Talia Leman

Waukee, IA | 18

2013 Award Recipient

In 2005, instead of trick-or-treating for candy, 10-year-old Talia Leman decided to trick-or-treat for spare change in an effort to fundraise for Hurricane Katrina/Rita relief. First, she encouraged her classmates to do the same, and then her idea spread virally via social media and national news coverage. Talia was able to unify 4,000 school districts across the country to collectively raise more than $10 million. She quickly realized the power of her peers and worked to establish the nonprofit RandomKid, a website that provides youth with the tools and resources they need to formulate and develop community service projects by sharing ideas, strategies, and funding opportunities. RandomKid has facilitated the efforts of 12 million youth from 20 countries on four continents, helping teens raise $11 million for youth’s causes and delivering a 100%-1,000% return on every dollar invested. Talia’s next venture is to create a RandomKid mobile app so kids can use their smartphones to access these tools from anywhere.