Helena Donato-Sapp

Helena (16), from the United States, was diagnosed with four non-apparent learning disabilities at the end of first grade. however, Helena didn’t wait to grow up to start advocating. By second grade, she was already speaking up for disability justice, rights, and inclusion, and she’s never stopped since.

Today, Helena is a globally award-winning activist, published in eight book chapters and eight peer-reviewed journal articles, and an award-winning Youth Poet Laureate. Through her work with the National Education Association, she’s helped tens of thousands of educators become champions for disabled students, even creating 14 videos highlighting inclusive books for classrooms and professional development. She serves as a Commissioner on her state’s Advisory Commission on Special Education, and as the youngest politician in the history of Long Beach, California, she’s also a Commissioner on the Commission for Women and Girls.

The scale of her impact is extraordinary: she’s spoken to over 9,000 educators in a single keynote, reached 4,000 professionals at a major convention, and influences policies affecting 870,000 disabled students statewide and 250,000 women and girls in her city. Helena is proof that a diagnosis can be the start of a story, not the end of one.