Helen Kassa

Helen Kassa is an emerging social entrepreneur and has been involved in humanitarian and community services since she was eight-years old. She is currently a sophomore at Prospect High School in Saratoga, California and her family heritage is Ethiopian. At age eight, she founded a humanitarian educational program here in the United States and in Ethiopia, called Giving Hope to Kids Like Me. The primary focus of her work is the utilization of education as a tool to help communities raise themselves out of poverty. She had completed several trips back to her family homeland and has adopted a K-8 school in Ethiopia with over 1200 students and has provided school supplies and teaching aids and has built a science lab. Helen is currently preparing with the prominent award-winning humanitarian Dr.Raye Mitchell, CEO and founder of G.U.R.L.S.  Lead, a Global Leadership Program (www.gurlslead.org) that provides mentoring, training, and advocacy for girls and young women to help them become effective global leaders.                In 2012, United States Congressman Michael Honda Awarded Helen a distinguished honor and recognition of the 2012 Ethiopian Community Award. On August 10, 2013 Helen was honored with both a G.U.R.L.S. Lead Global Game Changer Awards and a Certificate of Congressional Recognition from the United States Congresswoman Barbara Lee for the work with Giving Hope to Kids Like Me. Here in the USA, she volunteers with the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, the Step Up to Algebra (SUTA) program, mentoring and tutoring 7th graders during her summer breaks. Helen has also served as an intern at the Silicon Valley Jewish Community Center to learn how non-profit organizations work. Helen is the president of the NAACP Youth San Jose Chapter and the Education Chair for the NAACP California and Hawaii, region.                 Helen is an accomplished athlete, an activist, and a soon- to-be published author. Helen Kassa was born on November 1998 in San Jose, California.