women changing the world

THESE 11 INNOVATORS, AND ROLE MODELS ARE MAKING A BIG DIFFERENCE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES AND BEYOND ACTIVISTS

- MELODY CHIU, JP MANGALINDAN, SONAL DUTT, ELIZABETH LEONARD, WENDY GROSSMAN KANTOR, EILEEN FINAN, ERIC ANDERSSON

Katy Perry & Angela Lerche

EMPOWERING KIDS FROM UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES THROUGH THE ARTS

She’s one of the bestselling musicians of all time, but Katy Perry has always dreamed of leaving a legacy beyond her No. 1 hits. In 2018 the pop star and American Idol judge, 39, launched the Firework Foundation—which hosts annual summer sleepaway camps and partners with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America year-round—with her older sister Angela Lerche, 41. “The arts gave me such a different perspective than the one I grew up in. It expanded my mind and gave me confidence,” says Perry, who was raised by strict Pentecostal parents in Santa Barbara.

Growing up, their family struggled financially. “We relate to [these kids] so much,” says Lerche, who serves as president of the foundation. Five years ago they welcomed the first group of middle schoolers to Camp Firework, where kids from underserved areas surrounding Santa Barbara participate in songwriting sessions, shoe design workshops and choreography classes.

“I’m up with them in the morning, and they’re throwing whipped cream on me in the evening,” says Perry. “The kids know me as the girl that sang ‘Roar’ or ‘Dark Horse,’ but I hope [by the end] they [think], ‘I too can live out my dreams like Katy Perry. She’s just like me, in a lot of goofy ways.’”