Member since June 2026
Celeste Mergens is an award-winning keynote speaker, bestselling author of The Power of Days, and founder of Days for Girls International, a global movement that has reached more than 3.9 million women and girls in 145 countries.
Through unforgettable storytelling, humor, and practical leadership lessons, Celeste helps audiences recognize possibility where others see barriers. Drawing from her experience building one of the world's most recognized grassroots movements, she demonstrates how extraordinary change begins long before we feel ready—with one courageous next step.
Her keynotes inspire leaders, teams, and organizations to navigate uncertainty, embrace innovation, build resilient cultures, and unlock the power of collective action. Audiences leave with renewed confidence that they don't have to have all the answers to make a meaningful difference—they simply have to take the next step and invite others to join them.
Celeste's work has been featured in Oprah's O Magazine, Forbes, Glamour, and Stanford Social Innovation Review. She is the recipient of the AARP Purpose Prize, Global Washington's Global Hero Award, Conscious Company Top Ten Women in Impact, and the Women's Economic Forum Woman of the Decade Award. Her bestselling memoir, The Power of Days, received the 2024 American Book Fest Award for Best Narrative Nonfiction.
I believe every person carries more possibility than they realize.
Throughout my life—from growing up in poverty, to founding a global movement, to recovering from a life-changing neurological illness—I have learned that remarkable change rarely begins with certainty. It begins when someone chooses the next best step.
I'm passionate about helping people stop waiting for permission, perfect timing, or perfect qualifications. When individuals discover what's possible, and when they invite others into that journey through the power of we, ideas become movements, challenges become opportunities, and ordinary people accomplish extraordinary things. am fascinated by what becomes possible when people stop waiting for permission, certainty, or perfect conditions and take the next step.
Throughout my life, I've watched ordinary people accomplish extraordinary things—not because they had all the resources, answers, or confidence, but because they chose to act.
Whether building Days for Girls, working across cultures around the world, or speaking with leaders and organizations, I continue to see the same truth: the biggest obstacle to change is rarely a lack of resources. It's the belief that we must wait until we're ready.
You don't have to be the most qualified person in the room. You simply have to be willing to take the next best step.
When I was about five years old, my family was living in poverty and moving from place to place. One afternoon I stood barefoot on a warm sidewalk, mesmerized by the sparkle of a rhinestone dog collar. The woman holding the leash held a half-eaten apple in her hand and tossed the rest into a nearby trash can. I remember wondering if I could climb in and retrieve it because it had been a long time since I'd had fresh fruit.
Then she looked me up and down and asked, "Where are your shoes, girl?"
I answered, "I'm toughening my feet."
In that moment, I suddenly saw myself through her eyes—a poor, barefoot little girl. But just as quickly, another thought rose inside me.
I am not what you see.
That quiet realization changed my life. I came to understand that none of us are defined by our circumstances, titles, possessions, or hardships. Every person carries gifts and possibilities that may not yet be visible—even to themselves.
That belief has guided every chapter of my life. It shapes how I lead, how I build teams, and how I challenge audiences to recognize possibility in themselves and in one another. Because when we begin to see people for the wisdom they hold and who they can become, everything changes.
A volunteer trip to Kenya changed the course of my life.
While helping establish a community-led school, I visited an orphanage that had grown from 420 to nearly 1,400 children after post-election violence displaced hundreds of thousands of families. The headmaster later called to tell me they had been completely out of food for two days. Knowing what it felt like to be hungry as a child, I desperately searched for a way to help.
Then I learned something unexpected. The girls weren't simply missing school because they lacked menstrual supplies—they were being exploited in exchange for a single disposable pad.
Volunteers came together to design and sew the first washable menstrual kits that we brought, but the greatest lesson wasn't about the product. It was about listening. The real solution wasn't what we thought people needed; it was what they told us they needed.
That experience became the beginning of Days for Girls International, which has now reached more than 3.9 million women and girls in 145 countries. More importantly, it transformed the way I lead. Lasting change doesn't begin with having all the answers. It begins by listening deeply, taking the next best step, and inviting others to build the solution together. When we begin to see possibility—in ourselves and in one another—we don't just change lives. We change what's possible.
When I was about five years old, my family was living in poverty and moving from place to place. One afternoon I stood barefoot on a warm sidewalk, mesmerized by the sparkle of a rhinestone dog collar. The woman holding the leash held a half-eaten apple in her hand and tossed the rest into a nearby trash can. I remember wondering if I could climb in and retrieve it because it had been a long time since I'd had fresh fruit.
Then she looked me up and down and asked, "Where are your shoes, girl?"
I answered, "I'm toughening my feet."
In that moment, I suddenly saw myself through her eyes—a poor, barefoot little girl. But just as quickly, another thought rose inside me.
I am not what you see.
That quiet realization changed my life. I came to understand that none of us are defined by our circumstances, titles, possessions, or hardships. Every person carries gifts and possibilities that may not yet be visible—even to themselves.
That belief has guided every chapter of my life. It shapes how I lead, how I build teams, and how I challenge audiences to recognize possibility in themselves and in one another. Because when we begin to see people for the wisdom they hold and who they can become, everything changes.
A volunteer trip to Kenya changed the course of my life.
While helping establish a community-led school, I visited an orphanage that had grown from 420 to nearly 1,400 children after post-election violence displaced hundreds of thousands of families. The headmaster later called to tell me they had been completely out of food for two days. Knowing what it felt like to be hungry as a child, I desperately searched for a way to help.
Then I learned something unexpected. The girls weren't simply missing school because they lacked menstrual supplies—they were being exploited in exchange for a single disposable pad.
Volunteers came together to design and sew the first washable menstrual kits that we brought, but the greatest lesson wasn't about the product. It was about listening. The real solution wasn't what we thought people needed; it was what they told us they needed.
That experience became the beginning of Days for Girls International, which has now reached more than 3.9 million women and girls in 145 countries. More importantly, it transformed the way I lead. Lasting change doesn't begin with having all the answers. It begins by listening deeply, taking the next best step, and inviting others to build the solution together. When we begin to see possibility—in ourselves and in one another—we don't just change lives. We change what's possible.