Blog#2

 March 11, 2026

Oliver Pompee

Everyone finally finished their presentation on Changemakers. My group, Group 3, did one on the 2000s, and honestly? It was way more intriguing than I thought, especially with the changemakers. My classmates didn’t just pick politicians or billionaires in suits, but people who actually shifted culture, health, tech, or opportunity for regular people. And starting off, I went with Sara Blakely (the founder of Spanx, youngest self-made female billionaire, total boss), but hearing what everyone else chose made me realize the 2000s were pretty stacked with people who started from basically nothing and changed the whole game.

I liked how one of the leaders, Manuel, started things off with the intro and overview of who a changemaker is. He was explaining a lot in the beginning, describing the changemakers my group chose as people who took creative action helping not just a large group of people but everyone in the environment through things such as (charities, foundations, movements etc). And one of the things I found nice of what Manuel said that I didn’t even notice at first was how in the 2000s most of the changemakers were “regular people” like me, regular people from humble backgrounds who blew up through whether it was their skill in sports, technology, creative inventions and etc. But after talking about that, Manuel brought up each of the changemakers the people in my group presented such as Al Gore who my classmate Saida presented, Dr. Velma Scantlebury White who was presented from my other classmate Ruslam, Michelle Obama a popular known figure who was presented by my classmate Naharai, Sara Blakely who myself presented founder of Spanx, Angelina Jolie who was covered by my classmate Mia, Steve Jobs a famous figure in the world who was presented by Shaley and lastly the one and only LeBron James who was presented to my classmate Jeremiah.

Starting off with Al Gore, to be honest I didn’t know of him before my classmate Saida brought him up. And with how she described him as a Defender of the environment who basically forced the world to take climate change seriously which I strongly agree with. Al Gore was born in D.C., raised partly in Tennessee, he was multiple things a Harvard grad, Vietnam vet, journalist, congressman, senator, VP, almost-president in 2000. But his real legacy seem to mainly come from warning about global warming back in the 70s and 80s when nobody hardly really cared. He held congressional hearings, wrote Earth in the Balance in 1992  dropped An Inconvenient Truth in 2006 documentary that won an Oscar and woke up million), pushed the Kyoto Protocol, started the Climate Reality Project trained thousands to spread the word, and kept preaching renewables like solar/wind. Nobel Peace Prize 2007. I liked how Saida ended her presentation with his Wired interview clip where he answered questions.She quoted him saying “political will is a renewable resource.”Saida made me respect how early he was being this aware of our climate.

Moving onto Dr. Velma Scantlebury White who I previously said my partner Ruslam covered and what I liked about what Ruslam said about Dr. Velma Scantlebury White, was how she was the first African American female transplant surgeon in the U.S. back in (1989). Pretty much a one of a kind she was born in Barbados, inspired by her parents art and community values, she moved to the U.S., got her MD, specialized in transplants despite insane bias in a white male dominated field. Performing over 2,000 kidney transplants, published 86 peer reviewed papers, wrote a memoir (Beyond Every Wall), won tons of honorable awards such as (Women of Spirit, Gift of Life, etc). Ruslam highlighted her mindset which I also liked in her equity in healthcare, mentorship for minorities, community education on organ donation. She’s now retired from surgery but is still a professor pushing health equity. Ruslam called her the “perfect textbook changemaker” according to Ruslam she broke barriers, saved lives, and transformed systems. It was really inspirational to me. Hearing about someone who fought through that level of discrimination and still mentored the next generation That’s amazing.

Onto the next huge Changemaker who my classmate Naharai presented Michelle Obama. She focused on Let’s Move! fighting childhood obesity, bettering school lunches, more exercise, improved nutrition standards such as more fruits, veggies, whole grains and etc. Naharai also mentioned Michelle Obama, supporting women’s rights, military families, civic engagement, and inspiring young women post White House. But to be honest even though I wasn’t a fan of some of the “Healthy” Food Michelle Obama implemented into the system but  I respect her for trying to make more kids my age during that time more healthier.

Now onto the one I been waiting to talk about Sara Blakely which who I presented started Spanx with $5,000, no fashion/manufacturing experience, doing door to door sales. Luckily she was smart enough to turn a simple idea shapewear that actually worked into a billion dollar empire. According to Forbes Sara Blakely was the youngest selfmade female billionaire in (Forbes magazine 2012) she also had build her company with no outside investors, Sara Blakely is not only a huge inspiration for me but to many women entrepreneurs. She donated half her net worth to charity, supporting female owned businesses. My favorite quote: “Failure is not the outcome. Failure is not trying.” Which is true because the fact you at least try everyday, all the time trying to do better can show even a little progress.

To end this even though there’s two more changemakers I believe I can talk about I want to talk about LeBron James someone who I’m surprised and never thought someone would pick even my professor said no one has picked anyone from the sports genre as a changemaker so starting off LeBron James who my classmate Jeremiah wanted to present talked about. How LeBron James is one of the greatest basketball player ever if not the best but people not ready for that nun the less LeBron James has 4 rings, MVPs, and that’s not even only that he also has off court impact LeBron James Family Foundation, I Promise School in Akron for at risk kids (education, meals, family services), he co founded media company (athletes control their narrative), speaked on social justice/equality. Jeremiah said LeBron inspires him to work in sports training/mentoring. As someone from a similar background, I get why LeBron James is that GUY.

But overall this project was fun. Doing the 2000s and hearing everyone’s other changemaker from other groups weren’t just about iPhones and wars people like Sara Blakely proved you can start small and build empires, Al Gore showed one voice can shift global conversations, Dr. Velma proved barriers can be smashed, Michelle reminded us health starts young, LeBron gave back to the kids who need it most. They all started somewhere humble and refused to stay there. THE END.