For those of you who don’t happen to be named Barack, change in the next four years might seem a spectator sport.

In the aftermath of a campaign, it’s natural to think that the agenda now is in the hands of our newly elected leaders, and that the agents of change will be government officials in Washington. Yet the best proof that you don’t need a White House pass to accomplish change comes from youthful social entrepreneurs around the country. Too naïve to realize that they are powerless, these kids are flexing remarkable muscle.

If your image of a philanthropist is a stout, gray geezer, then meet Talia Leman, an eighth grader in Iowa who loves soccer and swimming, and whose favorite subject is science. I’m supporting her for president in 2044.

When Talia was 10 years old, she saw television clips of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and decided to help. She galvanized other kids and started a movement to trick-or-treat at Halloween for coins for hurricane victims.