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AMY HANNA
COMMUNITY FOCUS | SHE
By Stacie Ball | Photo by Mollie Shutt
Six years ago, Amy Hanna sat at her kitchen table with two friends, $400 and a dream to build a stronger community by empowering teens. She didn’t know she was about to become a founder of the RespectTeam, a non-profit that would reach over 40,000 youth across more than 40 middle and high schools. The message is simple:“Respect Yourself, Respect Others, and Respect All,” but the meaning is paramount. “We wanted to help teens see their value and see that others are also valuable even if they think or look differently or come from a different background,” Hanna explained. “Even though our message is simple, if our youth could learn how to respect themselves and others, they would grow into adults who knew how to respect themselves and others, and our community would be positively impacted.” Another driving force for creating RespectTeam was Hanna’s own pain from her teenage years. Her feelings of loneliness and hopelessness could have ruled her, but she chose to harness them to connect with others. RespectTeam strives to educate students at no cost. They have given over $20,000 in scholarships, empowered 30 youth to share their story at TeenSpeak, connected more than 700 students to counseling resources, and impacted over 1,000 listeners through the RespectTeam Podcast for parents. Plans are in the works to expand the curriculum to colleges and universities in the fall. Hanna’s work does not stop with RespectTeam. She is also the Chairperson of The Greater Fort Wayne Inc. Women’s Network. “Our vision is to provide a space where ALL individuals and organizations are embraced and unified,” Hanna explained. “We believe that we ALL belong, and that together, we can make our community stronger.” While earning her degree in Elementary Education at Ball State University, she met her husband, Jesse Hanna, and together they have two teenage daughters. She has been a Mary Kay Consultant for 16 years, a swim instructor for 26 years, and she owns and runs two online clothing businesses: @ClassySassyVintageThrift and @ ClassySassyBoutiqueThrift. Learn more RespectTeam by visiting respectteam.com. a
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| APRIL GLO 2021 |
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