The late, great Whitney Houston once famously sang, “I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way” in her song “Greatest Love of All.”
The five youth featured below have certainly been taught well and are definitely leading the way.
If our future is left in the hands of young people like these, we can all look forward to a brighter and better tomorrow.
These five young people are making great strides in education, sports, entrepreneurship, the tech industry, and their community at large. If you’re looking for great role models for yourself or the youth in your life, look no further.
Jay’Aina 'Jay Jay' Patton, 15
Jay’Aina, or “Jay Jay” as friends and family call her, began coding at 10 years old, and by 12, she'd built and launched her first mobile app — Photo Patch — along with her father, Antoine.
Photo Patch is designed to maintain the connection between children and their incarcerated parents by allowing them to send photos and letters for free.
Thanks to her app, which was developed under the Photo Patch Foundation — which she founded with her father and in which she serves as the junior director — they raise enough money to cover the cost of sending thousands of letters every year.
Along with being an app developer and junior director at the foundation, she is a UI and UX developer and youth coding teacher with her father’s company, Unlock Academy. At Unlock Academy, she teaches youth to code in a fun and straightforward way.
Jay Jay is the perfect example of a young person using tech to make the world a better place.
Bravo!
Marley Dias, 16
Marley Dias is most notably known as the founder of the #1000blackgirlbooks campaign.
She started this campaign in 2015 at 11 years old. Her mission was to seek out, collect, and donate books with more characters who looked like her, because, as she put it, she was “sick of reading about white boys and dogs in school.”
The #1000blackgirlbooks campaign has been a major success, and to date, she has collected and donated more than 13,000 books!
In 2018, she wrote her own Black girl book, Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!
The inspirational book includes an introduction by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay and explores equity and inclusion, using social media for good, social justice, volunteerism, and activism.
Most recently, Marley became the host and executive producer of the Netflix series Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices. Bookmarks features prominent Black voices reading children’s books by Black authors about the Black experience.
Thank you, Marley, for bringing Black children’s books to the forefront.
Caleb Anderson, 12
When you envision a college sophomore, you likely picture someone who is old enough to vote, drive a car, and have a job. But Caleb Anderson is unlike most college sophomores in that he’s only 12 years old.
While currently finishing his second year at a community college, Caleb has been accepted to Georgia Tech University, majoring in aerospace engineering.
This likely comes as no surprise to Caleb’s parents. He started reading at 6 months old, signed over 250 words by 9 months old, read the US Constitution at 2 years old, became a member of the high IQ society Mensa at 3, and learned to speak Spanish, French, and Mandarin.
Caleb dreams of becoming an aerospace engineer and helping others reach the stars!
There is no doubt that Caleb will continue to use his intelligence and commitment to achieving his goals to reach his highest potential.
Cori 'Coco' Gauff, 16
Cori began playing tennis at just 6 years old, with her father Corey by her side as her coach. She is now the youngest tennis player ranked in the top 100 by the Women’s Tennis Association, and her father is still coaching her through her career.
Just nine years after she began playing tennis, she defeated world-famous tennis player Venus Williams in the first round of Wimbledon in 2019.
Cori stated that the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena) are her idols and inspired her to play tennis professionally. On the day she defeated Venus Williams at Wimbledon, she thanked her “for everything she’s done for the sport.”
Upon winning the WTA singles title at the 2019 Linz Open, Coco became the youngest tennis player to win a singles title since 2004.
Coco is living proof that hard work and focus on your craft pays off.
Cory Nieves, 15
Cory Nieves, also known as Mr. Cory, launched Mr. Cory’s Cookies in 2010 at just 6 years old.
This idea was born from his desire to buy his mom a car so he wouldn’t have to take the bus to school.
While he initially started selling hot cocoa in his hometown of Englewood, New Jersey, he eventually added lemonade and cookies to the list, and Cory’s Cookies took off!
Cory appeared on The Profit hosted by Marcus Lemonis in 2017 and has worked with major brands such as Macy’s, Mercedes-Benz, Barneys, Whole Foods, and more.
When he graduates from high school, his goal is to study abroad at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.
