Every year CNN has five finalists for their Hero of the Year award, an award that celebrates everyday people who are changing the world. The finalists are announced in the fall and people can go online and vote for their favorites. This year, a former University of Idaho student is nominated for her work providing school uniforms to girls in Togo.
Each of this year’s finalists will receive a $10,000 reward to continue their amazing work with their individual causes and the winner will receive an additional $100,000 to boost their work even more. Not only does becoming a finalist mean financial gain, but the international exposure for their work means people from around the world can help.
One of the five finalists is Payton McGriff, a UI alumna who graduated in 2017. As a Marketing major, McGriff saw herself in the business world until she took an entrepreneurship class her senior year. She read the book “Half the Sky” by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
“Half the Sky” is about educational oppression of women around the world; McGriff was shocked to learn that more than 129 million girls and women were not allowed to go to school because of basic necessities like uniforms and supplies. Instead, they were supposed to do the majority of work around the home.
During her entrepreneurship class at UI, she was tasked with starting a nonprofit or business and remembered the book. She visited Togolese Professor Romuald Afatchao, who encouraged her to go to his hometown during spring break to conduct field research.
While in Togo, McGriff talked to many women and children about what they needed to go to school, and the most frequent answer was uniforms. With a place to start, McGriff returned to Moscow, pitched her idea at an entrepreneurship competition and won $35,000 in seed money to see her vision come to life. Style Her Empowered (SHE) was born.
After graduating, McGriff went back to Togo and began hiring a team of seamstresses to make the uniforms. However, she quickly realized the children were outgrowing them too fast. This is when the idea of a “uniform that grows” was made into reality, with an adjustable cord on the sides of the dress it can grow up to six sizes bigger and become a foot longer. All of the uniforms are eventually recycled and made into menstrual pads for the girls who lack sanitary products.
Since 2017, SHE has helped clothe, fund and educate girls from more than 20 rural villages around Togo. With the team thriving in Togo, McGriff hopes to expand into other countries eventually and help underprivileged girls around the world.
The winner of the CNN Hero of the Year award will be announced Dec. 8. To learn about the other finalists’ work and vote for a winner, visit: 2024 CNN Hero of the Year voting.
Allyssa Dotson can be reached at [email protected].