Miranda L

Miranda Lynch is 15 years old. She was 13 when she first stepped foot in Nzinga, South Africa, a small, rural Zulu village of mud hits, high AIDS rates, and poverty that constituted the low end of the world's highest income inequality. After spending six days of her "vacation" working in schools and orphanages in Nzinga, she decided she just could not leave this village and not continue to make a difference. Fifteen months later, Isipho, the non-profit organization she co-founded, has partnered with an agriculture college to teach people in Nzinga how to rotate crops so that they can better feed themselves. They have also donated fencing, training, seeds and seedlings, and tools so that the people of Nzinga can grow more of their own food and help themselves in a self-sustaining manner.

Miranda was recently named one of the "20 Under 20 Leaders for the 21st Century" for her work, and inspired her father to quit his job and start a business that supports a triple bottom line business ethic that supports the less fortunate in South Africa. As President Obama recently said, "in an era of integration and interdependence, [America's] fate is tied up with the larger world. That if we neglect or abandon those who are suffering in poverty, not only are we depriving ourselves of potential opportunities in markets and economic growth, but that despair may turn to violence that turns on us. That unless we are concerned about the education of all children and not just our children, not only will we be depriving ourselves of the next great scientist, but we also may make people around the world much more vulnerable to anti-American propaganda." Miranda's work has helped make not only the poorest Africans more self-reliant, but, in doing so, has inspired so many others to help make everyone's lives better.

Submitted by Anonymous

Leadership