On Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2018, a teenager shot and killed seventeen people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It was one of the deadliest shootings in modern American history. The following day, the Guardian reported that there had been 1,624 mass shootings in the US in the 1,870 days prior. These senseless acts of violence had become commonplace in America, and little was done in response to them other than people offering their “thoughts and prayers” while waiting for the next one to occur. But this time was different. This time, the students relentlessly spoke up to push for gun safety laws, and one of those students was eighteen-year-old Emma González. Days after the shooting at her school, González gave a speech at a federal courthouse in which she put pressure on politicians and the NRA. Within moments, the speech went viral. Shortly after the rally, González and her classmates attended a town hall hosted by CNN, where they stood up to NRA spokesperson, Dana Loesch. González made such an impact at the event that her Twitter account quickly gained more followers than the official NRA account.
In less than a month after the shooting, the students pressured Florida politicians to take action, passing the “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act.” The law raised the minimum age for buying a gun from eighteen to twenty-one, allocated money to mental health assistance in schools, established waiting periods and background checks, allowed for the arming of some teachers, banned bump stocks, and more. The students then went on to lead the March for Our Lives protest against gun violence, in which more than two million people participated in Washington, DC, and around the world.
González, who is openly bisexual and ran her school’s Gay-Straight Alliance for three years, continues to work with her fellow students to push for meaningful gun legislation in the States and to prevent the reelection of politicians who take money from the NRA.
Nyle DiMarco
Model, Actor, and Activist
“With sign language, I was able to embrace my own identity as Deaf. I did not let being Deaf define me. Instead, I defined it.”
Nyle DiMarco has been breaking down barriers and stereotypes ever since he was thrust into the spotlight when he appeared on the television show America’s Next Top Model in 2015. DiMarco was the first deaf contestant in the history of the show. Since he uses American Sign Language with facial expressions and body movements, his deafness amplified his natural talent, helping him win the competition. Soon afterward, DiMarco broke down stereotypes again when he became a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. Even though he couldn’t hear the music, being a visual person, he was able to pick up on small details and cues provided by his dance partner. And while he wasn’t the first deaf person to compete on Dancing with the Stars (that credit goes to Marlee Matlin), he was the first deaf contestant to win on the show. Many people have the misconception that deaf people can’t dance because they can’t hear the music. By appearing on the show, DiMarco brought deaf culture into the households of millions of Americans and showed them that the only thing deaf people can’t do is hear. Other than that, they can do anything else other people can do.
Winning television competitions has given DiMarco a giant platform to advocate and raise awareness for issues relating to the deaf community. He created the Nyle DiMarco Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of deaf people around the world, with a focus on bilingual education (American Sign Language and English) for deaf children. According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are seventy million deaf people around the globe, and only about 2 percent of them have access to sign language education. When children do not have early access to language, they can have difficulties in functioning, socializing, communicating with other people, and overall learning. That’s why, through his foundation, DiMarco has worked toward ensuring that all deaf children in the United States have access to language before they reach five years of age.
Taking his message global, DiMarco addressed the United Nations in 2018 and helped them mark September 23 as the first International Day of Sign Languages. During his visit, he raised awareness of sign languages and the rights of persons with disabilities all over the world. He also advocated for more countries to recognize sign language as an official language.
In addition to being an inspiration to millions of deaf people, DiMarco is also a role model for people in the LGBTQ community. Attitude magazine honored him with its 2017 Man of the Year award for being a tireless fighter for equality. DiMarco identifies as genderfluid and lives his life out and proud, encouraging everyone to embrace their own identity in order to thrive.
Cecelia Maria Zarbo Wambach, PhD
Humanitarian and Educator
“They all have PTSD. Many of them have seen their parents killed in front of them. The stories are heartbreaking and the kids are magnificent.”
When Cecelia Wambach was growing up as the second-oldest child in a family of fourteen children in Pennsylvania, she never dreamed she’d be traveling to Lesbos, Greece, to help refugee children from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, and other war-torn countries. She’s become an ambassador of compassion. Her bicultural Italian and Bohemian Jewish roots, along with a Catholic education, imbued Dr. Wambach with a calling to use her talents and gifts to create a better world. And the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam spurred her desire to heal the world.
A PhD in Math Education from Fordham University led her, eventually, to San Francisco State University, where she started an urban education program in an inner-city school. While serving as both professor and co-principal of John Muir Elementary School, the Muir Alternative Teacher Education program she developed won the CCTC Quality of Education Award for Service to Teachers and Children.
Dr. Wambach, who has been married to her wife for over twenty years and is now a grandmother to four, retired as Professor Emerita. But her calling to help children was strong, and she soon found herself cultivating educational solutions for refugees “stuck” on the Greek Island of Lesbos, fewer than five miles from the Turkish coast. As the founder and Volunteer Director of Refugee Education and Learning International (REAL International), a 501(c)(3), Dr. Wambach brought all of her skills to bear in giving traumatized children creative educational experiences. She also fundraised for the organization, and recruited and trained volunteers.
Collaborating with the Greek non-government organization Together for Better Days, Dr. Wambach and the volunteers at REAL International have worked to create learning centers for asylum-seeking refugees. They help unaccompanied minors and young adults displaced by war and extreme poverty to learn about topics such as computing, ecology, languages, and humanities.
According to UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund), only 29 percent of the twelve thousand school-age refugee and migrant children ages six to seventeen in Greece received formal education during the 2016–17 school year, and refugee and migrant children have missed an average of two and a half years of school due to conflict and displacement. Dr. Wambach hopes to improve those statistics. Back in the States, she actively recruits volunteers and accompanies them once or twice a year, for months at a time. The safe space of school allows refugees to explore, play, and learn and affords Dr. Wambach yet another opportunity to practice Tikkun Olam, to repair the world.
Part 2
Business
Beth Ford
President and CEO, Land O’Lakes
“The mission of agriculture is a noble one: do the work to feed the world.”
Beth Ford is a living example of the American