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Shamika
Lee |
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Shamika Lee
27 - Boston, MA
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Shamika Lee took her eighth grade teacher seriously when she told her students that "to whom much is given, much is required." As a former foster care child, she feels responsible to give back to children who are also growing up in foster care.
Today, Shamika - an MBA Harvard Business School student - is a board member and volunteer at Graham Windham, the foster care agency where she was once housed. She knows firsthand that children entering the foster care system face many challenges, including dealing with the abuse, neglect, and/or poverty they may have previously experienced.
Shamika remembers struggling with these serious issues, as well as the smaller issues, such as coming into foster care with a wardrobe that consists of the clothing on your back. Not wanting other children to experience this, she recruited a local department store to donate clothing and overstocks to Graham Windham, which children can access when they enter the agency.
Shamika also started an Annual Holiday Gift Drive for teens, working tirelessly to procure gift donations from corporations. Her volunteer efforts also have focused on education, and she helped expand Graham Windham youth services to include college tours and SAT preparation (she recruited Kaplan Test Prep to offer free SAT prep classes for the teens). In addition, Shamika advocates for foster youth, lobbying state legislators for improvements to the foster care system.
That's why Shamika is a 2007
Woman Of Worth. |
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"I understand what the situation is like."
Hear Shamika discuss her work
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ORGANIZATION
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