There are inspirational people from all parts of the world. We hear about the movie stars that adopt children from third world countries. We hear about rich people donating millions of dollars to worthy causes, but what do we hear about our Iron Range? Just because we don’t have the paparazzi flashing lights every time we do something good doesn’t mean that the things we do and the people we become should not go unnoticed. There are all kinds of unknown heroes who live on the Iron Range, or are from the Range. Whether we know it or not, we are surrounded by heroes. These heroes are tangible to us. They are our friends and neighbors. People we grew up with, people we went to high school with, people that we are still in school with, and even people we work with.

Reshma Pattni just so happens to be one of these inspirational people, so much so that Oprah Winfrey named her to her Top Womens Leaders in 2008. "I have many strong, inspiring, socially active women in my family who encouraged me to dream big. They enabled me to be involved with projects that extended beyond the reach of my small Minnesota town—and ultimately they made it possible for me to join a group of girls and women attending the UN’s 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing. Our group became the founders of Girls International Forum." Many of us may have never heard Reshma’s name. We might not know much about her, but she is one of us. She makes giving and becoming a better person trying to make a change for the better in the world seem more realistic.

worldaidscampaign.orgShe has devoted her life to making a difference and helping people. Reshma is the Program Director of the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA). As the Director of GYCA, she has raised funds and gotten support for her program. She also oversees the programs and activities as well as giving support to GYCA members.

Reshma graduated from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in 2006. She majored in psychology and was involved in many things such as being a Resident Assistant for first year students at the Women’s Resource Center. She also spent a lot of time working with girls through the Girls International Forum (GIF) program in South African and Jamaica during GIF’s International Girls Summit in 2006. Reshma loves to help youth and likes to change communities for the better all around the world.

Reshma is from the small city of Virginia, Minnesota, up on the Iron Range, a 2002 graduate of Virginia High School, and has made a large impact on our world. She has reached out past her small Iron Range community and out into the world. When we think that our actions are too small to make a difference or we think that we can’t do something or be something because of where we come from, we should look to Reshma and see all of the amazing things that she has done for other people. We should appreciate all that she has done for women and youth around the world. She is a truly inspiring woman.

Reshma is presently working in Brooklyn, New York and is currently at the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010), Vienna, Austria. The IAC is the premier gathering for those in the field of HIV, as well as policy makers, PLHIV and others committed to ending the pandemic.