Mary-Pat Hector

Mary-Pat Hector is an author, speaker, playwright and youth advocate. She is nationally recognized for initiating, at the age of 15, the Think Twice campaign to discourage youth violence. She raised enough money to place anti-gun messages targeted for teens on 45 billboards around Atlanta. She received a Peace First Prize fellowship and grant to support her work. She is also national youth director for National Action Network, a leading civil rights organization founded by Reverend Al Sharpton, and a youth leader for Usher’s New Look Foundation, which honored her with its 2014 Global Leadership Youth Leadership Award. She was recognized for her community service by President Barack Obama.