15 years old from Miami, Florida
Zoe Terry
Zodiac Sign: Libra
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Favorite Food: Kung Salad
What is their mission/cause? Helping girls of color realize their self-worth.
How is she doing it? Zoe collects and distributes dolls along the African American, Hispanic, and Caribbean spectrum to girls in need in order to inspire self-love for girls of all skin tones.
Fun Fact: She is mesmerized by sand.
Inspirational quote: “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, I’m possible.”
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Date of recording: May 27, 2022
Zoe has made major accomplishments at a very young age. At fifteen, she founded and became the CEO of Zoe's Dolls. She had the ambition to start her own non-profit company that promoted equality and self-love for young girls of all races and ethnicities. Walking down the toy aisle, Zoe recalls that she never saw a doll that represented her skin tone, hair texture, or the true essence of a black girl. When Zoe was only 6 years old, she wanted to buy dolls of color to donate to girls who did not have that representation. Since Zoe began donating dolls of color, she has given away over 50,000 dolls in seven different countries! Zoe hopes that by donating dolls, she can make others realize that beauty comes from your contributions to the world, not from your skin tone.
About Zoe
By Molly E. Sandwell
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Zoe Terry is a girl who has been making a powerful
amount of change from a very young age. Fifteen-
year-old Zoe Terry is the Founder and CEO of Zoe’s
Dolls, a non-profit organization that inspires self-love
for girls of color and brings dolls to little girls all over
the world.
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The concept behind Zoe’s Dolls began right before
Zoe’s 6th birthday. Zoe asked friends and family to
buy dolls, especially along the African American,
Hispanic and Caribbean spectrum, so that Zoe could
donate them to little girls who needed toys for Christmas.
Why did Zoe specifically request dolls of color?
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Zoe officially founded her organization at the age of five in Miami, Florida. In the years since she has been spreading self-love and empowering girls of color both domestically and internationally. Her mission remains strong: to let Brown and Black girls know that they are special, beautiful, and important, regardless of what anyone may say.
In pursuing her mission, Zoe has traveled to both Africa and India to distribute dolls to girls in need.
“When I was giving out dolls,” Zoe reflected on her experience in an orphanage in India, “the girls were surprised that I hugged them because of the caste system they have in India. The beauty standard there is that if you’re darker, you’re not beautiful.”
Zoe described the experience as very emotional.
“In India, colorism is horrible there,” Zoe explained. “No one on
the billboards reflect the people that live in India.” Consequently,
seeing dolls that reflected these young girls' image and having
people hug and accept them was incredibly impactful.
Today, Zoe continues to bolster her message of diversity and
inclusion, hosting events, and speaking publicly about the
importance for little girls of color to see themselves
represented authentically.
Ten years since beginning her doll-donation journey, Zoe has given out over 50,000 dolls in seven different countries, inspiring self-worth and confidence in Black and Brown girls around the world.
Currently, Zoe persists in taking a stand against bullying, misogyny, and viewpoints that are, as she describes, “holding girls back and holding girls down.” Her message not only pertains to realizing your outer beauty but recognizing your inner strength as well.
“Beauty comes from the contributions you make to
the world,” Zoe affirms. “No matter how you identify,
you’re beautiful within.”
Zoe continued, “Utilize your greatness. Understand
your worth. Understand your purpose. Understand
that you are going somewhere in life. Don’t let what
people say limit your view and what you can do,
because if you really have that mentality that you
can do anything, then you can do anything.”
We here at Zhive emphatically agree.
You can learn more about Zoe’s mission and her organization Zoe’s Dolls here.
The school Zoe attends is predominantly white; she recounted that as a child, almost no one looked like her. At a young age, Zoe was bullied by her classmates for the texture of her hair and the color of her skin. Her mother encouraged her not to be angry, but to channel this energy into bettering her world so other girls of color would not have to experience similar pain. It was then that Zoe realized Brown and Black girls needed to see themselves reflected more in order to raise their self-esteem.
Zoe further explained in an interview with EveryGirl, “receiving a doll that reflects your image, especially in a time where your image is often looked down upon or isn’t celebrated as it should be – receiving a doll that reflects your image is so impactful.”
As a child, Zoe didn’t recall seeing herself
adequately represented in the doll aisle. She
didn’t see dolls that reflected her, her hair texture,
or her skin tone. The majority of dolls were very
generic looking – they had the same hair, the same
body, and other features as the White dolls, just
with darker skin tones.
“I don’t think that really captures the beauty of
Black people and Black girls,” Zoe explained.
There’s a disconnect in the toy industry, she stated,
which doesn't “capture the essence of a Black girl.”
Zoe summed it up: “I didn’t see beauty within the
doll because the doll didn’t look like me.”
“It was a problem,” Zoe declared, “and I think that was another one of the reasons why I needed to start Zoe’s Dolls.”
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