIDS research and public education, before he passed from the disease at 18 years old.

AIDSgov on Wikimedia

19. Xiuhtezcatl Martinez

Xiuhtezcatl (shoo-TEZ-kaht) Martinez is an American environmental activist and hip hop artist. As a teenager, he spoke at the United Nations about the effects of fossil fuels and rose to fame in 2015 after speaking at the United Nations General Assembly. Xiuhtezcatl’s work has awarded him the U.S. Volunteer Service Award and a spot on Rolling Stone’s 25 under 25 list in 2017.

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20. Jasilyn Charger

Jasilyn Charger is an Indigenous activist, community organizer, and advocate for Native American and LGBTQ+ rights. Many of their efforts come from personal experience, as they faced the foster care system and homelessness throughout most of their childhood and young adult life. They are a co-founder of the One Mind Youth Movement, the International Indigenous Youth Council, and the Seventh Defenders. 

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