Alumni spotlight: Samantha Wettje
2014 alumna helps kids break cycle of suffering
Samantha Wettje ’14 relates to children who have one or more parents struggling with addiction: feelings of anxiety and depression, not knowing where they come from or how to express them. Wettje was one of those kids, too.
It’s why she and her mother founded 16 Strong Project, a nonprofit enlightening young people about the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) while providing accessible resources. 16 Strong Project supports adolescents as they navigate difficult home lives and develop a healthier mindset.
The name is based on having 16 waking hours each day — assuming you get the recommended eight hours of sleep — and using the time to become the best possible self.
“I wanted to support youth who had gone through experiences like I had. When I was in graduate school, I learned about the term ‘adverse childhood experiences’ and that changed everything. It gave me language for what I had gone through.”
Wettje was one of 10 nonprofit leaders named a Woman of Worth by L’Oréal Paris. Each honoree received $25,000 to support their charities, mentorship from the company’s network and a national platform to tell their stories.
“The grant as well as the mentoring will allow us to provide more informational materials. We’ll be able to uplift the voices of more youth leaders, and get closer to our mission of ensuring all youth understand ACE and can recognize their situation while navigating the associated challenges.”
Wettje spends about 15 hours each week on this project while working for Morgan Stanley Community Affairs/The Morgan Stanley Foundation supporting employee volunteering and grant-making to nonprofit organizations. She says she is proud to have built 16 Strong Project from her own story of adversity, reaching more than 200,000 young people across America.