We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Camille Campbell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m an award-winning author and founder of the nonprofit Rising Poets Community. As a young author, I’m extremely passionate about creating writing programs for students and helping other writers pursue their dreams.
After publishing the picture book “Her Poems: Women Poets Who Changed the World,” teachers and parents wrote to me saying how the activities in the book had inspired children to write poems. Even kindergarten teachers told me that they were surprised when their young students wrote poems—something well above their grade level. I realized how poetry was a universal form of art that could positively impact people around the world.
My experience of publishing Her Poems inspired me to open up the nonprofit Rising Poets Community, which aims to empower rising poets of all ages to share their voices by writing poetry.
Since opening the nonprofit, I’ve had the privilege of reading poetry by writers from different countries. One initiative on the blog is a translation series of poems written in Ukrainian language and published in English. As someone with Ukrainian heritage, I feel a calling to share voices of Ukrainian writers with an international audience. Highlighting diverse voices and raising awareness of important issues through art has become very important to me.
As a Youth Ambassador at She’s the First, I’m currently working with my team to create a campaign called “Power of Poetry” that will publish poems by girls around the world. We hope that this campaign will give girls a platform to be heard and remind them that their words have value.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I would say some qualities that have helped me have been persistence, creativity, and openness to trying new things. Whether it be in writing, art, or the nonprofit sector, I’ve learned the importance of persevering and being open to different opportunities. Even projects that didn’t work out have taught me something and helped me with future projects. Everything I’ve done has been a learning experience—the more I’ve put myself out there, the more I continue to grow as a person.
My advice to others would be to work on what you’re most passionate about and ask yourself what you’d regret *not* doing. Oftentimes, fear can hold people back from pursuing the goals they care the most about and want to achieve. Even if you’re afraid or unsure if you’ll succeed, still try to put yourself out there, meet new people, and expand your horizons. Most importantly, stay true to yourself and your vision. When you put your heart into your work, that is the surest path to success.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
The most impactful thing both of my parents have done for me has been giving me a loving environment and instilling me with the values of giving back to others. My mom is a very giving person and always offers a helping hand to others. She has both inspired me to pursue my dreams without fear of failing and also encouraged me to find ways to help others. Whether I’m coming up with an initiative at She’s the First as a Youth Ambassador or at the UN Refugee Agency, I will always ask her opinion on ways I can help and raise awareness about important topics. Together, we have come up with ways to support Ukraine in this trying times of the war through activism efforts. Fun fact: every book I’ve written has been dedicated to her!
Contact Info:
- Website: camillescampbell.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camillescampbell/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camille-campbell-aaa3b91b8/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoryTellingCSC
