Chloe Lewis

Chloe Lewis is dedicated to serving children with HIV/AIDS. Despite her age of only 17, Chloe has served almost half of her lifetime to help secure a healthy start and a healthy future for her peers worldwide.

Having survived a near fatal disease at a young age, Chloe chose to become an advocate for children who are dying from a disease they acquired oftentimes through no fault of their own. Her focus has been to develop and use her voice of leadership to create awareness about HIV/AIDS and to educate her generation on the importance of prevention. Chloe has taken her call to action to communities across the United States as well as to villages in South Africa, Tanzania and rural China.

Undaunted by the challenges of the third world, Chloe has twice negotiated twelve days off from school and raised $30,000 to donate to the global outreach efforts of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Her time in South Africa and Tanzania afforded her the opportunity to connect with her peers and their families, to learn of their struggles, and to explore ways to break the barriers and stigmas that deny access to health care for the young. She returned home to connect with and motivate her classmates and other youth nationwide through speeches, presentations, and media interviews, enlisting her audiences to become part of the health care solution through service to others.

Chloe saw the increased need to raise awareness of the epidemic in China and to connect children and families toward the services available. In response, she created her own volunteer opportunity in rural China, where she provided education and services to those living with HIV/AIDS. As an activist, Chloe appeared on Chinese television and challenged the country’s health care providers to make more drugs available for children.

Chloe believes the solution to decreased transmission lies in the empowerment of women. Through her creative fund-raising ideas, she has effectively mobilized members of her age group to become engaged in global issues through service. Chloe calls her peers to action by reminding them that “if you stand at a distance, it is impossible to make a real difference. Waiting for the world to change only makes us older. For those people in my generation who are struggling simply to live a childhood there is no time to wait. Gandhi’s message that we must be the change we wish to see in the world is more true now than ever before. Get involved and change the world.”