Did you know that May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month? It’s a special time to appreciate the immense cultural contributions of this group to our world, and to continue our fight for social equity, understanding, and compassion.
Through our collaboration with the National Council of Nonprofits, I had the pleasure of speaking with Iris Cao, the Financial Director at Origami For Good. This nonprofit is youth-founded and run, with the goal of mailing origami creations and encouraging messages to nursing homes, elementary schools, hospitals, and other organizations in need of support.
Iris first learned about the organization via social media, which has been OFG’s most effective method for outreach and recruitment of its tech-savvy, primarily Gen Alpha volunteer base. Iris responded to a call from the executive team in 2024, began volunteering, and eventually became OFG’s financial director. She connected to the org’s mission of spreading a mindful artistic practice, as well as the cultural history behind it.
“Doing origami has always been a love of mine, especially doing it with my own grandparents,” she told me. “It’s also part of the Asian American identity I struggled with a lot as a child. Doing origami was kind of a way to connect with my own culture, as well as share it with my friends,” she added.
For Iris, OFG turned what had always been a labor of love, as well as an avenue for connection and mutual understanding, into an opportunity to give back to her community and beyond. “When I discovered this organization named Origami for Good, where I can actually transform that love into volunteering and helping out in the community, I was super interested in the opportunity of getting involved further with the organization.”
The founders and their mission
Origami for Good began with two 16-year-old founders, Thyra F. and Vivian L.. The mission statement is simple, but it represents the layers of meaning behind their work: “We are a youth-led nonprofit that transforms discarded paper into origami shared with soldiers, youth, seniors, and patients, promoting sustainability while inspiring creativity and appreciation for Japanese art and culture.” The org promotes environmentalism through its use of recycled paper, and it has also launched “Origami for the Environment,” a video series that teaches origami and raises awareness of issues such as sustainability, wildlife conservation, and ocean protection.
The website’s About page shares founder Thyra’s struggle with anxiety, and how making origami for friends helped her feel a greater sense of purpose and connection. Iris had a similar story. She explained, “Towards the beginning of [2024], I had a lot of mental health struggles, especially with adjusting to high school, adjusting to a new environment. As well as a lot of loneliness, especially as an Asian American girl within my own community.”
Things started to change when she got involved with OFG. “Folding origami, and especially joining this entire community of origami lovers, has really helped me find connection that I can’t really get elsewhere.” Finding like-minded community isn’t always possible without the help of a greater connecting network—both Thyra and Iris live in Michigan, but they would never have met without getting involved in OFG.
Social media and youth outreach
One of the most impressive parts of OFG is that it’s an entirely youth-led initiative. Iris shared, “Thyra and Vivian, as well as myself, we’ve all had experiences trying to contribute to our community while we’re young. We personally know all the different obstacles, from actually getting recognition, or getting legitimacy and validation in more adult-dominated spaces.”
Now, they’re creating specific leadership roles in the organization to get more young people involved. She shared, “We’re opening up different internship positions for other youth to gain marketing or outreach experience, as well as expanding to international youth, where we get to help others who may not have the same access to resources as [we do] within the US.”
International impact
In just two years of operation, OFG has managed to expand internationally as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with more than 300 chapters on six continents. Iris always seems to be thinking about the broader impact of her work, whether that’s creating educational programming about global environmental issues or showing others how to spread their own positive influence. And she is ready to expand OFG even further, acknowledging that social media and virtual programming are key to building a strong worldwide network.
“We want to expand to more international and maybe more rural areas, where youth don’t have access to environmental conservation knowledge and mental health knowledge,” she explained. “Especially because I know personally from living in a relatively smaller town how much isolation [there] can be. Being able to reach those students would be amazing to both [inspire] future leaders as well as [build] community.”
Leading with gratitude for all that the OFG community has given her, Iris is more than ready to galvanize other young changemakers. “I’m so honored to have the chance to share Origami For Good with the rest of the world, as well as expand our operations,” she told me. “We are capable of starting things and making change, and we at Origami For Good, really want to help others do that.”
Cultural appreciation and celebration
Last, but certainly not least, the OFG team is celebrating AAPI Heritage Month this May. “Celebrating AAPI culture is a really core part of our mission, and I think we’re looking forward to that. As well as sharing different aspects of [this] culture, and sharing different policy actions or volunteering that our youth can do, not only within the AAPI community, but also with allies standing in solidarity.”
Iris and her collaborators at Origami For Good are proving that you’re never too young to make a difference, in your community and far beyond it. (Did I mention she’s only 17 years old?) The future of nonprofits in the US is looking a lot brighter with passionate and dedicated folks like Iris Cao at the helm.
This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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