Isabella Hanson

Injustice is embedded in our society, says Isabella Hanson, founder of the I Matter project—which is why it’s so important that we empower everyone to fight it.

At 14, moved by news coverage of the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, Isabella was inspired to launch a national competition to uplift young poets and artists in the Black Lives Matter movement. The I Matter project soon skyrocketed to international renown, with players from the NBA and NFL (among others) acting as judges. Every year, the competition brings in thousands of entries—the top submissions are made into a compilation book to promote social justice and equality.

Isabella has served as an advisor for Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. She has been featured on Nickelodeon’s Kid of the Year program, as well as in Black Enterprise, Forbes Magazine and Medium.com. She is the winner of the inaugural Prudential Emerging Visionaries award, the Princeton Prize in Race Relations and the Princess Diana Award, as well as The Institute for Citizens & Scholars’ Youth Civic Solutions Competition, which seeks to recognize young leaders for bold civic engagement ideas. She was also selected for the 2022 Teen Vogue “21 Under 21” list of revolutionary changemakers.