Starts with Y

17-year-old Natalie created Solely Sunshine, an international mental health organization focused on "sprinkling sunshine" by mailing letters of positivity and hope. Through her website, anyone (no matter where you are from or how old you are) is able to write free inspirational letters and words of hope and wisdom that are later transcribed to paper by her team of over 100 teen volunteers. These letters are then mailed to mental health facilities to instil a sense of peace and reassurance. To date, Natalie has received letters from 50 different countries, sent over 6,000 letter and has impacted over 10,000 people.

This week we are joined by 17-year-old Katelyn Cai, a passionate public speaker with a dream of pursuing economics and public policy.  Katelyn also happens to be the co-founder of Invest in Her, an organization focused on empowering women by supporting them find a sense of purpose and develop the appropriate skills for a financially independent future. The organization's incredible work varies from empowering young ladies to better understand their worth and speak out for their rights, to running online tutoring program and a financial literacy courses in partnership with other non-profits to educate girls reach their fullest potential. 

Y not learn more and support Katelyn’s initiative:

https://www.investin-her.org/home

PERIOD works to eradicate period poverty and stigma through their three pillars of service, education and advocacy. This week, we are joined by PERIOD's National Chapter Manager, Eira Nylander Torallas to discuss the incredible work PERIOD continues to do by providing product to menstruators in need, train and equip youth with resources and information, and fighting to ensure equity and access to menstrual products in institutions large and small. They elevate and support the grassroots work of their 400+ PERIOD Chapters (in 43 US States and 35 countries) alongside other menstrual equity activists and organizations in order to change the conversation surrounding periods and advocate for policy change to advance menstrual equality in their communities.

At the age of 3, our guest this week watched a video of a turtle being harmed by plastic in the ocean and decided he wanted to make a difference to better protect the ocean, the turtles and the planet. Today, at 11 years of age, young Ryan is the CEO, manager and employee of Ryan’s Recycling Company. He spends a part of every week sorting through cans and bottles from his customers and getting them ready to take to the recycling centers and has recycled 1.3 million bottles and cans from hundreds of customers. For Ryan, the passion to protect our planet and recycle comes from an understanding that more bottles and cans recycled means fewer bottles and cans in the ocean!

Shreya Ramachandran is the founder of the nonprofit organization The Grey Water Project which promotes the safe reuse of grey water and water conservation as a way to battle droughts and climate change. (Grey water is lightly used water that makes up 60% of the used water in our homes). She was moved to action five years ago after witnessing the devastating effects of droughts firsthand in both California and India. She started out by doing research to see if grey water could be reused for irrigation. After winning state, national and international awards for her patent-pending research, she started her nonprofit to advocate her cause.

Currently, she does workshops and presentations at schools, libraries, community and corporate events to teach people how to use grey water in their homes and how to install a laundry to lawn system. She also runs water conservation challenges and has a grey water curriculum implemented aimed at school students to teach greywater recycling. “My goal is to have grey water reuse become like paper and plastic recycling - something everyone does,” Shreya says. She is launching a Climate Ambassadors Program for students to learn about climate change, implement a change project and receive recognition.

Shreya has won numerous awards including being a Top 20 Global Finalist at the Google Science Fair and 3rd place at the International Science and Engineering Fair. She is a National Geographic Young Explorer, Global Teen Leader, a recipient of the President’s Environmental Youth Award, the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes and the winner of the Children’s Climate Prize 2019.

We all know the famous saying that “laughter is the best medicine". Here at Starts with Y, we hold that thought close to our hearts as we have seen the way laughter has brought people together on this platform. We have also learnt about the ways in which laughter triggers healthy physical and emotional changes in the body. We have had the pleasure of connecting with young experts who have explained the ways in which laughter boosts the immune system and triggers the release of pleasure-inducing neurochemicals in our brain. It is for this reason that we wanted to end our incredible season two with “Y Bloopers, Zein and Lauren” ... a final episode filled with a great deal of love, gratitude and laughter.

Everett Thorn created the clothing brand "Carbon Oil and Coil" in hopes of protecting our planet and environment. Proceeds from every purchase made through this sustainable clothing brand is donated to "Choose Today Carbon Capture"  that supports various carbon sequestration projects focused on fighting against climate change. Everett firmly believes that we should be pushing for a world that focuses more on ethical clothing, as it can be stylish and affordable (whilst standing behind great causes) ... and he hopes this clothing brand is doing just that!

10-year-old Dana Perella’s goal has been to educate people about rare diseases impacting youth such as Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS), Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and more. It is for this reason that she created Cookies4Cures. To date she has baked over 10,000 cookies and raised over $86,000 to support the research and treatment of rare diseases. Her work has been widely recognized as she was awarded the 2020 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes this September.

“For the Menstruator” (previously know as Accessible and Affordable Sanitation for Women or AASW) was founded by Ziyaan Virji at only 15 years of age. The initiative stemmed from Ziyaan learning about the struggles his mother faced in finding comfort in menstruating as a child. After watching documentaries such as “India’s Menstruation Man” and further educating himself on this topic,  Ziyaan began producing and distributing reusable sanitary packages to equip girls with necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to better understand the process of menstruation. His goal is to provide over 10,000 girls with access to sanitation in the next year.