WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange High School freshman and international activist Marley Dias has been named to Time magazine’s list of “Top 25 Most Influential Teens of 2018.”
At age 13, Dias is the youngest teen named to the list. She was recognized for her 2015 #1000BlackGirlBooks initiative that provides books featuring black female protagonists. According to Time, books have been distributed to “more than 11,000 libraries, schools and community organizations around the world.”
Last year Dias partnered with Scholastic Books and released her first book, “Marley Gets It Done: And So Can You,” and is active in the GrassRoots Community Foundation founded by her mother, Janice Johnson-Dias. The organization promotes the growth and development of young women in leadership roles and the group recently met with Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey at “O” magazine headquarters in Manhattan.
Marley told Time that her goal is for children to “know that changing the world should not be something that feels imaginary, but something that you have the power to do today and always.”
Dias was also named to Ebony magazine’s Power 100 as a Community Crusader.
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