If you ask some teenagers what they’re doing, you’re likely to get the answer— “Nothing.” If you ask Nickole Evans the same question, prepare to get a list.

Evans is a community activist and organizer, a Girl Scout leader, an anti-violence crusader, a dispute resolution mediator and a National Youth Council board member. Her own Web site, www.y2kyouth.org, covers issues such as child abuse, over-population, race relations and religion, and proposes solutions. Her slogan is, “It takes but one child to educate a whole village. How one person can make a difference!” The site gives kids ideas on ways they can do that.

Evans walks her talk. She’s organized a Brownie Troop to assemble homework helper packets for students from migrant families; explained the juvenile justice system to at-risk youth; trained low-income families, at-risk youth and the disabled in how to use information technology; advocated for children’s literacy and for the humane treatment of animals; and helped start her region’s first chapter of S.A.V.E. (Students Against Violence Everywhere).

But Evans has more than her time and energy on the line; she’s also risked her own safety. The Kennewick area has become home to refugees from various war-torn regions of the world and many of the young people in these families have grown up seeing violent acts as a way to communicate. Evans and a friend were on the receiving end of that perception when they were shot by young Bosnian refugees armed with BB guns.

Instead of retreating to safety, Evans embarked on a personal mission into the Bosnian community to talk directly with the youth and their parents about nonviolent behavior and respect for people and property.

When asked why she thinks individual kids can make changes in their communities Nickole Evans lets you know that, “If you just start, and other people see what you’re doing, they want to join, so it begins to grow. It just takes some guts to make that start, to begin the chain reaction.”