Monday, June 25, 2007
Michael Sessions
"I run this town." It's usually a line from movies and the young showoffs saying it don't actually run anything. But, at 19, Michael Sessions really runs a town. He runs Hillsdale, Michigan, a community of some 8,000 people in southern Michigan.

Last year Sessions beat out the 51-year-old incumbent mayor to officially become the youngest mayor in the United States while he was still in high school. He registered to vote the day he turned 18 and became a write-in candidate with an energetic, successful campaign the very next day. Now, Sessions is in his first year of school at Hillsdale College and his second year as mayor at City Hall.

With media coverage from all around the world, Session remains humble and friendly as can be. "I run this town" are words that probably wouldn't come out of his mouth. But if you're ever in Hillsdale, Sessions says feel free to e-mail him anytime for a personal tour.

Update: Watch the CNN.com Live interview
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Cory 'Coco Brother' Condrey
If Cory "Coco Brother" Condrey had his way, there would be no need for bleeps in hip-hop music. Condrey is no average hip-hop radio personality. This 29-year-old is changing the landscape of hip-hop to promote a positive, productive lifestyle.

Condrey founded of the Spirit of Hip Hop, a national group that fuses spirituality with hip-hop for 10 million radio listeners in 15 markets. He's come a long way from being homeless 10 years ago. Condrey now has a wildly popular national radio show, a following and a calling.

Condrey's message is simple: Respect yourself, others and music. Through community events such as Stand 2007, which hopes to bring 1 million people in the hip-hop community together in Atlanta, Georgia, Condrey is spreading the message. The only bleep that's acceptable for him in the hip-hop world is for young people to give one.

Update: Watch the CNN.com Live interview
Monday, June 11, 2007
Kara Linse
"Are you the new intern?"

Kara Linse often confronts that question in meetings full of people twice her age. With grace and a glowing smile, she responds, "No, I've actually assigned tasks to the interns, so they won't be joining us. I'm Kara, the president."

At 21, Linse became the youngest president of a professional basketball team, The Eugene Chargers in Oregon. Most presidents of minor league men's basketball teams don't have much in common with Linse -- many are men in their 40s and 50s who own the team. But Linse dribbled over convention with her move to The Chargers after her first job out of college in Sydney, Australia, with the National Basketball League.

As the president of the Chargers, Linse basically runs the team, from managing the marketing campaign to overseeing the players, dance team, general manager and, of course, the interns.

Update: Watch the CNN.com Live interview
Monday, June 4, 2007
Ben Meyers
When Ben Meyers was 12, he walked his dog to the park every day to meet his friend Donald. A self-professed history buff, Ben loved hearing colorful stories about the events he had only read about, specifically his friend's experience in the Pacific theater in World War II. His friend Donald was 80 years old.

Ben compiled an oral history for Donald to pass on to his family. That summer, instead of going to camp or loitering around town like other kids his age, Meyers went to the local senior center in Boca Raton, Florida, to offer to take more oral histories. Now 17, he has been there every summer and holiday since, listening and writing.

Ben says he believes every life is important, historic and should be remembered. He's putting that belief into practice: he's building a nonprofit that would expand his mission nationwide, writing a book that explains how to take an oral history, and crafting a formula to trigger memories in Alzheimer's patients using a set of 80 questions. Often called a young Steven Spielberg, creating a next-generation Shoah Project, Ben works passionately to live up to that description.

Update: Watch the CNN.com Live interview
ABOUT THIS BLOG

Young People Who Rock is a weekly interview series focused on people under 30 -- from CEOs to entertainers to athletes to community and political leaders -- who are doing remarkable things. CNN Anchor Nicole Lapin introduces them here, then interviews them Fridays on CNN.com Live. Log on in the 3 p.m. ET hour to catch the interviews.
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