Madelyn Clark

youth advisor, Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Madelyn Clark is a vibrant 17-year-old from Mechanicsville, Virginia. She is a member of the Youth Advisory Board to the Alliance for a New Generation’s empowerME initiative. The Alliance for a Healthier Generation is a partnership between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation to fight one of the nation's leading health threats – childhood obesity. EmpowerME gives young people tools to make healthy changes in their own lives, their schools and their communities. Clark is one of 25 youth selected after a national search for talented and motivated young people who can give feedback on the Alliances Kids’ movement programs and strategies, and generate new ideas to make healthy living the norm, not the exception. In her home community, Clark serves on the Hanover Youth Service Council. The Hanover Youth Service Council is made up of middle and high school students who conduct service projects in the community which have included a countywide school supplies drive for elementary school students in need and assisting with activities for disabled adults. She also serves on the Hanover Youth Perspective which is an organization of board-appointed middle and high school students that provides youth a more formal role in the county's planning and development process and an outlet to voice issues important to them, including plans of new parks, schools and libraries with the Hanover Planning Commission. In the summer, Clark uses her Red Cross lifeguard certification at Kings Dominion Theme Park and also participates in the junior volunteer program at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital. She is planning a career in the healthcare profession.