Jake Dong at the UN Headquarters, February 2025, after speaking at the ECOSOC Forum’s SDG 3 session on Good Health and Well-being.
When Jake Dong lost his starting spot on the football team for the first time since third grade during his sophomore year, it felt like the end of a dream. A former starter known for his grit on the field, Jake had to watch from the sidelines, disappointed but not defeated. For many teens, such a setback might have become a defining limitation. But for Jake, it lit a fire. One year later, through tireless training, early-morning drills, and a relentless belief in himself, he earned his starting spot back as a junior.
Inspired by his personal growth through sports, he wanted kids to benefit from the same life lessons—resilience, teamwork, and confidence—while also learning tools for overall well-being. That desire became the backbone of a global mission: Radiant Kids Global, the youth-led NGO Jake founded in November 2023 to educate both children and young adults worldwide on physical health, mental wellness, and self-expression.
The Spark of a Movement
Radiant Kids Global began with a bold vision and a harsh reality. Jake wanted kids to have better tools to understand and manage their health and emotions, but schools didn’t want to partner. “We faced rejection after rejection,” he said. “Emails got ignored, meetings got canceled. Some administrators didn’t think kids could grasp what we were trying to teach.”
So Jake did what he had learned to do: he showed up in person.
“Going into schools with our slides and curriculum and pitching to principals face-to-face—it was nerve-wracking,” he recalled. “But eventually, they started listening.”
What started with a single school partnership snowballed. With each new classroom, the curriculum grew sharper. Jake and his team—composed of volunteers and peers—iterated through trial and error. “Our early sessions weren’t perfect,” he admitted. “But every time we improved, and eventually we developed a model that really worked.”
A Global Footprint
Today, Radiant Kids Global is not just a local project—it’s a global initiative. With active partnerships across over 100 schools and serving more than 7,500 children, the NGO has established a visible footprint in health education for young learners worldwide. Its summer camps, hosted in partnership with wellness organizations like Active Discovery OC, have become hubs for joyful learning and creative expression.
The curriculum has evolved to address the full spectrum of health, encompassing physical fitness and nutrition, body image, and mental health. Students don’t just sit through lectures—they participate, reflect, and grow. Whether it’s learning how to identify emotional triggers, developing healthier habits, or understanding the importance of community, Radiant Kids Global fosters change from the inside out.
Jake’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. The organization was named LA’s Top Youth Empowerment NGO and OC’s Top Children’s Wellness Program, distinctions that recognize both the impact and innovation of his leadership. His advocacy has taken him to prestigious stages, including the United Nations ECOSOC Forum in February 2025, where he presented his work and connected with global leaders from the UN and the World Health Assembly. Impressed with his resolve, the WHO Youth Council recruited Jake to fundraise to enable delegate participation in its 78th iteration of the World Health Assembly, held in May 2025. Continuing with his efforts to democratise health, Jake was invited to participate in the Federation of African Medical Students’ Association Global Assembly in July 2025 to lead the drafting of the Youth Declaration and share his inspirational success story of Radiant Kids.
From Grassroots to Global Policy
Jake is not simply building an NGO—he’s shaping the future of public health policy. His growing expertise in the field is grounded in practice, but also supported by academic inquiry. Outside his nonprofit work, Jake serves on the Junior Board of Active Discovery, contributing to marketing and kit development for wellness programming. He’s also interning with the Newport-Mesa Board of Education, supporting a board member with election campaigns, public events, and youth-centered initiatives.
His passion in public policy and public health is now evolving into a formal paper that grapples with the intersection between geography and health equity in the US. “Kids need more than facts—they need frameworks that make healthy choices intuitive and rewarding,” he says.
The Vision Ahead
Jake’s vision doesn’t end with the 7,500 kids already impacted. It’s just the beginning. His goal is to scale Radiant Kids Global into underserved regions across Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa, adapting the curriculum to local contexts while retaining its core values. He wants to advocate for the inclusion of emotional and mental wellness in school curricula worldwide—not as an optional module, but as a foundational component of a child’s education.
As he looks ahead, Jake sees Radiant Kids Global not just as an NGO, but as a movement— one driven by the youth, for the youth. His story is a testament to the power of perseverance, the clarity of purpose, and the belief that one teenager, armed with empathy and vision, can transform systems that once seemed too vast to challenge.
From losing his football spot to standing on international stages, Jake Dong exemplifies what it means to turn a personal challenge into global change. His playbook? Resilience, relentless drive, and radiant hope for the next generation.
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