BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM

Women and youth empowerment through education

Welcome to the final week of The Optimist Daily’s Annual Local Changemakers series, where we’ve spent five weeks celebrating bold, community-rooted leaders transforming lives across the globe. This week, we highlight changemakers elevating those who are too often overlooked through education, nourishment, and care. We close with two powerful stories of women whose hard work shows us that education is the greatest catalyst for generational change.

Whether it’s Shirley Santana Herrera nurturing the next generation of Latin American youth leaders or Shereen Arent championing women’s empowerment through Sambhali U.S. and its work in India, these changemakers understand that confidence and opportunity begin with access.

Let’s turn now to Latin America, where Shirley Santana Herrera’s Excelsior Academy is empowering thousands of young people to break cycles of poverty through digital education, leadership training, and access to global opportunities. From a childhood shaped by scarcity to a career defined by innovation and service, Shirley’s journey is a testament to how equity in education can unlock futures.

From La Romana to Forbes 30 Under 30

At just 26 years old, Shirley Santana Herrera has already founded Excelsior Academy, launched a regional climate initiative, and earned a place on the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list for her work in education and social impact. She’s also a global speaker, advocate, and digital creator whose educational content has reached more than five million people and generated over 20 million views across platforms.

But her drive isn’t fueled by accolades alone, but is shaped by lived experience. Growing up in La Romana, Dominican Republic, Shirley faced firsthand the barriers of an under-resourced education system. Rather than accept that reality, she used it as fuel. Those early challenges ignited a passion she’s carried ever since.

“She herself comes from an impoverished background,” wrote Ghazaleh Samandari, who nominated Shirley as a Local Changemaker. “But she is the ideal model to show what determination and hard work can do.”

Excelsior Academy has now trained thousands of Latin American students, offering culturally relevant online courses that prepare students for scholarship applications, global exchanges, and community leadership.

“Shirley has a tireless energy and innovative spirit,” Ghazaleh added. “She has built a sustainable and growing movement to help young people all over the world lead better, more promising lives.”

Excelsior Academy: Training youth to lead

At the heart of Shirley’s mission is Excelsior Academy, a digital platform offering leadership development, academic training, and life-changing mentorship for underserved and first-generation students across Latin America. Since its founding, Excelsior has directly served over 5,000 students from 15 countries, including the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia.

But Excelsior is more than a course provider. It’s an engine of upward mobility and generational hope.

Shirley shared with The Optimist Daily that the Academy boasts a 90 percent program completion rate, and participants are four times more likely to secure full-ride scholarships for higher education compared to peers outside the program. In just the last three years, Excelsior students have collectively earned at least $250,000 in national and international university scholarships.

The ripple effects continue far after graduation. A remarkable 95 percent of alumni go on to participate in community-driven, impact-focused extracurricular initiatives. Whether launching local youth programs or working in climate resilience, Excelsior graduates aren’t just improving their own lives.

It is clear that Shirley’s efforts are grounded in her belief in compound impact. Her work demonstrates that when you train a young person with leadership skills and give them access to opportunity, they don’t stop with personal success. They replicate that empowerment in their communities.

Accessible, scalable, and grounded in real need

Excelsior’s programs meet students where they are, which is often in rural or digitally underserved areas. Its flagship offering, the Gaceta de Oportunidades (Opportunities Gazette), is a free, weekly digital magazine that reaches 25,000 students and shares vetted academic, leadership, and scholarship opportunities tailored to Latin American youth. This thoughtful, inclusive design is informed by Shirely’s own lived experience, and is what sets Excelsior apart.

A parallel mission: Voces de la Tierra

While education is Shirley’s core passion, she understands its deep intersection with environmental and social justice. In addition to Excelsior, she also founded Voces de la Tierra (Voices of the Earth), a climate governance initiative that empowers youth to advocate for environmental resilience in vulnerable regions.

By amplifying youth voices in climate policy and organizing local training sessions, Voces de la Tierra bridges the gap between global environmental goals and grassroots action. It’s another example of Shirley’s belief in interdependence and her ability to connect seemingly separate issues through a single lens of empowerment.

What’s next?

Excelsior Academy continues to evolve, but on top of that, Ghazaleh shared with The Optimist Daily that Shirley is currently developing a new initiative that will equip at-risk youth with the skills and access they need to attain higher levels of education and economic stability. Her focus remains on building scalable, adaptable solutions that can work across cultures and conditions.

To date, Shirley’s efforts have impacted over 30,000 people directly, but have certainly inspired millions more. Her grassroots leadership has attracted recognition from global institutions like the Kofi Annan Foundation and drawn partnerships that reflect the power of mission-driven trust.

She’s not just building a movement. She’s building futures.

Want to support Excelsior Academy? 

Visit somosexcelsioracademy.com or follow Shirley’s work on social media to learn more.

Find Shirley Santana Herrera’s personal accounts here:

Instagram: @shirsantanaherrera

LinkedIn:  Shirley Santana Herrera

And follow Excelsior Academy for the latest news! 

Instagram: @_excelsior_academy

LinkedIn:  Excelsior Academy

TikTok: @excelsior.academy180