Meet Edie Young

We recently connected with Edie Young and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Edie , you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?

My generosity comes from my love of volunteering and wanting to help others. Ever since I was young, I found joy in giving my time and energy to support those around me. At 12, I noticed how difficult it was for my fellow artists to find support, so I started a community called *We Are Artistic*. What began as a small Facebook group with friends and family soon grew into an Instagram and Google Classroom with a handful of volunteers.

Looking for ways to fulfill my 100-hour requirement for DCPS, I discovered card-making for kids in hospitals. Inspired by a close friend who grew up in and out of hospitals, I introduced card-making events through *We Are Artistic*. Even when challenges arose, like losing our Instagram account, I refused to give up. I cold-emailed WUSA9 during my sophomore year, and to my surprise, they responded and engaged with our work.

By my junior year in 2024, *We Are Artistic* became fiscally sponsored by Hack Club and achieved 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. Today, we have volunteers across the country, continuing to spread creativity and kindness.

Generosity doesn’t have to be complicated, it can be as simple as giving someone a compliment or donating a can to the food bank. Every act of kindness matters.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m a college student going to Salisbury University hoping to become an aspiring special education teacher. I’m currently studying elementary education with a minor in special education.

Growing up with multiple mental health challenges and learning and chronic disabilities such as POTS with an IEP, I have firsthand experience with the importance of support.

I have also witnessed the powerful impact teachers can have, which inspired me to want to help others facing similar struggles.As a future teacher, what I believe is that no child deserves to be yelled at out of anger. If I’m having big feelings, I’ll pause the lesson, take a break, or ask my para or another teacher to step in.

I’ll let students know what’s going on so they understand that it’s normal to feel overwhelmed sometimes and that adults can model healthy ways to handle those moments.I believe mistakes shouldn’t just be considered okay; they should be encouraged. Mistakes are part of learning, and I want students to feel proud of trying, even when things don’t go perfectly. I’ll celebrate mistakes and the growth that comes from them. That’s how we learn.

My classroom won’t just be challenging; it’ll be safe, loving, and welcoming. I want students to feel like they belong, like they’re cared for, and like they can be themselves. That means creating a space where they feel emotionally supported, not just academically pushed.

Outside of school I lead the organization I founded called We Are Artistic. We Are Artistic is a youth-led organization for artists, people who appreciate art, and those who are artistic. We support artists in a variety of ways, including artist support posts, features, collabs, and more. We also help artists connect with one another by making it simple for them to do so, such as through our Discord. We host in-person events around the DMV and virtual events.

I also regularly engage with school organizations such as the Best Buddies chapter at my school. I have a peer buddy that I regularly text. I really enjoy Best Buddies. Inclusion matters to me because I believe everyone deserves to have a space they can feel safe to unwind in and be themselves in.

I also regularly attend protests and work to protect democracy, as it’s important to me that everyone has rights! We all are human. I truly don’t understand the hate towards certain groups of people.

Lastly, I babysit. I want families to have reliable and emotionally safe care. To be an emotionally safe babysitter, I decided to take a trauma-informed care course. My focus is on giving children a safe, welcoming, and creative space to learn and grow into amazing people. crafts, baking, encouraging independent time, and outings when appropriate. I’m firm but kind and will work with parents on any challenges their child may have. I have always enjoyed kids.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I would say the three skills most impactful are community organizing cause learning community organizing allowed me to bring people together under a common cause, communication cause I had to learn how to communication In way that others understand stood and advocacy cause I used my advocacy skills to advocate for others.

To develop skills I would recommend taking a course or simply doing trial and error cause it’s okay if your skills aren’t perfect skills don’t develop over night.

For anyone thinking of starting a school club or nonprofit, know that it takes time. I wasn’t able to build We Are Artistic overnight. Don’t give up just because one thing doesn’t go well, and don’t be afraid to cold‑email people, reaching out can open doors you never expected.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

One challenge I’m facing is finding new babysitting clients. To overcome it, I’ve been consistently advertising and putting myself out there on Facebook and babysitting apps. I remind myself that finding the right families takes time. I’ve also been taking more trainings to strengthen my portfolio, show parents my commitment, and equip myself with the knowledge to provide the best care possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.weareartistic.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareartisticgroup?igsh=MTVudGpvbHFkNGN2Mw==
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edinafyoung?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Other: https://edinasbabysitting.wixsite.com/babysittingsite