In a series of stories, AL.com will continue to explore big ideas for transforming Birmingham – ideas, programs and initiatives aimed at making the city stronger, more prosperous, better educated and safer than it is today.

Camden Pierce said she remembers packing food bags alongside her older brother for people in need during the COVID pandemic, when many were at their most vulnerable to financial hardships.

Pierce is the co-founder of the Recursion Program’s Young Leaders Board, a nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and homelessness through community service and educational development. Pierce said she hopes to lead the next generation to serve their communities and end poverty in Birmingham.

“As a younger kid, it really helped me with developing my empathy and my compassion. Feeling good about doing service and giving at such a young age really just fulfilled me and helped me to find my purpose,” Pierce told AL.com.

Pierce has been tackling poverty throughout Birmingham since she was 10 years old.

Now, at age 15, Pierce is continuing that work by bridging the gap between youth and Birmingham residents in need.

About 100 students from schools around the city, including A.H. Parker, Hoover, Spain Park and Mountain Brook high schools, have participated on the Young Leaders Board since its inception in 2020.

“The youth that work alongside me are always surprised by how great it feels to volunteer, how much impact a few hours can make in the lives of others and how much power we have as young people to bolster and change the trajectory of our communities,” Pierce said.

“There is always an eagerness to do more after my peers have opportunities to serve, which is the whole point. I want young people to determine and develop their own service passions so they will engage in service in their communities for the rest of their lives.”

A life of service: ‘We are all equals’

Pierce said she learned early on that she and her family were no different from the people they served.

During a Thanksgiving food drive, Pierce’s father recognized a man he grew up with among the people they were serving. Pierce said the interaction made her realize just how vulnerable anyone can be to financial hardships.

“I want people to know that it’s not just because of bad choices that drives people into the cycle of poverty. Life just comes at you fast. It can be losing your job, maybe you got sick and your insurance won’t cover it. It really can be anything,” Pierce said.

“I don’t want people to look down on those individuals because we are all equals.”

Poverty is a complex issue that 25.2% of Birmingham residents are currently facing, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Raphael Pierce, Camden’s father, said he and his wife instilled lessons of faith and service in their children early because of the modest means they came from.

“We wanted our kids to understand the intricate link between glorifying and showing gratitude to God, and helping others less fortunate,” Raphael Pierce said.

“While we grew up in loving, faithful homes, neither Staci or I were raised in families of means. We saw first-hand the hard choices families made on a day-to-day basis to keep moving forward for the sake of future generations.”

Camden’s mother, Staci Pierce, founder of the Recursion Program, said she and her husband have always talked to their children about the persistent stigma people in poverty endure and the importance of service.

“It was amazing to us that when they got to a certain age, they went from tagging along to wanting to lead and have their own stake and push it forward,” Staci Pierce said.

“Bringing the idea of trying to tackle the things that cause poverty, like illiteracy, the prison complex, food insecurity, down to their age, and then teaching their peers, that’s how we move the world forward.”

Pierce and her older brother, Riley, created the Young Leaders Board to bring the work of the Recursion Program to their peers at Altamont, a local 5-12 grade private school.

“We really wanted to get our friends to be involved in service, because it really made us feel really good and fulfilled, like it was our purpose, and we knew that it would also help others,” Pierce said.

Beth Dille, director of the C. Kyser Miree Ethical Leadership Center, a leadership program at Altamont, teaches her students about how to lead ethically by understanding effective communication skills, implicit biases and the importance of service.

Dille said more of her students are eager to participate in community service since Pierce became a student in her class.

Every month, Pierce volunteers alongside her peers at food drives to give out warm meals and hand out care packages to people who are homeless. She also regularly cooks and serves breakfast at First Light, a local homeless shelter for women and children.

“She brings a lot of hope. I’ve worked with her for almost four years now, her motives are very pure, and that gives me hope for the future,” Dille said. “She’s a really good leader without even trying…She’s creating space for connections to be made, not for herself, but for other people.”

Pierce has worked to bring experts in literacy, prisons and poverty to talk to her classmates about the root causes of homelessness.

One of those experts was Ruth Anne Moss, executive director of Small Magic, a nonprofit working to improve literacy across Birmingham. Pierce is a member of the Small Magic advisory board to raise awareness about how illiteracy contributes to poverty.

“I’m really, really grateful for the ways that Camden‘s taking space and sharing her voice and her perspective and making her community the kind of place that she wants to live,” Moss said.

Pierce also conducted a poverty simulation workshop with Alabama Possible, a nonprofit working to break economic barriers, which put the Altamont students in the shoes of people facing financial hardship.

Pierce said it was important for her classmates to learn these lessons and step out of their comfort zones because many of them come from upper-class homes and families.

“Taking those lessons to a community that’s more privileged, like kids that go to private school and live in very rich neighborhoods, I feel like everybody just got a different perspective, and really tapped into the Recursion Program and bought into the idea of service,” Pierce said.

She said the list to sign up to participate in service projects fills up faster every time.

Pierce’s work throughout the community has also received national recognition.

In March, Pierce earned a spot at the Disney Dreamers Academy where she and 99 other teens with big ideas received mentorship, skills training and inspiration from celebrities, scientists, music producers and other renowned leaders who encouraged them to continue being changemakers in their own communities.

“The Disney Dreamers Academy opened my eyes to so many possibilities. It expanded my thoughts around future career horizons, fueled my pursuit of creative passions, encouraged and validated my compassion for others and left me with high optimism for the future of my generation and our ability to have a great impact on it,” Pierce said.

What’s next for the Recursion Program: ‘Change the world’

Pierce said she wants people to know that they do not have to be wealthy to make a difference in their communities.

“People think that you have to have money, or that you have to be important or that you have to have a savior complex. Sometimes it’s just very difficult for younger people to get into it due to not being taken seriously,” Pierce said.

“That’s why I want to educate people about it and get the next generation to step into service roles to show them that you can do it, and you don’t have to donate millions of dollars to actually see an impact.”

Pierce is working to launch a ‘Social Capital Pledge’ where people from all walks of life commit their time – instead of money – to making a difference.

Pierce said she is utilizing the relationships she has developed through the Recursion Program to create a supply and demand service model where she maps the needs of regional charitable organizations – the demand, and the charitable desires of pledgers – the supply.

While the popular ‘Giving Pledge’ targets billionaires to donate their wealth to make positive change, as a teenager with limited means, Pierce said she wanted to make giving back more inclusive.

“I want to attract adults and teenagers from all walks of life to share time, connections, energy and talent with others,” Pierce said.

“Ultimately, I just hope the Social Capital Pledge encourages everyone to take a stand to make this world just a little more generous, joyous and hopeful.”

The Social Capital Pledge will be a public, moral commitment to positively improve communities through volunteerism, donation or mentorship in which pledgers will leverage their expertise and social networks to create opportunities for others, she said. Pierce hopes to launch the Social Capital Pledge in Fall 2025.

“It’s for people who just have time to give and have spirit and passion for service. I think that’ll help make service itself more inclusive,” she said.

Pierce said she wants people of all ages, incomes and backgrounds to work alongside one another to make a change.

Pierce has big dreams for the future of Birmingham.

“I hope to get my peers engaged with helping stop the cycle of poverty,” Pierce said. “My focus is on getting the next generation ready for service.”

She said that by inspiring people her age to step into service roles, she believes her generation can help to end poverty in Birmingham and beyond.

“I really think that Camden is the kind of young woman that’s going to change the world,” Moss said. “And we are lucky to be working in a community led by young people. I think that all of us would do better to listen to young people more often.”