IYH FEATURED STORIES

We created these videos to take you deeper into the amazing stories of some of the winners of the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. Each inspiring video, narrated by the kids themselves, takes you on a journey exploring different aspects of their projects, and what motivates them to help others.

You can watch all of the videos here, or visit each young hero’s page to watch their video and learn more about their unique and inspirational story.

Environmental Projects

These stories feature young heroes whose projects are environmental in nature.

Atreya Manaswi

Since he was 12 years old, Atreya has been successfully working to protect beehives and save bees across the globe with his own eco-friendly pesticide alternative. More…

Will Charouhis

Will was motivated to begin his A Million Mangroves project after getting a used Kayak during the pandemic. He realized that mangrove forests around his home were filled with trash and felt motivated to help clean them up. More…

Austin Picinich

Austin created Save Our Salmon Through Art to raise awareness for salmon restoration in North Lake Washington creeks, brighten up the community with vibrant art, and involve community in its creation. More…

Shreya Ramachandran

Shreya founded The Grey Water Project to support water conservation efforts in California and beyond. She first learned how to use grey water in her home and has now developed a curriculum to teach others how to use it. More…

Robbie Bond

Robbie loves our national parks and monuments so much he created Kids Speak for Parks. He travels to schools around the country to create an army of kids who are just as passionate about visiting and protecting our national treasures. More…

Claire Vlases

Claire founded Solar Makes Sense to raise money to put solar panels on her middle school. Her video is a story of perseverance after she was told it wouldn’t be possible to make her vision a reality. More…

Genevieve Leroux

When Genevieve learned that the Western Migratory Monarch butterfly was facing extinction, she knew she had to help raise awareness of this majestic creature and the crisis of its disappearing habitat in California and beyond. More…

Humanitarian Projects

These stories feature young heroes whose projects have a humanitarian focus.

Grace Sun

Grace’s project to bring joy to the elderly through music has grown into a team of over 100 students who perform in senior centers and Alzheimer’s care facilities around San Diego and beyond. More…

Rania Zuri

When Rania learned about book deserts and how many children in her home state of West Virginia live in one, she decided to take action. Now she’s working to end book deserts, one child at a time. More…

Olivia Seltzer

Olivia Seltzer created The Cramm, a daily digital newsletter that summarizes the news for Gen Z since “you can’t change the world unless you know about it.” More…

Brooke & Breanna Bennett

Twin sisters Brooke and Breanna co-founded Women in Training, Inc., a youth empowerment organization that helps alleviate period poverty among young people in America. More…

Michael Platt

Michael Platt, founder of Michaels Desserts and P.L.L.A.T.E. (Power, Love, Learning, Access To Everyone), is working to reduce food insecurity for children and families in his community. More…

Katherine McPhie &
Milan Narula

Katherine and Milan founded Open Sesame Coding for Kids to give children facing homelessness or domestic violence a skill that could help open the door to a brighter future. More…

Jahkil Jackson

Jahkil was inspired as a young boy to help the homeless he saw around his hometown of Chicago. Now he organizes events that create Blessing Bags – bags full of toiletries that are then distributed to people in shelters and on the streets. More…

MORE IYH VIDEO SERIES

IYH Big Ideas

Young people often bring a fresh perspective on some of the biggest issues facing communities around the world. The “IYH Big Ideas” series highlights the many bright and creative ideas that young people are applying to make a real difference. More…

IYH @ Home

Even though the IYH team can’t get out and film new stories while the COVID-19 crisis is ongoing, our young heroes are still doing extraordinary things. We’re excited to bring you a few stories of what our heroes are up to @ Home! More…

IYH Throwback Videos

The following videos were originally filmed as part of Dream Big, a documentary showcasing 7 Barron Prize winners and their projects. We love their stories and include them here because they continue to inspire us, even today! More…