LIFE

Kylee Hamamoto, 17, is what we would call a total trailblazer. Besides being 1. ultra self-reliant and 2. fiercely independent herself, she was born ready to inspire other young girls to do the same. During lockdown, when she was only 13 (!), she founded her intensive feminist leadership program, We Go! Hawaii, from her bedroom.

All from behind her laptop, she led workshops on public speaking, hosted brainstorming seshes where participants could pitch ideas for volunteering initiatives and brought in motivational guest speakers to show girls all they could accomplish through developing their leadership skills. 

But it was Kylee’s goal all along to turn these virtual programs into active community service. Armed with her decisiveness and organizational expertise, Kylee’s made visible, on-the-ground change happen. She's learned that every girl has what it takes to become a leader, especially with the right support system behind her, and she's here to share the story behind WeGo!—plus the secret to entering your leader girl era. 

Girls' Life: When did you start WeGo! Hawaii?

Kylee Hamamoto: It's an initiative that I founded as an eighth grader. I had a lot of time on my hands, and I wanted to create a project that I could do during COVID-19 lockdown. 

I started by simply hosting these online meetings on Zoom with some classmates. Then we were able to bring in guest speakers from New York, Japan and California and also here in Hawaii from all different fields and all different backgrounds.

GL: Why did you decide to transform these Zoom convos into something bigger?

Kylee: I was able to see how it's really important to not only hear the stories of the women that we were hosting on these meetings or interviews, but also to take action. I wanted to use the advice they were giving and physically apply that [in real life]. So that sort of morphed into me developing a full-scale leadership program.

GL: Where'd you get the name for the organization?

Kylee: The name "WeGo" actually comes from my dad. Throughout my entire life, we would go on drives in his car together whenever I needed someone to talk to or support or reassurance—whether it was after a bad test score or school drama. These drives were his way to encourage me and to keep me going. The phrase that he would say before going was "We go." In a similar way, I hope that girls are able to feel the same sense of support when they hear those words.

@wego.hawaii

GL: What types of community service projects do you help girls kickstart?

Kylee: One example is that we've had a ton of girls who are interested in helping the environment. We're able to kind of consolidate that broad passion into something more on-the-ground. We were able to help our members create a beach cleanup organization in which they hold monthly beach cleanups here in Hawaii on different sides of the island.

GL: Any tips for building confidence as a leader—especially for girls who feel like more of a "follower"? 

Kylee: Natural confidence, I feel like, can be bred through passion. Talking about my initiative and my nonprofit and women empowerment is something that I'm really passionate about. So I'm confident, I'm articulate, I'm able to be able to publicly speak about it. That's what we're trying to promote: through finding your passion, you're really able to derive intrinsic motivation and confidence.

Check out Kylee's work and get involved in WeGo! Hawaii here! 

Plus, if you're already giving back to your community in a unique way,
learn more about becoming a Prudential Emerging Visionary like Kylee.

More stories from real-life girls that will leave you oh-so inspired:
💞 This teen entrepreneur started her own business—now she's sharing her best go-getter advice
💞 One girl designed her own mentoring app for foster youth and is making a *major* impact
💞 Teen activist Zoya Haq is making *big* changes to what she's learning in school...and you can too!

Top image: @wego.hawaii

by Madelon Basil | 11/4/2023