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I’m YingYing Shang, a 16-year-old senior at Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Penn. 

I’ve always been passionate about leadership in girls. As a Girl Scout of seven years, I serve as a Girl Advisor to the Board of Directors at Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania, and I am the first to ever be elected to a second term. 

This past summer, I have been working on my Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting. To combat media misrepresentation of girls and women, I showed two screenings of the film “Miss Representation” and taught a lesson in media literacy and self-esteem in my community, which had more than 60 attendees—men, women, and girls of all ages. 

I also launched the Real Worth Campaign on Tumblr to promote healthy self-esteem and identity in girls who are powerfully impacted by society’s relentless objectification of women. You can join my movement at www.realworthcampaign.tumblr.com!

In addition to helping girls around the world through Girl Up, I am an activist and blogger for SPARK a Movement, one of 30 girls selected from around the world in an international activist movement demanding an end to the sexualization of women and girls in media. You can check out my blogs here! 

As the first ever Junior Delegate to the national gender equality movement Vision 2020: Equality in Sight, I helped found the Junior Branch for high school and college, which launches this school year! 

I run spring and winter track and play pit percussion in my school’s marching band. I’m ranked fourth in the state for Impromptu Speaking and am on the Finance Committee of my Homeowner’s Association. I’m on the select Youth Advisory Council for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit System. I love the movie Moonrise Kingdom, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poetry, and discussing religion or philosophy with strangers on trains. 

My sister Melissa is 9 years old and has Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a form of Muscular Dystrophy. I love her to pieces; she is the reason I am so passionate about making the world a better place for girls. 

For my sister and yours, let’s create a Girl-Topia together.