I can change the world without being president

Talia Le Mans is only 17 years old, but she is already the CEO of a charity that has raised more than $10 million in six years. Today she is not only a socialite but also seen as a future US presidential candidate. But Talia said, "I can change the world even if I'm not the president."

Raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina

Talia's career as a philanthropist began in 2005 when she was ten years old. That year, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and Talia was watching TV with her dad when she saw images of the devastation. "I felt I needed to do something," she says. Everyone is talking about what should be done, but I feel we should walk the walk, not just talk the talk."

But Talia couldn't do much by donating all her pocket money, and she realized she needed support from others. She told her mother the idea. "My mother didn't tell her children, like many parents do, 'Good boy, go to bed. 'She asked me very seriously if there was anything I could do for her."

Talia talked to her brother, who was a few years older than her, but he objected.

So Talia sat down, took out a pen, and wrote on paper a plan of action for teenagers to donate to the victims. She asked a supermarket chain in the Midwest if it would advertise donations on their shopping bags. They agreed and printed 8.5 million stickers. She also sent emails to schools and governments, asking them to join in. In addition, the local media helped enormously, with a television station and a newspaper featuring Talia, making her a star in American society.

In the end, Talia's plan was a huge success. She reached out to 4,000 school districts in the United States and raised pledges of $10.4 million, far exceeding her original goal of $1 million. That made US school-age children one of the top 10 Katrina donors, along with several Fortune 500 companies. But that wasn't the end of the story, it was the beginning of Talia's philanthropy.

Let your child's power come into play

The success of fundraising for the victims of Hurricane Katrina helped Talia see the power of children. To put this power to work on other issues facing the planet, Talia and her friends, with the help of her mother Dana, founded RandomKid in 2006, a nonprofit that calls on all teens to break through the boundaries of culture, race, geography, and ability to collaborate with their peers to solve practical problems on Earth. Talia serves as the organization's chief executive, her mother as her deputy, and generously gives her brother the title of director. The name RandomKid was used because Talia believed that what she did was purely accidental, and because she believed that "anyone has power", which has become RandomKid's slogan today, Talia often gives speeches on this theme.

Over the next two years, Talia worked with children from all 50 states and 19 countries. She has raised approximately $350,000 and has reached out directly and indirectly to nearly 10,000 child donors, transforming their lives and the lives of 7,000 beneficiaries around the world.

Using social networking and RandomKid, Talia gathered 12 million young people from 20 different countries and regions. Their money has been used to help support projects on four continents, such as building a school for 300 children in a village in Cambodia; Renovating a school for 200 children in Slidell, Louisiana, after Hurricane Katrina; She also established an interactive play center for 500 disabled children in her home state of Iowa; She has also raised money to buy water pumps and other equipment in parts of Africa where water is scarce, and to provide children in Haiti with crutches and prosthetics.

In addition to building her charity network, Talia has inspired others to get involved in philanthropy. She would organize international youth workshops online, guide peers on strategies to succeed in their philanthropic goals, or give speeches telling audiences that everyone has power.

"Our goal is to use the good in children to make the world a better place," Talia said. We give young people the means and access and the power to change the world."

Won high praise at home and abroad

Talia had become a big celebrity in the United States by the time she was 12. To date, Talia's international accolades are numerous.

In 2011, she also received the nation's highest award for public service, the National Jefferson Award, along with U.S. Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, famed actress Marlow Thomas, and Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

In her speech accepting the award, Talia told the audience that she was born in Poland to a wealthy Jewish family. After surviving the Holocaust, her grandfather fled Europe to the United States. When she first arrived, Grandpa made a living as a janitor, cleaning one house that belonged to Marlo Thomas, her co-winner, and another that belonged to Thomas's father, Danny. The audience was amazed. "Two generations later, that girl, that actress, and this girl, the granddaughter of the cleaner, won the same award, which shows that anyone can make a difference," Talia said.

When is the President? Get your diploma first

But Talia is still a middle school student. How will she cope with her studies while busy with charity work? Talia replied, "It's not easy because I travel all over the world and I get asked to speak almost every week. I missed a lot of school days, but the school was considerate enough to let me take my exams early and help me make up my lessons."

Talia is an excellent student. Her school is an elite one, and her grades are in the top 1% of all students. She has been on the Honor list since 2006 and was the top performer in her class at the campus Science Festival in 2007 and 2008. Her dream was to become a physician and work in a place with the worst medical conditions.

Talia's current concern is the lack of clean drinking water in many parts of the world. "A billion people do not have access to safe and clean drinking water, resulting in a child dying every eight seconds," she said. Please use your power to change these terrible figures!"

New York Times columnist Nicholas Christopher wrote about Talia in support of her candidacy for president in 2044. But Talia herself is not thrilled. "As for being president, I have to go to college and get my diploma, and then I will think about it," she said. The important thing is that I know I can change the world without being president."