Hephzibah Akinwale

Hephzibah Akinwale (13), is from the United Kingdom. At just eight years old, Hephzibah noticed something missing from the books she read: characters who looked like her. With her mother’s encouragement, she turned that frustration into action and started writing her own stories, choosing a Black girl as the lead character to show that anyone can be the main character.

Through her project No Approval Needed, Hephzibah has created child-centred stories and products designed to help BAME girls feel represented, valued, and confident in who they are. She has led free creative writing workshops for children, including one hosted by The Stained Glass Museum at Ely Cathedral, encouraging young people to use their imagination and see themselves as authors, no cost to families involved. She’s also received mentorship from bestselling children’s author T?lá Okogwu and support from organizations like Ultra Education.

By writing the stories she once couldn’t find, Hephzibah is helping other children, especially girls from minority backgrounds, see themselves reflected in books and believe they belong at the center of the story too. What started as one girl’s frustration has become a growing movement toward representation, one page at a time.