TALIA LEMAN
2008 YOUTH AWARD
RandomKid
United States, Global
At 13 years old and living in rural Iowa, Talia Leman began empowering her peers to solve real world problems in 2005 when she helped organize fundraising relief efforts by children nationwide for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Children rallied by Leman and ended up raising more than $10 million.
Wanting to do more, Leman then founded RandomKid, a nonprofit organization that through its website has helped children in 48 states in the U.S. and in 19 countries to develop funding solutions to real world problems. Examples include: helping fund a school for 300 children in Cambodia; helping fund and refurbish a school for 200 children in Slidell, Louisiana; providing an interactive play center serving 500 hospitalized kids in Iowa; and, raising funds to buy water pumps in Africa.
Leman is also helping peers develop fundraising strategies for their own social entrepreneurial ventures.