MY HERO's Global Impact

MY HERO’s multimedia resources encourage social and emotional learning and reflection: the stories that are featured on the website emphasize empathy, altruism, morality, sacrifice, leadership, wisdom, persistence and resilience.

 

“For almost three decades, The MY HERO Project continues to inspire all of us with tales of heroism that grab us emotionally and elevate us all to become our best selves. MY HERO calls us to transform ourselves and the world, to rise above the claptrap of mere existence and to achieve our full potential, assuming our most noble, heroic identities.”
Obama Institute Fellow — Simge Büÿükgümüs

Impact on Youth

Giving youth a voice and encouragement to explore and connect with those who inspire them has a profound impact. Mohamed Sidibay, a former child soldier from Sierra Leone, became a leading voice for children’s rights and equal access to quality education after working as a MY HERO intern during high school and college. Mohamed is now an international lawyer, advisor to the Director-General of UNESCO and serves on MY HERO’s Board of Directors

“In a world where the media sensationalizes violence, the importance of organizations like MY HERO cannot be understated. MY HERO came at a time in my life when my world was in complete disarray. Unable to understand the world outside of the one I had grown up in, MY HERO taught me the true meaning of life by empowering me through the use of media and storytelling.”
—Mohamed Sidibay

 

 

Impact on Children and Families

Mattie J. T. Stepanek, as a young child, suffered from dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy, a rare disorder that took the lives of his three older siblings. After Mattie was nominated as a MY HERO by the Children’s Hospice International World Conference, MY HERO’s Jeanne Meyers reached out to Mattie’s mother to see how the organization could help. Through generous corporate donations Mattie received a computer so he could share his poems with the world. By the time Mattie was twelve years old, he had published five New York Times-bestselling books and had met all of his personal heroes, including Oprah Winfrey. His hero, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, described Stepanek as “the most extraordinary person whom I have ever known.”

 

Jeni Stepanek, Mattie’s mother, spoke of MY HERO’s role in Mattie’s life: “It was about 20 years ago when MY HERO chose to honor Mattie who was only 6 years old at the time, as a poet hero. MY HERO gave Mattie, a little boy, a platform for sharing his HEARTSONGS, his messages of purpose, purpose for himself and purpose for all of us. When Mattie died in 2004 just before his 14th birthday MY HERO was a place where global neighbors shared comments and thoughts about Mattie. About their grief and about their ongoing hope for peace routed in lessons they had learned from this little boy.” Jeni Stepanek sponsors an annual poetry contest in Mattie’s honor on MY HERO through the Mattie J.T. Stepanek Foundation.

Impact on Teachers

“This is a difficult time in history, and MY HERO creates an awareness of everyday individuals — heroes, not just problems in our society. We need more positivity. Before deciding on heroes or beginning their stories, my students have to collaborate with their families on defining the characteristics of a hero. They then have to interview their parents about their childhoods. Students experience a newfound respect for their families and connections that will impact the rest of their lives.” – Teacher Julie Reidel High School Teacher, Kansas, USA, 2021

 

“The MY HERO Project’s extensive existing training materials, and staff support in creating a curriculum tailored for our program, helped make our summer bridge program a huge success. The students made eight “My Hero” films in groups, all while being completely remote from one another. I am so grateful for the help we received from The MY HERO Project.” – Teacher Coleen Bondy, Los Angeles Unified School District, USA, 2020

“We live in Iran, and we are grade eleven. This is an exciting project because it has given us a vast perspective toward different people from different parts of the world.” – Teacher from Iran

“Thanks to MY HERO my students have become international citizens who care about Climate Change, and Human Rights. They have become future heroes dedicated to protecting and caring for one another and the environment and demonstrating with the media their success.” – Teacher/Principal Cheikh Darou Seck, Senegal, 2022

“The MY HERO Project recounts inspiring and empowering stories that are great for use by teachers, parents, and the public. Love working with them.” – Global Educator & Author, Esther Wojcicki, 2022

Impact Videos

Impact Video from The MY HERO Project on Vimeo.

MY HERO - SENEGAL from The MY HERO Project on Vimeo.

Impact Statements

Partners Robert Shetterly & Michele Hemenway from USA – 9/10/2010 wrote: We who have been working on Americans Who Tell the Truth are very grateful to have been included in the MY HERO Project. Our collaboration of portraits and lesson plans helps students explore what heroism is and is not. In particular, we have focused on the international community of MY HERO Learning Circles. We envision students around the world engaging with role models who act not for their personal advancement but for the advancement of their communities. We are hopeful that through this collaboration foreign students will come to know an America striving to realize its own ideals. We congratulate all of you at the MY HERO Project for your mission to educate children to be good citizens and promote the understanding that without well-educated children peace, democracy and a sustainable earth are impossible. Robert Shetterly has been a friend of MY HERO for a long time: each year, Robert Shetterly generously partners with MY HERO as sponsor of the Robert Shetterly Portrait Contest.

Kathy Eldon from Malibu, CA USA – 9/22/2010 wrote: Thanks to Wendy Jewell's thoughtful profile of Dan on the MY HERO site, countless individuals around the world have learned about the life and legacy of my son, a 22-year-old photojournalist and creative activist who was killed in Somalia while covering a story for Reuters News Agency in l993. Our family is deeply grateful to MY HERO for its outstanding work in inspiring other young activists to create awareness of important issues and catalyze positive change in our world. Kathy Eldon is the Director of Creative Visions and donates yearly to The MY HERO International Film Festival with the Dan Eldon Activist Award.

Ron Kovic from Hermosa Beach, CA U.S.A. – 9/8/2011 wrote: Get involved...get involved with MY HERO because it is one of the most important and worthwhile things that you can do. You will be adding to a more peaceful world. You will be bringing people together. You will be bringing out the best in yourself and others...If you really care about peace, if you care about a better world, if you really believe that there is an alternative to war and violence as a way of dealing with conflicts both here in the US and around the world, then you'll realize why MY HERO is so important. And you'll take an active role. You'll participate, and you begin to move in a whole new direction. You begin to see that there are alternatives to war. There are creative solutions--we do have it within ourselves to make this world a better place, and to reach goals that we, perhaps, never before dreamed possible.  Ron Kovic donates yearly to The MY HERO International Film Festival with the Ron Kovic Peace Prize.

Jeni Stepanek from USA – 10/30/2010 wrote: You have helped to reshape the word 'hero' for many people. What a gift. Peace, Jeni. Jennifer Smith Stepanek, Ph.D. Executive Director, Mattie J.T. Stepanek Foundation. MY HERO honors Jeni's son Mattie each year with the Mattie Stepanek Poetry Contest and at the MY HERO Film Festival with the Mattie Stepanek Poetry Prize.

Erica Bruce from Kemptville, Ontario Canada – 11/11/2010 wrote: On behalf of the Ryan's Well Foundation, congratulations on your 15th anniversary! Being part of the MY HERO project has been such a positive experience for Ryan Hreljac and Ryan's Well. Ryan and his message of clean water for all has been featured on your site for over 8 years and the story still generates awareness and interest. MY HERO and Ryan's Well have the same message - to make positive change in the world, find something you are passionate about and get involved. It doesn't matter if what you do is big or small, you can make a difference. Erica Bruce, Ryan's Well Foundation.

Derrick Tabb from New Orleans, Louisiana USA – 9/10/2010 wrote: Thank you so much for including me in the MY HERO Project. It is so important to share stories of people giving back. The MY HERO project reminds me that there are wonderful people doing wonderful things all the time all over the world. These stories have given me the courage and confidence to continue my mission for the at-risk youth of New Orleans. I hope the stories have inspired the audience the way they have inspired me.

Fauzia Minallah from Islamabad, Pakistan – 9/20/2010 wrote: I was introduced to the MY HERO Project by my own hero Joanne Tawfilis, a kindred spirit and a "human bridge" between different cultures and races in this increasingly fragmented world. As a Pakistani, citizen of a troubled country, to be featured as a 'hero' for children in the MY HERO Project is an honor. It is a meaningful site that gives positive role models to children, who are chosen regardless of their caste, race, religious and political backgrounds. I am amazed at the research gone into this website, it heartens me immensely that my greatest hero Abdul Sattar Edhi from Pakistan is also featured in The MY HERO Project. On the 15th anniversary of the MY HERO Project, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to a project that introduces children to the best of humanity.

Ocean Robbins from USA – 9/20/2010 wrote: Being part of MY HERO is an honor and a privilege. I love the vision of bringing out positive stories of inspiration. I am humbled to be in such wonderful company. And I am grateful for the exposure that this brings to our work for positive change. Thank you for sharing so much good work with the world! — Ocean Robbins.

Dilfuza Egamberdiyeva from Uzbekistan – 11/2/2010 wrote: I will write some significant effects of the MY HERO Project on my career. It is an excellent to have such a project because we will know about great achievements in the world made by scientists. Such stories will tell about your work in simple way that all people from different areas of study will understand your valuable work. I felt self-confident, that I am doing great work; it inspired me really to do more, and to feel that some people are benefiting from it. I have patented a product which I worked on for 5 years. It is producing in Uzbekistan now and applying to crops in many different regions of the country. In 2009 I was awarded with TWAS-TWOWS-SCOPUS Young Women Research Award, for which I attached the article in MY HERO Project for the reviewer panel.  I am thankful for Wendy Jewell and the Science Hero project which boosted my career as a women scientist and made my work known to the wide international community.

Gina Gallant from Canada – 11/9/2010 wrote: Being part of the MY HERO Project was such an amazing honor and it really showed me that people can make a difference in the world and that there are so many role models out there for children to look up to. Not only did it help me grow as a person, but it also gave me the ability to see the potential