They're young, determined and part of a generation that wants to inspire change.
As each strives to make the world a better place, these five young women also hope to empower others to advocate for causes they believe in.
Whether they’re fighting for climate change or equality, their courage and confidence illustrate the important role that today’s youth play in everything from the environment to politics. These are their stories, prepare to be inspired.
Millie Bobby Brown
Advocates For Children’s Causes
Millie Bobby Brown
The 18-year-old British star, who rose to fame portraying Eleven in the Netflix hit show “Stranger Things,” has proven to be so much more than just a talented actress. In 2018, Brown was named UNICEF’s youngest Goodwill Ambassador.
Brown is using her platform to raise awareness about children’s rights and issues ranging from education to violence that affect youth from around the globe. One issue the actress is especially passionate about is bullying, a cause that also hits close to home.
“I know what it feels like to be vulnerable,” Brown said while speaking at the UNICEF Summit on Universal Children’s Day. “I was bullied at school by a group of students and remember feeling helpless.”
Ultimately, Brown had to switch schools because of the bullying and like millions of other young girls, she’s also been bullied and harassed online. In 2018, Brown deactivated her Twitter account after being repeatedly attacked by cyberbullies.
At the 2018 MTV Movie and TV Awards, Brown shared her views on cyberbullying by saying, “Since I know there are many young people watching this — and even for the adults too — they could probably use the reminder I was taught: if you don’t have anything nice to say, just don’t say it. There should be no space in this world for bullying, I’m not going to tolerate it and neither should any of you.”
Today, the Emmy-nominated actress is starring in and serving as executive producer in the sequel to her popular Netflix film, “Enola Holmes,” set for release later this year. Brown also has several movies in the works and is reprising her role in “Stranger Things,” the fourth season, set for release this summer.
In her 2021 UNICEF speech on World Children’s Day, Brown encouraged adults to listen to children.
“We’ve listened to adults, but now it’s time for them to listen to us,” Brown says. “It’s time to remind them that big changes can start small and that only together can we change the world.”
Greta Thunberg
Strives To Protect The Planet
Greta Thunberg
A native of Sweden, Thunberg, 19, is a passionate advocate for environment and climate change. But Thunberg does more than just talk about ecological activism, she also leads by example.
Thunberg, who lives in Stockholm, was only 15 when she first skipped school to protest outside the Swedish parliament. Holding a sign that stated, “School Strike for Climate Change,” she wanted to convince the government to meet carbon emissions targets. Her protest inspired youth across the world to organize their own strikes to fight for a cleaner and healthier planet and led to the formation of a nonprofit, fridaysforfuture.org.
After receiving the Right Livelihood Award in 2020, also known as the “alternative Nobel prize,” Thunberg used the 1 million Swedish krona she received to establish The Greta Thunberg Foundation, a nonprofit advocating for ecological and social sustainability. She continues to travel the globe and call upon world leaders to treat climate change with urgency, even speaking at the 2019 U.N. Climate Action Summit.
Her advocacy efforts were highlighted in the 2020 documentary film, “I Am Greta.” When the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, Thunberg said she hoped it could be a “bridge” for people who wanted to learn more about the climate emergency.
In addition to being an outspoken advocate on the environment, Thunberg has also spoken candidly about having Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. In a 2019 Instagram post, Thunberg said, “I have Asperger’s and that means I’m sometimes a bit different from the norm. And — given the right circumstances — being different is a superpower.”
Marley Dias
Works For Equal Representation In Children’s Books
Marley Dias
Marley Dias knows reading changes lives. In 2015, at the age of 10, Dias, who is of Jamaican and Cape Verdean descent, noticed there were few children’s books featuring protagonists that looked like her.
An avid reader, Dias decided to change that by starting the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign, with a goal of collecting 1,000 books featuring black female protagonists between November 2015 and February 2016. Dias surpassed that goal, collecting over 13,000 books to date, which she has donated to schools.
“Bringing awareness to the lack of diversity in children’s literature is important to me because there were so many students who have never and never will see themselves reflected in literature assigned in schools,” Dias told Literacy Now in a 2018 interview.
The success of her campaign led to appearances on the “Today” show, “Ellen,” “The View” and many other national media outlets. Dias also has spoken at The White House’s United State of Women, The Forbes’ Women’s Summit and the UN’s Girl Up.
A native of New Jersey, Dias, 17, wrote her own book, “Marley Dias Gets It Done and So Can You!,” released in 2018, where she encourages other young girls to utilize their own strengths to make positive changes in their communities. She also has her own Netflix series, “Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices.”
In an interview last year with Teen Vogue, Dias talked about the power of collaboration in social activism.
“It’s a collaboration of people who are older and people who are younger that allows for communities to strive,” Dias says. “It’s not an independent act, to change the world.”
Malala Yousafzai Malik
Believes All Girls Deserve A Quality Education
Malala Yousafzai Malik
A native of Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai Malik has endured more in 24 years than most people do in a lifetime.
The daughter of a teacher, Ziauddin, Malala has long shared her father’s belief that girls should receive the same educational opportunities as boys. Yet in Pakistan, education gaps remain. The Center for Global Development reports that for every 100 boys enrolled in school in Pakistan, 86 girls are enrolled, and girls are less likely than boys to be able to read and do simple math.
Being an advocate for girls made Malala a target after the Taliban took over her hometown of Swat Valley. On her way home from school in 2012 at the age of 15, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman. Although her recovery was long and involved multiple surgeries, Malala remained undeterred in her desire to secure a quality education for all girls.
In 2014, she established the Malala Fund (malala.org), a nonprofit dedicated to giving every girl 12 years of free, safe, quality education. That same year, at the age of 17, she received the Nobel Peace Prize, making her the youngest laureate to receive the prestigious award.
Today, the Malala Fund supports projects including a program in Nigeria that teaches girls by radio in an area where mass kidnappings of girls have been prevalent. Malala completed her own education, graduating in 2020 from Oxford University in Oxford, England, with a degree in philosophy, politics and economics. Last year, she married Asser Malik and the two live in Birmingham, England.
In a 2021 interview with Stanford University Business School’s “View From The Top” podcast, Malala reflected on her journey saying, “The Taliban tried to silence me, but they made a huge mistake, because I’m in a position where I can not only speak about my right to education, and for girls in Swat Valley, but I can speak out for girls globally. And since then, it’s been my mission to ensure that all 130 million girls who are out of school can have access to education.”
Activist And Writer
Amanda Gorman
Proves Words Matter
Amanda Gorman
Last year, Amanda Gordon, 24, became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history when she read her original poem, “The Hill We Climb,” at the inauguration of President Biden.
“My hope is my poem will represent a moment of unity for our country and with my words I’ll be able to speak to new chapter and era for our generation,” Gorman told The Washington Post.
Even as a young girl, Gorman enjoyed writing and says her mother Joan, a sixth-grade English teacher in Watts, Calif., encouraged her creativity. Despite having a speech impediment as a child and an auditory processing disorder that makes her hypersensitive to sound, Gorman learned to recite songs as a form of speech therapy and to excel in her classes. After graduating from high school in 2016, Gorman was appointed the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017 by Urban Word.
In 2020, Gorman graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
Last year, Estée Lauder named Gorman their first “Global Changemaker,” a role where she represents the cosmetic brand in ad campaigns and speaking events, while also launching Writing Change, a new initiative with the company aimed at advancing literacy as a pathway to equality, access and social change.
“The Estée Lauder Companies and I are both approaching the initiative with the deep-seated belief that our stories can reshape the world,” Gorman said in an interview published on Estée Lauder’s website. “Our goal is to help projects globally that advance literally and writing as a form of social change.”