International Women's Day: Celebrating Mighty Girls Who Are Changing The World!

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

Happy International Women’s Day! On March 8, we celebrate the achievements of women around the world. Last year, A Mighty Girl marked International Women’s Day by highlighting several Mighty Girl Heroes — inspirational female role models ranging from Wangari Maathai to Shirin Ebadi who have each done remarkable things.

Of course, there are also many Mighty Girls around the world who are already making a tremendous impact! While these young women may not be household names, each of them is striving to change the world — starting with their own part of it. So this International Women’s Day, we’re sharing the stories of ten Mighty Girls who are making their own marks. After all, there’s nothing more inspiring than knowing that anyone, of any age, can start making the world a better place today each in her own way.

Kayla Wheeler, USA, 17 - The Athlete & Paralympian

Kayla never let her lack of three limbs slow her down — even if she is, in her own words, “basically the most disabled you can be and still swim.” In fact, this amazing young woman not only swims, she also skis, plays baseball, and competes on her school’s rocketry and robotics teams.

In December 2013, Kayla set a new world record in the 50-meter butterfly at the Can-Am Para-Swimming Championships! Although Kayla qualified for the 2012 Paralympics in London, there weren’t enough qualified swimmers in her category for the event to run, but she’s hopeful about being able to compete in 2016.

After all, she says, “My parents have always taught me that I can do anything that I put my mind to. So I just put my mind to it.”

Kayla is also currently running an online fundraiser to support her swim team for people with disabilities, the Shadow Seals Disabled Swim Team -- to help support the effort, visit her Indiegogo page.

You can read more about Kayla and her multiple awards in this article from Heraldnet.

Agnieszka Kolaczynska, UK, 11 - The Filmmaker

Award-winning filmmaker Agnieszka has been making films since she was 8 years old! Recently, at 11 years of age, she won the Ones to Watch award at the first National Youth Film Festival (NYFF) in London for her series of films about her and her sister entitled, "My little sister (who happens to have Down’s syndrome)." Agnieszka’s films were inspired by her sister, Magdalena, and chronicle her sister’s experiences living with Down’s Syndrome.

Agnieszka says “I find there’s so many depressing articles, videos and pictures on Down syndrome, and I want to make these films to show the happiness and joy Magdalena brings to our lives.” The write-up in the NYFF program about her film series said that her work “has reached and touched unexpected audiences across the world,” and we are sure she will continue to do so!

To check our Agnieszka’s videos, visit her check out her website, Agnieszka Productions.

Sarah Nelson, Canada - The Entrepreneur & Philanthropist

What does a 10-year-old who loves to bake do? If she’s Sarah Nelson, she becomes CEO of her own baking business and starts splitting her profits between her college fund and the local hospice! Sarah started her business, Sarah Bugs Sweet Treats, when she was 8, and selected the Algoma Regional Community Hospice, which she calls “Heaven’s waiting room,” to receive her donations.

Sarah makes almost any sweet treat you can think of -- cookies, cupcakes, caramel apples, suckers, chocolate covered pretzels, and more. And, instead of pricing her sweet creations, she sells everything by donation, proving that people will pay well for a company that’s doing great things — so far, she’s donated over $11,000 to ARCH. Sarah was the recipient of a Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Medal for community service, and we’re sure that she’s going to continue to make her community proud!

You can watch a video about Sarah’s work here or visit her website, Sarah Bugs Sweet Treats, to learn more or place an order.

Iqbal Al-Assaad, Lebanon, 20 - The Refugee Doctor

Born to a family of Palestinian refugees, Iqbal showed her remarkable potential early: at age 9, she came to the attention of the Lebanese minister of education because she had skipped from grade 3 to grade 9 and needed governmental permission to sit the exams. When she graduated from high school at age 12, she dreamed of being a doctor but couldn’t afford university; once again, the minister stepped in and arranged a scholarship.

In August 2013, she qualified as a doctor and is now believed to be the youngest working doctor in the world. Her refugee status prevented her from continuing her training in Lebanon, so she is completing her residency in the US.

Her long-term goal? Iqbal hopes one day to return and work in her community: “My dream is to come back to do something for the Palestinian refugees in the camps, even by opening a free clinic for them.”

You can read more about Iqbal’s remarkable achievements in this article in The National.

Phiona Mutesi, Uganda, 18 - The Chess Prodigy

Growing up in poverty in Katwe, Uganda, Phiona Mutesi started learning chess just to get a cup of porridge: Robert Katende’s chess program offered kids a small meal in exchange for learning the game that, as he says, “[t]he discipline, the patience... anything to do with life, you can get it in that game.”

And it was obvious immediately that Phiona's talent was dramatic. She would walk four miles a day to the program for the little bit of food, but also for the pleasure of the game and the possibilities it gave her.

Now she is the topic of a 2011 short documentary, and a 2012 book, The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster (15 and up), which has been optioned by Disney for a film. As for her future pursuits, Phiona says: "Chess gave me hope, whereby now I'm having a hope of becoming a doctor and... a grand master.”

You can read more about Phiona's journey in this article from CNN.

Gabrielle Turnquest, USA, 18 - The Lawyer

Gabrielle made history this year when the she became the youngest person ever to pass the British bar exam in the profession's 600-year history. The average age of students who pass the exam is 27-- a feat normally accomplished at an average age of 27!

Gabrielle, who also graduated from college at age 16, was able to take the British exam because her parents are originally from the Bahamas.

In learning that she had set a new record, Gabrielle stated, "I am honored to be the youngest person to pass the Bar exams but, really, I was not aware at the time what the average age was... I didn't fully realize the impact of it.”

Now, she's planning to qualify as a lawyer in the US and also hopes to work as a lawyer in the Bahamas one day. No doubt, more record-setting feats are in store for this brilliant young woman!

You can read Gabrielle's story in this article from the Telegraph newspaper.

Maria Toorpakai, Pakistan, 23 - The Boundary Breaker

In order to play her favorite sport, squash, in her conservative province of Pakistan, Maria Toorpakai had to start out pretending to be a boy. As an older teen, she stopped playing publicly after receiving anonymous threats because she knew that “A [modern] squash court has so much glass in it, so if there was a bomb blast inside, it would kill so many innocent people.”

But after reaching out to coaches around the world, Maria connected with Jonathan Power in Toronto, Canada, and she is now ranked 49th in the world.

Maria knows that her achievements in sports mean far more than her own personal achievement: “[people] need someone to represent them, someone who can raise the voice for them and I think we are the people and we will bring change to them.”

You can read more about Maria in this BBC News article.

Lorde, New Zealand, 17 - The Chart-Topping Singer-Songwriter

Since she signed with Universal at age 13, and became the first New Zealand artist ever with a song topping the US Billboard Hot 100 in 2013, chances are good that you’ve heard Lorde! In her songwriting, she strives “to capture what it really is to be a teen” and tackles social anxiety, friendship, and romantic yearning.

When her song Royals hit the top of the charts in the US, she became the youngest singer since Tiffany in 1987 to reach the #1 spot. She also won both Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 2014 Grammys.

Lorde is determined for her music to encourage girls to find their strength; speaking about the inspiration for Royals, she said, “I was just thinking it’s so unhealthy for girls to be listening to you know ‘I’m nothing without you.’ This sort of shirt-tugging, desperate, ‘don’t leave me’ stuff, that’s not a good thing for young girls, even young people to hear.”

You can read an extended interview with Lorde by Tavi Gevinson in Rookie Magazine.

Eesha Khare, USA, 18 - The Inventor

Sometimes it’s the simplest things that inspire a Mighty Girl! Eesha Khare’s flexible, quick-charging energy device came about because, she says, “[m]y cellphone battery always dies.” Eesha’s supercapacitor design can be fully charged in 20 to 30 seconds, has a lifespan of 10,000 charge-recharge cycles, and is so thin and flexible that it could be used in fabrics or rolltop displays.

Eesha took her supercapacitor to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in 2013 and won the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award. She put the $50,000 prize towards her schooling at Harvard University, which she began this fall. “I will be setting the world on fire,” she says, and we at A Mighty Girl believe her.

You can read more about Eesha and watch a video on Huffington Post. 

Paloma Noyola Bueno, Mexico, 12 - The Math Genius

When Wired Magazine says they’ve found the next Steve Jobs, people pay attention -- especially when they say that person is a 12-year-old girl who goes to school next to a waste dump in a Mexican border town. Recently, Paloma Noyola Bueno scored a 921 on Mexico’s version of the SAT’s — the highest score in the nation.

The education techniques employed by her teacher, which encourage self-learning and tapping into a student’s natural creativity, are helping her develop. However, writers at Wired Magazine, which ran a feature on Paloma -- and others -- wonder what she would be capable of if she had access to more resources.

Fortunately, the attention may get her just that: since the article was published last fall, she has traveled to Mexico City for a mental math competition and become a media darling in Mexico. But, what's most important to Paloma is just having more opportunities to learn: "I'm very happy. If you want it, you can do it.”

You can read more about Paloma in the original article from Wired.

So the next time your Mighty Girl wonders if she can really change the world, let her know about these great young role models. With a big dream and a lot of determination, she’ll be amazed at what she might do!

Additional Recommended Resources

• To learn about more Mighty Girl role models, check out A Mighty Girls’ blog Celebrating Mighty Girl Heroes on International Women’s Day.
• For a selection of Mighty Girl stories, both fictional and biographical, to inspire your own Mighty Girl, please visit our Mighty Girl book section.
• For books about girls and women who have changed the world in a wide variety of fields, visit our Biography section.
• For books that celebrate the value of show initiative, visit our Initiative / Leadership section.