When Blair Brettschneider started working as a volunteer at RefugeeOne, she had no idea how much of an impact it would have on her life and her future career. As a girl from a middle class, typical American family living in Michigan, Blair never really experienced persecution. However, she knew she had a heart for people who had to flee their home because of racial or religious persecution, so she decided to volunteer for RefugeeOne, a nonprofit which helps refugees adapt to American society. While working for RefugeeOne, Blair met a young girl named Domi who particularly struggled adapting to American culture as a teenage girl unaccustomed to the habits and trends of teenage girls, who can often be unwelcoming to those who are different than them. Thus, Blair began spending a lot of time with Domi, counseling her, listening to her stories about her past, and giving her advice, encouragement, and knowledge about American culture. Now, Domi is 20 years old and thriving in college, with lots of friends and and established support system. 

Through her experience with Domi, Blair realized that many refugee girls come to America with little emotional support, and they find themselves overwhelmed by the drastic change in culture and language. Also, many teenage girls have to translate everything into English for their families and help provide for them. Blair found how all this can really overwhelm these young girls. Thus, she decided to start GirlForward, a nonprofit which focuses on supporting girls emotionally and giving them the tools they need to succeed in America. This includes counseling, English tutoring, hang out sessions where they talk about American culture, and much more. Where as Blair started out just helping one girl, she now helps over 200 refugee girls every week.

Blair is such an incredible model of an entrepreneur because she started out in a field she was passionate in, and saw in that field a specific niche where there was a need. She was able to find companies to support her so hat she can run her business as a nonprofit and focus on giving girls with a lot of trauma the counseling, support, and friendships that they need.