Rising Stars: Meet AnnaLise Hoopes

Today we’d like to introduce you to AnnaLise Hoopes.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
As a child, I felt overwhelmed by the number of problems in the world. It wasn’t until college that I discovered the concept of education for social change, and I knew immediately that this would be my life’s work. That semester, I started a nonprofit called “Teach Compassion” where we went into schools to teach kids about issues involving human rights, racial equity, animal protection, and environmental sustainability. After graduating, I pursued a master’s in education, moved to California, and taught elementary school in Title I schools. I then worked for a new nonprofit called Technovation that was just getting started, and helped scale it from a small pilot program to an international program with over a thousand youth in 19 countries. This experience taught me a lot about how to launch and scale a nonprofit, and it also taught me a bit about social entrepreneurship. I started my own for-profit company called Green & Go, making sustainable food more accessible in the San Francisco Bay Area, and sold it in 2018 to start The Changemaker Project.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not! I think the best analogy for entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster. Whenever things are going well, you know challenges lie ahead, and vice versa. Launching my food startup was definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and it gave me an appreciation for how much work goes into the food we eat, and how hard it is to make ethical food affordable. Sometimes it felt like I was just putting out one fire after the next, and it was exhausting, but I had a good support network to get me through it. At some point I got used to the ups and downs. I think my mindfulness practice has helped me develop a sense of groundedness within myself, regardless of what is happening at work in a given moment. Of course, it is an ongoing challenge!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In 2018 I founded The Changemaker Project, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that empowers youth to change the world. We work with about 500 students a year from 35+ countries around the world—partnering with schools and youth-serving NGOs. We offer a curriculum that helps youth explore and take action on various social, climate, and racial justice issues. We provide our students with mentorship and funding as they design and launch their own social impact project, about an important issue in their community or in the world.

Every year, we host a Global Pitch event (coming up on Feb. 12th!) where teams of youth pitch their project ideas to win the funding they need to launch and execute their projects. As they build their initiatives, we provide support to help students develop as leaders in their community. We want our students to leave our program with the confidence and skills they need to go out into the world and tackle the problems they encounter.

Whether it’s solving anemia in India, improving sanitation in Ghana, tackling climate change in Italy, fighting factory farming in the US, or tackling racial injustice everywhere—our students work hard to solve important problems in their communities. Our goal is to plant seeds of change on every continent in the form of young people taking action to build a better world.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I grew up in Northern Wisconsin, and my grandparents had cottages on a small lake in Ludington, MI. Going there was the highlight of each summer—canoeing to the sand dunes, going waterskiing, and swimming with my cousins. Michigan will always have a special place in my heart!

At The Changemaker Project, we work with youth in Brighton, MI, and I hope we will be able to get even more schools from the state involved. If any teachers are reading this who might be interested in getting your students involved, visit https://www.thechangemakerproject.org/ to learn more!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thechangemakerproject.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/we_make_change_/
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wemakesocialchange
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thechangemakerproject/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/we_make_change_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thechangemakerproject