The New Rock Stars of Social Change

This week, teen social change organization Do Something honored five incredible social change agents as winners as their Do Something Awards. The awards recognize the difference these young people are making in the world, and gives each winner $10,000 to go towards the cause of their choice.

Each of the winners began their social change initiatives as teenagers, proving Do Something’s belief (and that of Smart Girls Know) that teenagers have the power to make a difference. Here is a quick look at the winners…I hope they inspire you the way they have me!

• Marvelyn Brown, age 24: The Marvelous Connections Tour – an activism tour about HIV/AIDS prevention and education. Marvelyn’s tour has resulted in more than 200,000 people getting tested for HIV.
• David Burstein, age 20: 18 in ’08 – a film and peer-to-peer effort to get 18 year olds to register to vote. This youth-run initiative contributed to the highest registration of 18-22 year old voters in history.
• Maggie Doyne, age 22: Kopila Valley Children’s Home – a children’s home for the most innocent victims of a decade-long civil war in Nepal. Maggie used her life-savings to buy the land and build the home following a graduation trip to Asia.
• Eric Glustrom, age 24: Educate! – a program that empowers the next generation of socially responsible leaders through scholarships, funding, leadership seminars, mentorships and more. Eric was inspired after a trip to film a documentary in Uganda at the age of 17.
• Darius Weems, age 19: Darius Goes West – a documentary Darius made about the realities of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which has raised more than $1.6 million for research to find a cure.

Congratulations to all the winners! And to find out more, including how you apply for one of Do Something’s weekly $500 seed grants, visit the Do Something website.