Maya Penn (born February 10, 2000) is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, animator, artist, and the CEO of her eco-friendly fashion company Maya's Ideas.

Maya Penn
Born (2000-02-10) February 10, 2000 (age 24)
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, animator
Years active2008–present
Known forEntrepreneurship,
Websitehttps://mayasideas.com/

Penn was born and raised in Atlanta. She started Maya’s Ideas in 2008 at the age of 8.[1] She spoke at the TEDWomen event in San Francisco, which was streamed live on TED.com.[2] She has done 2 official TEDTalks and 1 TEDxTalk.[3] Penn is also an animator and artist, drawing cartoon characters from an early age. She is the creator of an animated series called The Pollinators which focuses on the importance of bees and other pollinators. She premiered a clip of The Pollinators and another animated series called Malicious Dishes at TEDWomen 2013.[4] In 2022, she completed her first film Asali: Power of The Pollinators which is an animated action-adventure short.[5]

Penn is a supporter and member of One Billion Rising[6] and Girls, Inc. In 2011, she founded her own nonprofit organization, Maya's Ideas 4 The Planet. Penn was named to Oprah's SuperSoul 100 list of visionaries and influential leaders in 2016.[7]

Maya has also been featured in various magazines, podcasts, TV and radio programmes, and guest edited the 17th Edition of Eluxe Magazine,[8] which focused on sustainability and Generation Z.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Maya Penn, 11-Year-Old Entrepreneur Designs Eco-Friendly Accessories (VIDEO)". The Huffington Post. February 8, 2012.
  2. ^ Maya Penn (January 31, 2014). "Maya Penn: Meet a young entrepreneur, cartoonist, designer, activist … – Talk Video". ted.com.
  3. ^ "Teen entrepreneur encourages girls to follow their passion in new book". CBS News. April 14, 2016.
  4. ^ "The Coolest Black Kid in America, No. 8: Maya Penn". Ebony. August 3, 2016.
  5. ^ "Maya Penn Makes Directorial Debut With Environmental Animated Short 'Asali'; Viola Davis & Julius Tennon's JuVee Productions Executive Producing". uk.movies.yahoo.com. October 19, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  6. ^ "Meet Maya Penn, 13-year-old CEO of Maya's Ideas [DIV] – One Billion Rising Revolution". One Billion Rising Revolution. July 4, 2013.
  7. ^ "Meet the SuperSoul100: The World's Biggest Trailblazers in One Room". O Magazine. August 1, 2016. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  8. ^ "Meet Maya S Penn, The Keen Green Wunder Teen – Eluxe Magazine". July 4, 2013.
edit

FF*First Maya Penn TED talk