Isabella Silva

Teen Matters
Founder

Isabella Silva is a 16-year-old student living in Johannesburg, South Africa. She attends Crimson Global Academy and is passionate about her community. Her hobbies include reading, singing and building puzzles.

At the age of 14, she began looking for ways to influence her community. After numerous conversations with teens and countless hours of research, she realized that young people lacked a support system.

She created the Instagram account @TEEN_MATTERS with one concept in mind: Support teenagers and provide them with the confidence they need to succeed. With over 20,000 followers, Teen Matters has become a space that empowers teenagers and fosters a positive outlook on their abilities, reminding them that although their teenage years are challenging, they are also filled with a lot of happiness and hope.

During the pandemic, @TEEN_MATTERS was receiving many messages from teenagers around the world where the biggest challenge they were facing was a lack of confidence, so Isabella used her problem solving and leadership skills to do something about it.

Isabella developed a motivational talk called "Confidence Matters" based on 6 guiding pillars to enhance youths self-esteem. In collaboration with the South African Police Department, she has delivered talks to over 3,000 teenagers in South Africa.

Her purpose is to inspire confidence and help young people recognize their self-worth; to help them recognize that regardless of their past, identity, beliefs or socio-economic status, they do have a future, they just need to be confident enough and navigate towards it. 

Looking ahead, Isabella wants to study sociology and later pursue a master's degree in law. She aims to use these skills to support future generations and underprivileged communities.