Every child is a star, and they are filled with exceptional creative ideas. You would only be amazed at the wonder children can create and perform. So many young kids in the world today are prodigies, and Zuriel Oduwole is one. 

At the age of 9, she made a short documentary on the Ghana revolution, got her first entire feature documentary film at age 12 and became the youngest person in the world to be featured in Forbes Magazine at age 10 in 2013.

Zuriel Oduwole was born in Los Angeles, California, to a Nigerian Father, Mr Ademola Oduwole, and a Mauritanian Mother, Mrs Patricia Oduwole, in July 2002. Often referred to as the youngest filmmaker, she considers herself a Pan-African child.

She rose to stardom from what started years ago as a school documentary-making competition with a film about the Ghana revolution, which led to many other documentary films screened in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ghana, Nigeria and Japan. 

Zuriel is a Girl Education Advocate who speaks to high-ranked officials, students, and youths about the importance of girl education, showing what an educated girl can do and why it is essential to educate a girl child using herself as an example. She has spoken to over 47,250 people in over 18 countries. The countries she has visited include the UK, Mexico, USA. Ethiopia, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, Nigeria, and others.

Zuriel is also regarded as an Advocate for Climate Change. At the 71st United Nations [UN] General Assembly events held in New York in September 2016, she gave a speech on how the effects of climate change significantly affect the education of children in the Pacific Islands region. She has spoken with dignitaries like the Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuvalu, and Jamaica about climate-related problems in the Caribbean region. 

With a session with Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama of Fiji, Zuriel was asked to use her documentaries to share the challenges of children in the pacific islands to the world due to rising floodwaters.

Zuriel has met with 31 Presidents and Prime Ministers to discuss global policy issues. In 2014 she was considered the youngest filmmaker in the world at age 12, having her self-produced movie premiered in a commercial cinema and is the youngest person in the world at age 10 to be featured in Forbes Magazine in 2013.

Other notable feats she has achieved are;

• Most Powerful 11 Year Old in the world in April 2014​ – New York Business Insider
• Africa’s 100 Most Influential People of 2013, at age 11 – New Africa Magazine.
• 33 Women Who Changed The World – ELLE Canada 2015

With other notable achievements, Zuriel Oduwole continues to be a trailblazer and contributes her quota towards making girl child education a reality in different countries. She is a source of inspiration to many students and girls alike. 

Want to read more about kids doing inspiring stuff out there? See A Campaign For Tolerance – Jaylen’s Challenge