Campaigning for world leaders to act on climate change since she was 15 years old.
When Danielle was 12 years old, she witnessed the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks on America in 2001. It was a horrible day for America, with nearly 3,000 innocent people dying. This lit a fire inside Danielle that fuelled her passion for learning about world peace and what could be done to achieve it.
One day, Danielle’s parents took her along with them to a neighbourhood party. Danielle was the only one there her age and wasn’t sure who to talk to. Then she spotted a lady wearing a peace badge on her jacket. Danielle decided the two might have something in common and went up to introduce herself and ask the lady about her badge.
She soon found out she had a special spark in common with the lady, called Jill McManigal. Jill and Danielle shared a dream of bringing children of all ages and backgrounds together to be peace builders. During the party and beyond, Danielle and Jill planned how they could realise their vision.
Within a few weeks, Jill and Danielle gathered a small group of children in Jill’s backyard and led an open talk, asking them to share their wisdom on a series of topics. They asked questions such as, ‘What does peace mean to you?’ ‘What do you want our world to look like?’ and ‘What can you do to create the world you wish to see?’. People started talking about how wonderful these discussion groups and their impacts were. The word about them spread quickly and before long Danielle and Jill were flooded with requests to copy these discussion groups in several neighbourhoods. This is when KidsForPeace was born. Over the next few months, with children from all over the world, Danielle and Jill put together a Peace Pledge.
Now, children from all over the world meet to put the words of the Peace Pledge into action. For example, one of the pledges asks that children ‘Help others throughout the day.’ So children at the International School in India hosted a book drive, installed a library and shared story time with neighbourhood friends.
So far, over 15 million children across 121 countries have participated in KidsForPeace programs and performed an amazing 750 million acts of kindness. When asked about the most important thing Danielle has learnt, she said, ‘Persistence, persistence, persistence. If you have a vision for the world, it takes persistence and dedication to see it come to life. My vision is world peace, something most people write off as impossible. But if no one works toward it we’ll definitely never attain it.’
Campaigning for access to clean water for Canada’s indigenous communities since she was 8 years old.
Raising awareness of the effects of the Syrian civil war and calling for peace since she was 6 years old.
Challenging the representation of girls and women in society since she was 11 years old.
Running a marathon in 10 days to raise money for homeless people when he was 7 years old.
Fundraising for the farmers whose incomes have been affected by drought in Australia since he was 11 years old.
Inspiring girls to learn about and aspire to work in science and technology subjects since she was 16 years old.
Creating and growing a bank that helps children save money by recycling since he was 12 years old.
Designing technology to supply electricity and water without emitting greenhouse gases since he was 15 years old.
Campaigning for the banning of plastic bags in Bali since they were 10 and 12 years old.
Designing a solar powered ironing cart to reduce charcoal burning in India since she was 12 years old.
Petitioning for schools to give children reusable water bottles since he was 7 years old.
Campaigning for people and businesses to stop using single-use plastics since they were 10 and 12 years old.
Set up organisations supporting cancer patients, people in poverty, and promoting golf in young black girls, since she was 10 years old.
Saving the lives of hundreds of hedgehogs in the UK since they were 9 years old.
Campaigning to promote proper battery disposal and recycling since he was 10 years old.
Campaigning for people and businesses to stop using single-use plastics since they were 10 and 12 years old.
The world’s youngest sustainability advocate – working to make the world a better place since she was 3 years old.
Solving the problem of water contamination using science and technology since she was 11 years old.
