✨ June 2025 Essay Contest: Bold Ideas. Brave Voices. Real Change.

emilialun
Oct 25
2 min read

Every season, Swiss Venture Girls celebrates young changemakers who dare to think boldly and act with purpose. Our June 2025 Essay Contest invited girls from around the world to share one bold idea that could make a real difference, in their schools, communities, or beyond.

The result? Dozens of inspiring essays. Powerful visions. Courageous voices.And three winners whose ideas prove that leadership begins with a spark.

🥇 1st Place: A Local Food Loyalty Network – Elly Schnurman

Inspired by the vibrant streets of Jackson Heights, Queens, our first-place winner turned a simple observation into a powerful idea. While fast-food chains overflowed with customers, family-run restaurants sat nearly empty. Her solution: a Local Food Loyalty Network, a shared rewards system that allows neighborhood restaurants to collaborate, offer digital convenience, and keep their unique cultural identity alive.

This idea isn’t just about food. It’s about preserving stories, traditions, and communities in a world that often prioritizes speed over soul.

“Progress doesn’t have to mean replacing the old with the new. Sometimes, it just means making space for both.”

🥈 2nd Place: The Wall of Brave Tries – Anamika Jha

Our second-place winner reminded us that success isn’t the only story worth telling. Her idea, “The Wall of Brave Tries,” creates a space in schools where students and teachers can share their failures, rejections, and setbacks — not to glorify them, but to normalize them.

Through this wall, she envisions a culture where courage is celebrated as much as success, where vulnerability becomes strength, and where no one has to feel alone in their struggles.

“Sometimes the bravest thing isn’t winning. It’s trying again when you didn’t.”

🥉 3rd Place: She Lives Once – A Daughter’s Right to Dream – Anushka Rout

ur third-place winner shared a deeply moving essay inspired by real stories from her community. “She Lives Once: A Daughter’s Right to Dream” is a powerful stand against child marriage, gender inequality, and silenced dreams.

Through education, leadership programs, and advocacy, she is determined to break cycles of injustice and ensure that every girl has the right to learn, lead, and live freely.

“A bird born in a cage thinks flying is a crime. Let us break the cages.”

🌟 Why These Stories Matter

Each of these essays comes from a young woman who looked at the world around her and asked, “How can I make it better?” Their ideas are different — one protects culture through innovation, one builds strength through vulnerability, and one fights for justice and freedom.

But at their core, they all share something powerful: a belief that one voice can spark change.

At Swiss Venture Girls, we believe in giving that voice a platform.