Isabel Kaplan: making a difference as a social entrepreneur

Isabel Kaplan wrote in one of her blogs on HuffingtonPost [I Am Sixteen, Going on Seventeen] - ”..when you're my age, it can be, at times, hard to feel as though you can really make a difference. I can't even vote, so how do I expect to be able to change the world? The answer -- one school at a time.

“I wouldn't describe myself as fearless. Hardly. I'm scared of a lot of things -- rejection, loneliness, failure. I think it's more of the fact that I've learned to put my fears aside; I've learned to walk in long strides, even when I'm not sure if the ground might give out beneath me. I've stopped taking the baby steps and started leaping. I may fall and tumble and have to get back up again, but it's much better than not trying in the first place.

“I am the founder of Girls for Girls, International, an organization dedicated to helping young women in developing countries gain access to the education that they need and deserve in order to grow up to be strong and successful women.”

In her post How to Change the World Before Your 18th Birthday, she notes, “Sometimes, the idea of making a difference.. may seem near to impossible” and then quotes Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has."
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Related Talent Development Resources pages:
social activism : teen/young adult
fear
article on achieving with Kaizen/small steps: 'Thinking big' could be making you FAIL! by Robert Maurer, PhD

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