Esmeralda, a student part of the SHE nonprofit, wears the uniform that grows.( Style Her Empowered)

Back in 2017, Payton McGriff, a college student at the University of Idaho, started a project that would change her life and, ultimately, the lives of hundreds of other girls.

Born out of a class assignment, the Idaho native came up with a nonprofit that aimed to remove one of the biggest financial barriers keeping girls from finishing their education in Togo, Africa: access to a school uniform.

Today, that nonprofit, which is called Style Her Empowered, has grown to serve 20 communities in Togo, and Payton herself was recently named a 2024 CNN Hero. Payton joined Idaho Matters to talk more about her nonprofit and its impact.