People Empowering People: Ellen DeGeneres

At first glance, many people think of Ellen DeGeneres from her prized talk show "The Ellen Show," or recognize her for being one of the first celebrities to declare herself as openly gay on television. Maybe you know her from all the free gifts she gives audience members at her shows. Overall, Ellen's boldness and call for change inspires millions of people to become a more authentic version of themselves to share with the people around them. What most viewers don't recognize Ellen for is for her empowering yet simple viewpoint of "spreading kindness." Time and time again, Ellen has called people out for their ignorance, but instead of shaming them, she educated and helped them see a different viewpoint. In 2017, Ellen partnered with Cheerios to share her message of spreading kindness. To do this, they encouraged viewers worldwide to participate in doing one million acts of good by submitting photos online and using the hashtag, #GoodGoesRound. A year after the campaign began, Ellen had a special show where every member in her audience was making a difference in the world by sharing good. She ended up giving the entire audience one million dollars to thank them for their acts of kindness.

My favorite thing about Ellen is that she celebrates ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Celebrities are often praised for their philanthropies and for their acts of goodness, but not many average citizens are congratulated for their acts of good work. Ellen never shares their glory, but generously gives them the kindness that they deserve. Kindness is such a simple and easy thing to give to others, and sadly it is getting harder and harder to see people authentically being kind to one another. That is why having people like Ellen are so important in today's age, because the media can be negative and dark. Through Ellen's generosity and strive for change, we are headed back towards positivity and light.

In honor of her constant giving and steadfast courage, President Barack Obama awarded Ellen the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. This medal is the highest award a civilian can receive, and is given to people who have made extraordinary efforts to impact world peace, culture, and other national interests. And there is none more deserving than Ellen to receive this award.

May we all take a page out of Ellen's book, and empower others to make the good go round by spreading acts of kindness each and every day.