Marcelina Maciąg

As a little girl, Marcelina had to grapple with dyslexia. During class reading exercises, fear would paralyse her: the stress made the problem even worse, and she became reluctant to respond aloud at school. Her refuge was in her social projects, through which she met fascinating people, listened to their stories, participated in workshops, and attended festivals. 

Today, Marcelina dreams of becoming the first female President of Poland and a global voice for youth mental health and wellbeing. From an early age, she believed that "no one can do everything, but everyone can do something". Following her ideas, she began to engage in social activism, voluntary service, youth activation, and government involvement. She now advocates for the mental health of children and teenagers, works to stop hate and cyberbullying, and promotes a sustainable future through projects that address the environment, gender gap, and freedom of speech. 

To date, Marcelina has served as President of the Youth State Senate of Mazovia (leading 51 youth senators and representing the voice of 1.5 million young people); a parliamentarian in the Youth Parliament of Poland; and Chairwoman of Mental Health Commission at the Council for Dialogue with the Young Generation at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in Poland. She is also the Founder of Youth Kindness Revolution, which has campaigned to legally prohibit anonymous hate on the Internet and promote a culture of empathy and support where simple acts of kindness improve our communities. She also created “Blue Box for Youth Mental Health” for schools where every student can anonymously express their concerns or ask for help. The project has received the most honorable patronages of: the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Children's Rights Ombudsman, the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament. In the first month, the project reached 130+ schools and will impact 63 000 children. Marcelina leads the project under the Youth State Senate of Mazovia and its Health Commission. 

Marcelina has calculated that her work so far has reached over three million people through public speeches, TV appearances, newspaper interviews, and social media. For her social and academic work she was honored with the highest national award from the Polish government – Ambassador of the Young Generation of Poland – granted by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland and the Council for Dialogue with the Young Generation. As well as having been a Laureate of the Youth Nobel Prize (‘Maturalny Nobel’) and a Polish representative in the Yale Young Global Scholar Program at Yale University, she is also often a guest on The Morning Show, and Family Express, putting the youth perspective across to audiences.  

If Marcelina were to win the Global Student Prize, she would allocate the funds to two major initiatives aimed at fostering positive global impact. First, she would dedicate $60,000 to expanding the school’s “Blue Box for Youth Mental Health” initiative worldwide, with global events to promote it. The remaining $40,000 would be invested in the Youth Kindness Revolution and its mission to cultivate a more compassionate and understanding world.