The 22-Year-Old Cornell Junior Who’s Putting 1,000 Girls on the Path to Power: Cherie Animashaun

Cherie Animashaun grew up in Evanston, Illinois, a diverse suburban community north of Chicago, where from an early age she noticed a troubling pattern. Opportunities for young women of color were disproportionately scarce and many girls simply lacked access to programs that could develop their potential. This observation became the foundation for everything that followed. Her commitment to service was cultivated early, shaped by what she describes as the “altruistic leaders” surrounding her throughout childhood a family anchored to faith and compassion, after-school programs that nurtured her creativity, mentors whose words guided her, and women she could confide in. She began volunteering at her aunt’s church in 2015 at just eleven years old, standing in front of fifteen children in a small classroom despite public speaking being her “worst nightmare.” This experience proved catalytic. She would later reflect: “I would have never guessed that the four walls of that classroom would be a catalyst for my career and advocacy work.” She went on to volunteer with approximately nine organizations before founding her own nonprofit, learning by serving and meeting women who invested in her ideas. At twelve, she published a curriculum book to help teachers in ministry create more engaging lessons. This evolved into a journal series where young readers could vent, learn, and move closer to their goals, the foundation for her later work in youth development. Animashaun is currently a junior at Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in government with a pre-law track. The Government major provides options across subfields, including American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Political Theory. Students may specialize in one subfield or develop thematic interests combining courses across fields such as democracy, identity, institutions, political economy, conflict studies, or region-specific studies. The major requires completion of at least two introductory government courses, an additional 28-30 credits of government coursework, and at least one 4000-level seminar course. She has been transparent about institutional challenges, noting that Cornell provides limited support for nonprofit founders and social impact work and that few students at the university pursue this path. Despite this, she has expressed appreciation for specific professors and courses that provided practical frameworks for executing her ideas. She participated in Cornell in Washington D.C. Connect program, spending a semester in the nation’s capital where students take courses led by Cornell faculty and gain work experience through internships. She also completed a congressional internship through the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation internship program. Multiple videos documenting her experience studying policy at Cornell went viral on social media, highlighting the importance of educating people about career pathways in policy. In addition to her studies, Animashaun has engaged in significant policy work. She spoke at the White House Youth Policy Summit and has worked on various projects with the Department of Education.

Founding Her Rising Initiative

At just sixteen years old in 2021, Animashaun founded the Her Rising Initiative, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization focused on closing the opportunity gap and increasing women’s representation in leadership, policy, and business. The name draws from Isaiah 60:1, Maya Angelou’s poetry, and her self-described “obsession with the word ‘initiative.'” The organization’s leadership team includes Chelsea Acheampong as Chief Operating Officer and Sarah Shahed as Director of Internal Operations. Her Rising operates with three core areas of focus: building community, providing resources, and encouraging youth. The organization offers mindfulness journals, statewide leadership workshops, scholarships, and panel discussions on solidarity and mental health. Fundraisers have supported organizations helping women in Nigeria and Iran. Before receiving grants and donations, the organization was funded entirely by Animashaun’s book series, Compass: Her Steps in the Right Direction, which she sold through Amazon and in-person at community events, raising over $2,000. She donated proceeds from her earlier self-help books to Little Saints Orphanage in Nigeria and Girls Play Sports in Evanston, demonstrating her commitment to both global and local impact. Her distribution strategy involved partnerships with schools and teachers to reach her target audience directly, a sophisticated approach for such a young founder. Before establishing Her Rising, Animashaun authored self-help books for young girls and donated proceeds to Little Saints Orphanage in Nigeria and Girls Play Sports in Evanston. Her distribution strategy involved partnerships with schools and teachers to reach her target audience directly. Beyond Her Rising, Animashaun has founded two additional organizations to empower marginalized women and youth: Street 4 Souls and Innovate. As president of her high school’s Black Student Union and student representative on her District’s Curriculum and Standards Committee, she played an “integral role in initiating the first African History Course and newly enacted hate speech policies in Niles Township Schools.” She has also launched a podcast, Rising with Her, available on Spotify, featuring interviews with accomplished women.

Girls Who Lead: Programming And Expansion

Her Rising’s flagship program is Girls Who Lead, a network of after-school clubs operating in middle schools, high schools, and colleges across the United States and internationally. As of 2025, the network includes approximately one hundred chapters nationwide, with chapters launched or being established at universities including USC, UCLA, and Cornell, as well as in Nigeria, India, and Uganda. Every chapter operates with a focus on four skill tracks: business, policy, advocacy, and nonprofits. Chapter members work on either individual or chapter-wide year-end projects in one of these areas, producing deliverables such as business proposals, research papers, or local government lobbying initiatives. Participants engage in extraordinary opportunities: visits to United Nations headquarters, meetings with congressional members on Capitol Hill, workshops with women in senior positions across multiple industries, career exposure in fashion, business, engineering, and other sectors, and networking events and professional development opportunities. In 2025, Girls Who Lead partnered with the U.S. House of Representatives Office of Talent and Development, which connects candidates with opportunities on the Hill, including trainings, mock interviews, resume reviews, and a resume bank. Starting fall 2025, U.S.-based chapters began specialized training on building professional brands and navigating internship and full-time employment opportunities in the House of Representatives. Chapters receive social media, fundraising, recruiting, and policy training support from the national organization. Her Rising provides chapter toolkits and civic engagement curricula ahead of each semester, and student leaders from over twenty-five U.S. universities and high schools have applied to start chapters. During summer 2025, Her Rising hosted virtual Gen Z town halls, providing additional civic engagement opportunities, with the stated goal of reaching thousands of students by 2026.

Annual Girls Who Lead Conference

Her Rising also hosts an annual Girls Who Lead conference featuring professionals from various fields conducting free workshops in computer science, engineering, medicine, and law. The conference eliminates cost barriers to participation, ensuring accessibility for all. At the 2022 conference, despite multiple speakers canceling due to COVID-19 or family loss, Animashaun persevered. She later reflected: “That day, young girls who had been torn down by the loss and isolation of a pandemic were able to confide in older highschoolers who endured it too. Aspiring lawyers inquired with senators; future engineers worked with women holding multiple degrees in the field.” She admitted to attendees how close she was to canceling the event after speakers withdrew, but “that single strand of hope was enough to tie the event back up together.” The journey has not been without significant challenges. When she first proposed founding a nonprofit, people in her community expressed confusion. She was in high school with limited financial resources, attempting to build an organization that would distribute resources to others a reversal of the typical pattern where established, wealthier individuals found nonprofits. She sent fifty to one hundred emails daily to potential partners and sponsors. Most received no reply; those that did often offered encouragement without commitment. These experiences, she has said, built her resilience.

Recognition and Awards

• Amazing 22 Under 22 Award (March 2026): Recognizes 22 graduating college women as changemakers across fields, including advocacy, public policy, entrepreneurship, environment, and STEM. Animashaun and Priya Abiram ’26 were Cornell’s recipients. The award’s emphasis is on pursuing goals without waiting for traditional milestones.
• Vital Voices Global Partnership (2025 Fellow): Fellowship recognizing her work empowering young women of color and increasing women’s leadership.
• Princeton Prize in Race Relations (2023): Honors her commitment to creating equitable spaces for children of color through education, policy, and literature.
• Ebony Magazine Feature: Profile highlighting her as a Gen Z empowerment leader.

Philosophy And Practice

Animashaun emphasizes collaboration over individual achievement and has stated that she finds value in working with ambitious, driven peers. Her approach to recognition has included sharing practical guidance on how she secures opportunities and what she has learned about founding and operating a nonprofit. She regularly posts scholarship and internship opportunities on social media to extend access to other young women. Her work is grounded in a specific conviction: that young women of color require not only access to existing leadership structures but also the tools and community support to create their own structures. She speaks of creating a “chain reaction” seeing the kids she poured into go into the world and pour into another set of kids. “If my organization can create and encourage more young leaders to answer that question while also spearheading more solutions ourselves,” she has reflected, “then I will truly believe it has lived up to its name.”

Current Status, Goals and Public Engagement

Animashaun continues to lead Her Rising Initiative while completing her undergraduate education. In January 2025, she announced on ABC 7 Chicago that the organization aims to reach one thousand girls across the country in 2025. Key initiatives include expanding the Girls Who Lead conference to new states, creating in-school curriculum, publishing a new book, and advancing policy and research on women’s leadership. Her Rising is supported by The Allstate Foundation and the Center for Expanding Leadership & Opportunity. She continues to build a larger team of students from Stanford, HBCUs, and other institutions to support Her Rising’s growth. Her Rising maintains an active social media presence, particularly on Instagram (@her.risingg) and LinkedIn, sharing opportunities and organizational updates. In addition to her television appearance on ABC 7 Chicago, Animashaun has been featured in Ebony Magazine and continues to engage audiences through her podcast Rising with Her and public speaking appearances. From a young girl standing in front of a classroom at her aunt’s church to a nationally recognized social entrepreneur speaking at the White House, Cherie Animashaun has demonstrated that leadership is not about waiting for permission; it is about recognizing a gap and building the bridge yourself.