A Force for Good

You could say that being part of the Wolfpack is a family affair for Kay McMillan. The senior political science major followed her older brother to NC State, but in her years on campus forged her own path.

“I came from a big high school and NC State was the only campus that I visited,” McMillan says. “I was on campus for a leadership forum and it just felt like home.”

McMillan embraces entrepreneurship and leadership as forces for good, and actively seeks to instill these values in those around her. She played an instrumental role with both the North Carolina Youth Leadership Forum (NCYLF) and the New Voices Foundation.

NCYLF gives high school students with severe disabilities the opportunity to spend a week on NC State’s campus during the summer in order to explore career and leadership avenues. This experience often marks the first exposure to a college campus and independent living. McMillan worked throughout her time at NC State to solidify the program and create a sustainable model to carry it into the future. With a minor in nonprofit studies, she feels that she is well prepared to continue her passion for this work.

Through the New Voices Foundation, McMillan, who has cerebral palsy, seeks to equip schools and teachers in North Carolina with technologies for students with communication and mobility disabilities. Her passion for working to improve the lives of others makes an important point about entrepreneurship.

“Entrepreneurship is about more than business; it is about leadership and helping others become leaders,” McMillan says. “At the Forum, we give people the power to transform into leaders. I want to help people and work with them to become a positive force for change in their communities.”

McMillan leads by her example of dedication and hard work in service to others on NC State’s campus and in the greater North Carolina community. During her time in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, she’s achieved academic honors and was inducted into Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society. She’ll graduate summa cum laude and maintains a clear vision for her future.

McMillan seeks to continue her work with the disability community. She also wants to work with nonprofits that provide services to those with disabilities.

“Throughout my minor, we talked about the five leadership challenges for nonprofits and one of them is moving beyond charity to systemic change,” McMillan says. “That is really important to me and to the disability rights movement. We have a long history of people with disabilities being leaders and trying to achieve equality, and this is part of what I want to do with my career.”

With McMillan’s social entrepreneurship at NC State and beyond, she’s well down the path of creating lasting change for many people.