While in college, Shaheen Mistri spent time with children in India’s poorest areas. Shaheen learned that a major problem facing poor children was not having access to quality education. Shaheen wanted to help solve the problem. She gathered a group of her friends, and they began teaching children who lived in the slums. She later founded an organization that has expanded to help more than 4,500 children have access to quality education.

Shaheen Mistri was born in Mumbai, India. She lived in many places while growing up. Then, at the age of eighteen, she returned to Mumbai. She was surprised by the poor areas in the city. Soon Shaheen enrolled in college and worked with poor children to help them get a better education. In 1989, Shaheen founded an organization to provide better education to children. During the past fifteen years, the organization has helped thousands of children in India.

Gangs and drugs were problems in teenager Geneva Johnson’s New York neighborhood. Geneva decided to take action. She started “Bring It On!,” an organization that offers young people a variety of volunteer activities. Geneva learned how to raise money and organize volunteers. Now her group organizes community projects that help kids practice leadership and make healthy choices.

To create her community service group “Bring It On!,” teenager Geneva Johnson first learned how to raise money and set up a volunteer organization. Then, she found about 20 kids to become helpers. Next, the group worked on community service projects. Eventually, Geneva’s organization helped more than 1,000 kids practice leadership and make healthy choices.