Hi! My name is Jessica Ray, I am born in Sydney Australia but currently reside in Chicago, IL. I am a 24 y/o cancer survivor and I have been diagnosed with Asperger’s Autism. When I was 4 I was diagnosed with stage 4 life threatening Lymphoma, cancer. After 11 months of suffering and chemo, I saw and experienced a miracle and the next day I was cancer free. I have grown and pushed myself to succeed in anything I do even when it’s been crazy hard. Growing up I was bullied and called names and body shamed by the kids I went to school with because I was very shy, awkward and a loner. Even though I had a few friends, I couldn’t relate to most of them, and grew up feeling like a outsider. My parents always pushed me to keep moving forward and to believe in myself. It’s been a challenge learning about myself and learning how to express myself. Today I am a artist and I dabble with writing, music, and pretty much anything artistic. I enjoy dancing and discovering/exploring nature through hiking and travel. I have overcome a lot in my lifespan and I want to be a voice to other survivors, to other people battling to find themselves. Growing up my parents took us on long term Christian mission trips. We lived in some crazy places from India, Hong Kong, to China. For two whole years we lived in a mud house in Northern Afghanistan. I love music and raves; and I enjoy anything with sparkles, glitter and unicorns! My favourite food would have to be waffles and fried chicken with ranch.

I want to be a voice for the voiceless to people struggling with finding themselves; in all these places I grew up in I saw how women (especially) struggled. My dreams and passion are to start a nonprofit business to help support women who struggle with things; from sex slavery (which actually happens a lot STILL nowadays), to helping young or underage single moms below the poverty line to help get enough food and learning life skills to grow. I want to help specifically special needs women in 3rd world countries. Most young women or little girls who are born autistic or disabled in 3rd world countries are left and abandoned out of fear they die or are abused and sold as if they were cattle. I want to provide a safe and protected place for these women to learn how to grow, and help them achieve to learn daily life practical skills to help them make money to be able to look after themselves. Everyone deserves love and I think that these issues are all issues that are overlooked today, in America where I live, in Mexico but also worldwide. I want to start a digital network helpline for this as well as a digital free school to teach life skills so that these women can learn no matter where they are, that we can all have a equal chance at being what we dreamed about as kids, to speak and to teach and rise up, teach, encourage and train the next generation of women.

I want to be a voice for the voiceless to make a difference for people especially young women who are unable to fend for fight for themselves. I want to help women across America and also globally to know that their worth, that our worth, is not in what we look like what we feel like, our worth is more than our feelings, our circumstances, our worth is infinite. We are brave and I want to make a difference in lives. I feel that being the next fashion hero would give me a platform to making a difference in the lives of women around the globe.