Destiny W.

Background

About Destiny W.

Destiny Watson, a South Suburban native, founded her nonprofit organization, You Matter 2, at the age of 16 in 2014 with the initial desire to get her peers involved in service. What started off as an after-school service club, led her to receive a full-ride scholarship to any college of her choice from Magic Johnson, it was then that she realized she could do a lot more. Today, 8 years later, You Matter 2 provides South Suburban youth and families with opportunities to develop leaders and engage communities. The organization serves 6th-12th grade students by providing them with the opportunity to engage in service-learning, mindfulness, social justice projects with a focus on advancing racial equity, and life skills, such as financial literacy and entrepreneurship. Destiny is a proud alumna of Homewood-Flossmoor High School and the University of Dayton where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Human Rights Studies and a Minor in Entrepreneurship. Destiny recently graduated from North Park University with her Master’s in Nonprofit Administration. Destiny was awarded and named as Dayton’s 2022 10 under 10 alumni who have embodied the “Learn, Lead, Serve” mentality by making a positive impact on their community and achieving success in their calling. She was also awarded WDB’s 2022 Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Destiny has organized several community events to raise awareness for hunger, education, racial injustice, clean water, and more. She has also orchestrated events that distributed free school supplies, collected over 900 non-perishable items for Respond Now, facilitated after-school programs, as well as organized the inaugural Homewood-Flossmoor Juneteenth Festival. Destiny believes it is important to invest time into youth to tap into their innate potential. She strives to provide youth in her community with opportunities to experience a world beyond their community. Destiny has dedicated her life not only to youth, but to advocating for justice, and increasing the cultural and social awareness of her community. It is her hope to expand You Matter 2 into a teen community center to provide free after-school and summer programming and experiences for youth and families in her community. She has had many people invest in her life in many ways and aims to be that source for others.