Alyson Stoner has been working since she was six years old.
The little girl in pigtails who danced her way into the spotlight through a handful of Missy Elliot music videos graduated from background dancer to Disney star, amassing roles on popular shows like That’s So Raven and Phineas and Ferb before even finishing high school. The young star’s hectic schedule continues today as she juggles filming two new movies and releasing new music as well as her philanthropy work in Ethiopia—and she loves it.
“I find myself feeding off the chaos because it feels familiar,” Stoner tells Guideposts.org.
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Her schedule is about to hit full speed this September when the entertainer returns to Ethiopia as a Goodwill Ambassador for I Pour Life (IPL), a non-profit organization that promotes sustainability by providing education and empowerment to some of the world’s poorest communities. Stoner, who first became involved with the organization seven years ago, will continue IPL’s work in the remote village of Korah, a community built around the city dump, where 10,000 impoverished outcasts (many of whom suffer with leprosy or other diseases) live. Stoner says of the villagers, “They live off of other people’s garbage. Many of them can’t go to school, most parents can’t go to work, so we’re trying to erase what other parts of the world have written them off as and basically just turn it upside down.”
IPL helps the people of Korah repurpose trash as energy, as well as empowering women and girls by educating them about disease prevention, leadership opportunities and much more. “We visit schools, we repair homes, we do medical clinics … it’s just really see a need, fill a need type of work.”
It’s IPL’s focus on empowering—and not “saving”—the people of Korah that appealed to Stoner and prompted her to get involved.
“What I love about the attitude of I Pour Life is that we don’t assume we’re helpers,” Stoner said. “We don’t take the position of superior, or the person with the answer and solutions. We see it as meeting other human needs. It’s not ‘We’ve come to save you; we’ve come to rescue you.’ It’s ‘How’s your day going? Do you have anything we can help with?’ Because we’re willing.’”
It’s the community-building and human connection that Stoner loves most about IPL’s approach. “That creates an atmosphere for intensely beautiful exchanges between cultures. Sharing music and dance and seeing what their version of normal is and just knowing that neither of ours is right or wrong, good or bad, it just is. There are ways to build each other up from both ends. I love these people dearly so I can’t wait to see them again.”
Stoner is particularly passionate about empowering women. She recalls meeting a woman who was outcast from her community at a young age for having leprosy and was forced to support herself through sex work. After going through financial and business empowerment courses through IPL, the woman started her own successful business as a street vendor and is able to provide for herself and educate her children. She’s become a leader in Korah and pours her knowledge and resources back into her community as a teacher. “To see the shame in her eyes when we first met her compared to this bright smile and effervescent light that she carries with her everywhere she goes,” Stoner says of the woman, “she’s sort of like our light over there and we hope to have thousands and thousands of those stories until the whole community is elevated.”
From film to philanthropy, Stoner is making sure that her busy schedule doesn’t get the best of her by incorporating anxiety management tools, adequate rest and a mindset of intentional living into her routine.
“I think the more I’ve rested, the more work I’ve actually accomplished. It’s been a fun relationship between rest and work and play now. I know my limits. If you wear a lot of different hats during the day, you can kind of float through life and never really land. I try and really make sure that if I go to Ethiopia, that I am really there to serve and to learn. But it has to be done intentionally.”
Giving back and community uplift are goals Stoner believes we can all play a role in, irrespective of our level of fame or wealth.
“People assume they’ll wait until they have money to be generous and they’ll wait until they have status to talk. Maybe more people will hear me if I put a message on Twitter, but essentially, most of the work and charity that I do is done anonymously and I prefer it that way. It’s about human to human connection. I’m grateful for the platform but in no way do I think I need it in order to live the life that I preach. I want to defend the weak and help the poor and empower the young in my private moments as well.”
