MARIN TEENS LEAD NONPROFITS, FUNDRAISING

By Emerson Swift

Special to Marin IJ

Nonprofit founders are becoming younger. 

   The “Founders”—a term for Generation Z coined by MTV in 2015—captures how today’s young people are turning a problem they’ve observed into a movement or solution of their own making. 

  Marin’s “Founders” are high school students who balance schoolwork, sports, jobs and family responsibilities with leading and fundraising for organizations. They have taken personal experiences and navigated financial and social challenges to improve their communities. 

 

The key is confidence

   Muriel Harris, 17, took a short, after school commute from Marin Academy to Absolute Volleyball practice through San Rafael most days a week. 

   Harris noticed stark economic differences between areas she drove through and reflected how they highlighted two Marins, only minutes apart. Her travel team consisted of players whose families had the resources to pay for competitive athletic training, unlike some families living close to the volleyball gym in the Canal neighborhood. 

   Harris founded Bump It Up San Rafael in 2024 to help low-income Marin girls play volleyball at no cost. It is Marin County’s only free volleyball training program and facilitates high-level skill development, leadership and confidence through mentorship by young women. The nonprofit also works to eliminate the sports equity gap by encouraging families to prioritize athletics for their daughters.

   “We wanted to be able to get girls into the gym and make sure that they had the fundamental skills… to make their high school teams,” Harris said. “They don’t have to have their parents put down a $5,000 check just so they can have this feeling of community.” 

   After tearing her ACL and being sidelined for a couple months in 2025, Harris decided to refocus her attention to building the nonprofit. She organized monthly clinics in the Canal neighborhood and worked to acquire gym space, coaches and financial support. 

   Harris said the clinics have a 60 percent repeat participation rate and she hears girls say “Bump It Up is my club.” The nonprofit has expanded and now partners with Play Marin in Marin City and Marin Volleyball in Novato. Bump It Up hosted a week-long summer camp in July with Play Marin. 

   “It’s finding a sense of belonging and sharing that with others, rather than becoming the best volleyball player you can,” Harris said. 

   For more information on Bump It Up, visit bumpitupsanrafael.com. 

 

From sports to fundraising support

   A single pickleball tournament for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital drew over one hundred participants and raised almost $16,000. 

    As a  freshman at The Branson School, Olivia Shekou noticed that there was a disconnect between students’ motivation to make change and their resources to get started. 

   “There are so many high school students who want to make a difference,” Shekou said. “But there’s a big gap between wanting to do something and knowing how to make it happen.”

   Inspired by the success of the fundraiser she organized and designed a framework to replicate the pickleball  event. In 2024, she created Netting Miracles, a free plug-and-play platform for students to host pickleball fundraisers for causes they care about.

   Netting Miracles has organized two fundraisers for St. Jude, and the collaboration started when Shekou became a peer advisor for the hospital at the same time that she launched the platform. The peer advisor position is a role within the St. Jude Leadership Society, a program for high-achieving high school students that helps mentor national cohorts, guide fundraising projects and facilitate leadership development sessions for students supporting the hospital. 

   “This has really taught me about the idea of multiplying my impact, by helping other people lead too,” she said. 

   Netting Miracles has raised more than $90,000 for various fundraisers. Shekou used AI-powered software to design the website and created a solution to route donations directly to nonprofits like St. Jude. 

   Netting Miracles is now used across 17 states and has supported eight fundraisers since its founding.  Shekou was surprised how many youth have harnessed the power of her platform, including “Paddles for Purpose” a fundraiser in partnership with the Melissa Brandi Children’s Foundation, a local nonprofit that supports young women and children in Uganda. 

   “The best part about it is the community that it brings together through sports,” she said. “It’s not just doing something yourself, but it’s creating a community of people that allow each other to do something meaningful.” 

   For more information on Netting Miracles, visit nettingmiracles.com. 

Joy, recycled

   When Ashlyn Alba’s family was navigating her father’s brain cancer treatment, flowers regularly arrived at their home, offering a steady reminder of community support during a challenging period. Inspired by that comfort—and recognizing how many beautiful arrangements are discarded after events—Alba founded the Petal Project during her junior year at Archie Williams High School to repurpose surplus flowers into fresh bouquets for local care facilities.

   The youth-led initiative collects unused flowers from weddings, special events, and local florists, transforming them into hand-delivered arrangements for seniors, memory care residents, and hospital patients across Marin County. In addition to colorful bouquets, student volunteers often include handwritten cards and spend meaningful time visiting with residents to brighten their day.

   “Our mission is to bring joy and connection to people who may be going through a difficult or lonely time, while also giving flowers a second life instead of letting them go to waste,” says Alba, now 17 and entering her senior year. “We’re simply trying to remind people that they’re cared about and that their community is thinking of them.”

   Since making its first delivery last August, the volunteer team has completed more than 40 deliveries throughout the county, including regular visits to Cedars in Marin. Looking ahead, the group aims to establish formal partnerships with local florists and train younger students to step into leadership roles, ensuring the initiative continues to bring floral joy to Marin residents for years to come.

   The Petal Project welcomes community volunteers and donations of unused flowers from local events. To learn more or get involved, connect with the organization on Instagram @thepetalprojectco or reach out directly via direct message.

 

Water is life

One book changed the way Branson School student Leila Al-Moosa, 15, thought about water. In fourth grade, her class at Marin Country Day School read author Linda Sue Park’s “A Long Walk to Water,” a novel featuring two alternating storylines set in Sudan. Al-Moosa’s family had always practiced water conservation, but after reading the book she understood how limited access to water disproportionately affects women and girls, who forfeit education to make long journeys for water.

This interest kickstarted Al-Moosa’s partnership with WaterAid, an international nonprofit that works to provide clean water, toilets, sanitation and hygiene to marginalized communities in 22 countries across Africa, Asia, South America and the Pacific region. The organization helps create sustainable solutions rather than simply delivering water. WaterAid establishes wells, water fountains and toilets while providing community hygiene education.
Al-Moosa’s first fundraiser involved five students who pledged to stop using home water for three days, relying instead on alternative local sources located an average of 1.5 miles away. The experience highlighted the extensive amount of water used in daily routines like cooking, cleaning and sanitation.
The initiative evolved into an afternoon event at Al-Moosa’s Tiburon home featuring educational Zoom sessions with WaterAid volunteers, followed by a 3.7-mile group walk to collect water. To learn more about WaterAid and its global initiatives, visit wateraid.org.