LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership, the nation’s foremost not-for-profit youth leadership development organization, today announced its 2012 Outstanding Young Alumni winners, chosen from nearly 400,000 HOBY alumni nationwide.
Honored for their service are Allyson Brown of Florida, Isabel Calo of New Jersey, James “Sean” Hancox of Louisiana and Nate Noss of Missouri. The awards will be presented at HOBY’s Albert Schweitzer Leadership Awards gala on May 16 in New York.
“These four individuals are great examples of the fact that America’s youth aren’t just the leaders of tomorrow but can be the leaders of today,” said Javier LaFianza, HOBY’s president and CEO. “Whether through doing community service, realizing personal and professional dreams, or starting their own nonprofits, HOBY alumni are changing the world for the better.”
Inspired by HOBY, Brown, 21, organized a school dance and donated the proceeds to Malaria No More, an organization determined to end malaria deaths in Africa by 2015. Malaria No More turned Brown’s idea into an international fundraising campaign named STAYIN ALIVE, which today is in 250 schools in 44 states and five countries. Brown’s grassroots effort continues to motivate teens around the world and is estimated to have saved more than 10,000 lives. As a result, President George W. Bush awarded her the Dragonfly Award in 2008.
Calo, 16, channels her passion for issues concerning women and children into being an AIDS advocate, a social entrepreneur with Mothers 2 Mothers, and a volunteer fundraiser for the New Jersey Battered Women in Morris County. She also served the needy in Appalachia during the summer and as captain of her soccer team led the efforts to collect over 400 soccer uniforms, which she sent to 13 schools and orphanages in South Africa, Tanzania, Vietnam, Colombia and Kenya.
Hancox, 16, was abandoned by his mother at age two and lived in a mobile home and storage rooms in a junkyard, frequently without electricity or food. He arrived at his foster family’s home at age 12 in poor health and with little self-esteem. When he attended a HOBY seminar in 2011 his entire outlook changed as HOBY provided him with the ability to believe in himself. Hancox is now a leader in the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office Explorer Program and volunteers with the Beta Club, which focuses on feeding the hungry, and is earning all As in school for the very first time.
Shortly after attending HOBY’s 2011 World Leadership Congress in Chicago and inspired to help make a difference locally, Noss, 16, founded “Saint Louis Food Rescue,” a nonprofit organization that collects perishables that would have been discarded by local food retailers and delivers them to homeless shelters and food pantries. Noss and his volunteers routinely collect more than 3,000 pounds of food each weekend.
“HOBY is about a commitment to service and in making a difference in your community, your country and the world,” said LaFianza. “This year’s winners, along with the very deserving other semi-finalists, all embody this spirit and speak to the best qualities found in America’s youth.”
Semi-finalists also saluted by HOBY for their outstanding contributions are: Niko Arigopolis, Maryland; Juan Aristzabal, Columbia (South America); Cara Austin, Indiana; Marta Belcher, California; Catherine Buck, New Jersey; Connor Cass, Oklahoma; Kaitlyn Chana, Florida; Joshua Ford, New York; Claire Gillespie, Illinois; Josephine Grant, Maryland; Matt Hockney, Pennsylvania; Kaylen Larson, Minnesota; Corinna Lin, New York; Jessica Magro, Rhode Island; Claire McCallan, Massachusetts; Erik Muckey, South Dakota; Virginia Newsome, Kentucky; Morgan Reeves, Kentucky; Micaela Siminsky, Pennsylvania; and Laura Zebib, Florida.
For more than 50 years, Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership has helped to cultivate tomorrow’s leaders by inspiring a global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service and innovation. HOBY programs annually provide nearly 10,000 local and international high school students the opportunity to participate in unique leadership training, service learning and motivation-building experiences. HOBY also provides adults the opportunity to make a significant impact on the lives of youth by volunteering, and today more than 4,000 volunteers and over 385,000 alumni proudly make up the HOBY family. Further information on HOBY may be obtained at www.hoby.org.