Brittany Merrill Underwood
Brittany Merrill Underwood has made an extraordinary impact through her dedication over the past 12 years to transform the lives of impoverished women and families through the Akola Project. She was named the ‘Best Person in the World” by Yahoo in 2014 and was honored by clothing manufacturer Levi as one of 50 women around the globe who've changed the political, cultural, spiritual shape of the future. She was awarded the Emerging Leader Award from SMU in 2013, the Young Leader Award from Dallas Women’s Foundation in 2014, and awarded a silver medal from the Business & Interfaith Peace Award given by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation in Rio. She's been featured on the likes of the Katie Couric Show, CNN’s Young People who Rock, Fox Business and Modern Luxury. In 2014, she was asked to join the mentoring class for the Laura Bush Women’s Initiative and joined the faculty of Southern Methodist University as an adjunct professor in 2015 where she teaches on social innovation.