About the PEARLS Project

When we redefine beauty, we amplify the unique gifts and contributions each person brings into our world.

An online, creative platform, the PEARLS Project shares the range and richness of human diversity — and how we can recognize, embrace, and celebrate its power.

Ambassadors use the PEARLS Project to bring voices to life experiences and advocacy. In sharing perspectives, Ambassadors offer us reimagined ways to empathize, understand, and look beyond difference.

If you’d like to become a PEARLS Ambassador, please complete this application.

PEARLS Initiatives

We’ve collaborated with educators to develop and facilitate PEARLS programs that amplify inclusive, celebratory storytelling. Read on how PEARLS has come to classrooms of all kinds.

Featured Ambassadors

  • Woman with brown curly hair in a bright multicolored dress

    Caroline

    I am a 62 year old mom of 3 young adults, Public Health School Nurse, living with Sickle Cell Disease.

  • Ovya

    Medical student interested in plastic surgery, especially craniofacial care.

  • family of 4 smiling

    Ethan, Elsie, and Ella

    A family with a variety of interests and challenges connected by love, diabetes, Angelman syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Autism.

  • Young man with his arms outstretched looking into the camera. There is a patch of sunlight on the floor behind him.

    Vance

    Well dressed classic rocker living with Cerebral Palsy.

  • boy with curly brown hair smiling into the camera

    Trey

    An amazing, loving, strong, and resilient four-year-old living with a rare and aggressive brain cancer known as ATRT or Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor.

  • Man wearing a dark blazer and blue beret, with a pink backback over his left shoulder. He is holdinghis white cane in his right hand and phone in his left hand. He is looking into the camera and smiling.

    Dr. Anthony

    Physician and a dedicated Army veteran living with Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy

  • Young lady in a printed dress holding a hula hoop.

    Tanner Nicole

    Tanner Nicole is the pure evidence of resiliency living with Ankyloblepharon-ectodermal defects–cleft lip & palate syndrome (AEC)

  • Couple sitting on a porch.

    Sarah

    Sarah is a medical student motivated to pursue a career in palliative care living with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

  • Boy with glasses smiling against a red wall. He is in a powerchair.

    Nolan

    Power wheelchair soccedr player living with Transverse Myelitis.

  • 5 boys and mon sitting and lounging on the floor

    Naj

    Living with autism, this energetic young man is one of 5 very active brothers.

  • Megan and Jack

    A love story between 2 very active models, actors, athletes living with Down syndrome.

  • Mom and son hugging

    Maya and Julian

    Mom is a cardiogenetic counselor and son is a writer living with marfan syndrome.

  • A couple close up portrait.

    Mads and B

    A beautiful couple navigating autism and ADHD together

  • young girl with blond hair jumping against red wall

    Kay

    A strong, energetic, and a natural athlete born with a cleft palate and living with autism

  • Young lady with white ruffled top smiling.

    Kali

    Sickle Cell disease has made me really strong!

  • Woman sitting in a motorized wheelchair with blue scarf and blond hair against a red wall.

    Jenny

    Clinical psychologist, published author, and dynamic speaker living with a spinal cord injury.

  • Person with long hair and glasses smiling.

    Jay

    American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreting Studies major living with autism.

  • Woman with hair pulled back and wearing a black shirt smiling at the camera.

    Isabella

    Biology major living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

  • Young girl in a dress laughing and sitting next to her younger brother.

    Hailie

    Happiest young lady living with Aperts and Angelman's Syndrome.

  • Young girl reaching for camera

    Greta

    Spunky 2 year old living with Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome

  • 2 guys looking into the camera, one is laughing

    Gregory and Grant

    Twin men, 1 minute apart, living with autism

  • young woman reaching for a hug

    Elle

    Very social young lady living with cerebral palsy

  • Mom and Dad with baby in the niddle.

    Delilah

    Beautiful baby living with Prader-Willi syndrome

  • Cordelia

    Girl Scout living with Down syndrome

  • Sisters hugging each other

    Racquel and Cishella

    Sisters living with Elhers-Danlos syndrome and Down syndrome

  • Carson

    Video gamer living with oppositional defiant disorder and ADHD

  • woman in wheelchair with father

    Briana “Breezy”

    A mother of two and a grandmother living with a spinal cord injury

  • Young lady smiling with blond hair and pink top

    Ashley-Shae

    4th Year Medical Student living with ADHD

  • Alessia

    Young lady with a strong will and keen eye for fashion living with a spinal cord injury

  • Aleeza

    Psychology senior at the University of Louisville

  • Woman with light blonde hair wearing glasses and a purple sweater

    Rachel

    Rachel living with Albinism and Borderline Personality Disorder

  • Freya

    Undiagnosed and AMAZING!

  • Woman with brown hair and glasses, wearing a red sweater and smiling into the camera.

    Amy

    Living with Xeroderma Pigmentosum

Recent PEARLS Ambassador Posts

woman smiling in bright red jumper.

By: Caroline

Surpass Stigma – giving and receiving

June 16, 2025

You cannot judge a book by its cover. That may be a phrase that we have heard but for most [...]

Woman with brown curly hair in a brightly colored summer dress. She is smiling.

By: Caroline

I Love Life!

June 16, 2025

I love life. At 9 years old in “The World Book Encyclopedia”, I read that I would not live to [...]

Woman with brown hair in white t shirt standing on balcony with cityscape and city lights in the background.

By: Ovya

Celebrating Stories Through Images

June 15, 2025

Hi there, and welcome to my Positive Exposure blog! I’m so excited to be joining this amazing community and sharing [...]

Woman with brown hair in white t shirt standing on balcony with cityscape and city lights in the background.

By: Ovya

About me!

June 15, 2025

I grew up just outside Chicago then moved to southern California. After undergrad, I headed across the country to complete [...]