Natalie Warne: Being Young and Making a Difference

Veteran UYWI speakers like Harvey Carey challenge urban youth workers that, “youth ministry is not about ministering to youth but about empowering youth to minister.” (Download, for example, Harvey’s “Legacy People” general session talk at UYWI 2008). UYWI has attempted to model this idea by integrating “Plus-1” proteges at various Reload events (watch “Homegrown: The Leader” from Reload NY 2010 ) and regularly explores what empowering youth as leaders looks like through workshops (listen to Lina Thompson’s “Community Youth Development – Young People as Agents of Community Transformation” from Reload 2010 here) and blogs (see, for example, “Embrace the Mess: Why Youth Must Lead Now” Part 1 and Part 2).

So when we come along individual stories like Natalie Warne’s and other teens she calls “anonymous extraordinaries,” we can’t help but share. TED: Ideas Worth Spreading featured her story at a recent TEDx Teen conference. Here’s how TED describes her and her talk.

At 18, Natalie Warne’s work with the Invisible Children movement made her a hero for young activists. At TEDxTeen she uses her inspiring story to remind us that no one is too young to change the world.

Natalie Warne did not let being too young stop her from running a successful campaign for the Invisible Children project In this talk, she calls on young people everywhere not to let age stop them from changing the world.

Take 13 minutes to watch this video. Here’s what Harvey’s talking about.

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