Speakers > Talia Leman

Talia Leman (age 16) is the CEO and a founder of RandomKid, a non-profit organization that leverages the power of youth to solve problems in the world. Talia has received recognition in the form of both national and international awards for her philanthropic work, including the "National Jefferson Award", considered the Nobel prize for public service, the "International Youth Talent Award" from the European Union, the designation of a "Champion of Intercultural Innovation" by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, and UNICEF’s first known National Youth Ambassador.  Nicholas Kristof wrote of Talia in his column in The New York Times: “If your image of a philanthropist is a stout, gray geezer, then meet Talia Leman who loves soccer and swimming, and whose favorite subject is science. Iʼm supporting her for president in 2044.”

Talia travels across the world speaking about “The Power of ANYone”. She develops ideas, strategies and networks between kids internationally to increase their impact. She also leads "power" assemblies, doles out seed funds to help jumpstart their philanthropic ventures, organizes web-conferences between youth across the globe, and mentors her peers in success strategies for achieving their goals to benefit others. Talia has worked with 12 million kids from 20 countries and together these kids have reported close to 11 million dollars through RandomKid-guided initiatives. She has a forthcoming book due out in the spring of 2012 with Simon & Schuster's Free Press imprint that will challenge kids and adults everywhere to re-think and re-imagine how the power of anyone can create real change.

What does Talia love most about RandomKid? "The moment when the random youth who come to us realize that we are here to work FOR them."