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A 2011 expedition to India and Nepal, where she volunteered at orphanages, provided an epiphany — Hilborn was stunned to learn (through a UNICEF study) that roughly 85% of children living in orphan homes in developing countries worldwide have at least one living parent. “Women in patriarchal societies are powerless without a husband, so they can’t afford to keep their children,” she discovered. “So they can try to survive as a family by begging on the streets for the rest of their lives, or they can give their children up to an orphan home and hope they find a better life.” “That’s what transformed me from Katie the volunteer to Katie the change-maker. A changemaker is simply a person who turns complaining into action,” said Hilborn, who founded her own 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Global Orphan Prevention, in 2011. Their mission statement envisions “a world in which no child is forgotten or separate (from his/her family) because of economic disadvantage in health, income, or circumstance.” Hillborn’s method, inspired by CMU Professor Tim Casey, PhD, employs the concept of social enterprise — teaching villagers, especially women, income-generating methods that enable them to become self-sustained so they can afford to keep their children. “Since 2011, we’ve gone into villages and asked, ‘What do you want? What do you think will help you?’ rather than saying, ‘Here’s what you’re going to do…’” she said. “We’ve found we have much more success if they take ownership in a program.” Global Orphan Prevention helps villagers form empowerment groups and development committees to transform ideas into income-generating businesses. “We identify a problem and then help the people find a solution,” she said. One example comes from a region in Nepal, where girls trek three hours in each direction to attend the nearest school, an impossible situation that inspired a Global Orphan Prevention initiative to build a “girls empowerment center” with a 65-bed dormitory. The center will enable students to live on the premises during the week and return home on weekends. “We’re currently fundraising for that project with a goal of $85,000, hoping to break ground this fall,” Hilborn said. “It’s challenging and what we really need, in addition to individual donors, is a corporate sponsor or partner.” Hilborn said her career path has been perpetually rewarding but is never fully satisfying. “I actually have a little bit of a complex,” she said. “I always seem to wake up in the morning feeling like I’m not doing enough…that I could be doing more.”