Filter heroes statewide, by region or by cause.
Julian Morris
Saginaw, MI
Hero Story
Julian Morris started SWAG Magazine (Students With A Gift) at age 13 years old during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was frustrated with all the decisions being made for kids without kids having any input and decided his peers needed a voice in these conversations. He created a magazine for teens written by teens. Julian has kept youth voices at the forefront of conversations on important issues in our community including mental health, ARPA funding, community resources, economic development and COVID recovery. He often speaks at city council meetings to address our elected officials on matters that are important to our youth. He received Black Press Grant Award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and chose to film a documentary on how COVID affected education. He hosted a community viewing for this film so we could have a better understanding of what our students and administrators went through and how we move forward.
Julian has expressed his love for reading and created the Reading Is The New SWAG campaign to promote literacy in Saginaw. He started a book club inside one of the elementary schools with 6th graders, taught writing workshops in another elementary school with 4th and 5th graders, and created an after school journalism program at a local middle school. He developed these programs to help his younger peers recover from education loss in an engaging and creative way. Every winter, Julian hosts a fashion show to raise money for kids with an incarcerated parent and take them shopping during Christmas. He also collects toys at this event and donates them to sick children who spend CHristmas in the hospital. Because of these programs and his entrepreneurial spirit, Julian was chosen as 1 of 100 kids across the country to participate in Disney Dreamers' Academy, and the first ever from Saginaw. He brought some magic back from Disney and been sprinkling that magic all over our community.
The compassion of this now 15 year old is amazing. He is thoughtful, considerate and concerned about the wellbeing of young people in our community. He has inspired a generation of young people to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams and shares his platform by interviewing them and writing articles on them. His selflessness and thoughtfulness for others is a lesson to all adults.
Julian's has helped and inspired hundreds of kids in this community and adults too. Youth are now being included in important conversations and invited to tables they would have been shunned from thanks to the voice and impact one teenager, Julian Morris. He has become a leader in this community and I am excited to see where his dreams take him. This one kid is inspiring the next generation of journalists, entrepreneurs and leaders.
Julian Morris
Saginaw, MI
Hero Story
Julian Morris started SWAG Magazine (Students With A Gift) at age 13 years old during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was frustrated with all the decisions being made for kids without kids having any input and decided his peers needed a voice in these conversations. He created a magazine for teens written by teens. Julian has kept youth voices at the forefront of conversations on important issues in our community including mental health, ARPA funding, community resources, economic development and COVID recovery. He often speaks at city council meetings to address our elected officials on matters that are important to our youth. He received Black Press Grant Award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and chose to film a documentary on how COVID affected education. He hosted a community viewing for this film so we could have a better understanding of what our students and administrators went through and how we move forward.
Julian has expressed his love for reading and created the Reading Is The New SWAG campaign to promote literacy in Saginaw. He started a book club inside one of the elementary schools with 6th graders, taught writing workshops in another elementary school with 4th and 5th graders, and created an after school journalism program at a local middle school. He developed these programs to help his younger peers recover from education loss in an engaging and creative way. Every winter, Julian hosts a fashion show to raise money for kids with an incarcerated parent and take them shopping during Christmas. He also collects toys at this event and donates them to sick children who spend CHristmas in the hospital. Because of these programs and his entrepreneurial spirit, Julian was chosen as 1 of 100 kids across the country to participate in Disney Dreamers' Academy, and the first ever from Saginaw. He brought some magic back from Disney and been sprinkling that magic all over our community.
The compassion of this now 15 year old is amazing. He is thoughtful, considerate and concerned about the wellbeing of young people in our community. He has inspired a generation of young people to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams and shares his platform by interviewing them and writing articles on them. His selflessness and thoughtfulness for others is a lesson to all adults.
Julian's has helped and inspired hundreds of kids in this community and adults too. Youth are now being included in important conversations and invited to tables they would have been shunned from thanks to the voice and impact one teenager, Julian Morris. He has become a leader in this community and I am excited to see where his dreams take him. This one kid is inspiring the next generation of journalists, entrepreneurs and leaders.