CULTURE

Amanda Gorman

For using poetry to create social change.

Amanda Gorman rocketed into public consciousness, stealing the show with a performance of her poem "The Hill We Climb" at President Biden's 2021 inauguration-in head-to-toe Prada and jewelry gifted by Oprah, no less. But she doesn't want that poem to be all she's known for. As amazing as the experience was, the now 26-year-old can't fathom having peaked at 22. "That is not the plan," she says with a laugh. In the years since, as she's published four books, she's worked to forge an identity beyond her splashy debut. "While I'll be eternally grateful for that opportunity, I am more than what I did that day," she says. "I am more than my most famous moment. I am all the moments, the light and the dark."

Right now, Gorman is basking in the light. She's moved out of her parents' house and into her own place, and is relishing the fact that her brain is now fully formed: "My frontal cortex is just like, 'Oh! Decision-making, executive functioning," she jokes.

Professionally, Gorman continues to use poetry to create social change, on her terms. As Estée Lauder's first-ever Global Changemaker, she's worked with Writing Change, a three-year, $3 million initiative to advance literacy through mentorship programs and creative writing workshops: "I feel like I've been able to take my philanthropic interest to another level." She hopes to promote literacy with her children's books, too. Her 2023 title, Something, Someday, encourages kids to enact change in their communities. "It's rewarding when you can write stories in which young people can see themselves and witness representation across a broad array of humanity," she says. "Writing so that children have a mirror to themselves felt more empowering than anything else."