Yesterday during the second day of convention for the Soroptimist International of the America’s, I heard the inspiring story of a remarkable young woman – Talia Leman the Iowa teenager who has become the founder and CEO of her own nonprofit (www.randomkid.org).

Taila’s dreams are in sharp contrast to the dismal story that I heard yesterday from Victor Malarket who reported on the misery of the girls and women who are being trafficked around the world and are serving as modern day slaves through prostitution. (read about how human trafficking is enslaving women and girls everywhere and the johns or customers who are fueling this horrific social problem)

Talia was the recipient of this year’s Violet Richardson award from Soroptimist, a non-profit womens service organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls in local communities and around the world. Soroptimist believes that by acknowledging young women volunteer involvement now, they will grow up to be vital active members of the community. The Violet Richardson Award honors young women between the ages of 14 and 17 for volunteer action such as fighting drugs, crime and violence, cleaning up the environment and working to end discrimination and poverty.

Talia’s vision is to take the goodness of the child and turn it into goodness for the world by helping kids help others.Through RandomKid she helps kids to become innovative and successful world problem-solvers, which will secure a better fate for our world now, and into the future. Through the collective power of kids, Talia and her motivated organization of youth have raised more than $10,000,000 and have funded life saving projects around the globe. (read about the current projects that kids are getting involved with)

Talia’s actions and results are impressive by any measure, but they are even more remarkable when you consider her young age. This woman certainly has found her purpose and is mobilizing others into a powerful new community of world problem solvers. In her acceptance speech that was read at the Soroptimist “Living Your Dreams” award luncheon yesterday, Talia shared some of her guiding principles and core beliefs which I have paraphrased below. They are good reminders for ALL of us – young and old.

“The more people who BELIEVE that they can make a difference, the more powerful that difference is. After seeing the power of kids, I want to be someone who cares about the success of our planet, not  just the success of ourselves. Small efforts matter most because success is the end result of an accumulation of actions. I want to be someone who believes in the power of anyone!”

Check back tomorrow for my third and final post from San Francisco where I am attending the 41st biennial convention of the Soroptimist International of the Americas. – Kathy McAfee