Humanitarian, author, and CNN Hero Maggie Doyne visited Ursuline Academy of Dallas on Monday, November 3, sharing her remarkable journey from suburban New Jersey to Nepal and inspiring students to find purpose through service.

Doyne is the founder of the BlinkNow Foundation and the Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School, which provides a free, high-quality education to more than 500 students in Nepal.

She was introduced by Ms. Cecilia Nipp, Ursuline’s Director of Global Relationships and Cultural Exchanges, who called the morning “a dream fulfilled."

“I’ve followed Maggie’s work since 2015 when she was honored by CNN Heroes,” Nipp said. “She’s one of my personal heroes and having her here at Ursuline is truly a dream come true.”

“I was sitting exactly where you are now,” Doyne began, recalling her high school years in New Jersey. Like many Ursuline students, she said she was focused on grades, college, and “doing all the right things.” When she wasn’t accepted to her top college choice, Wake Forest University, she began to question where her worth came from and what her true purpose might be.

A gap year through Princeton’s Bridge Year Program became the turning point. During her first semester abroad, Doyne helped rebuild seawalls in Fiji after the 2004 tsunami. There, she realized her work wasn’t just about construction it was about connection. “Through travel, I started to learn more about who I was, what I stand for, and what I believe in,” she said.

^{Maggie Doyne encouraged students to see setbacks as opportunities.}

Her second semester took her to India, where she worked with children seeking refugee status during a time of civil unrest. The stark contrast between her life back home and the children’s daily struggles for survival shifted her worldview.

Eventually, Doyne traveled with her friend Sunita, whom she met in India, to Nepal in search of Sunita’s long-lost village. After days of travel, they arrived at a small cluster of mud huts without running water or electricity. There, Doyne met a young girl named Hema, who was picking through trash and greeted her with a radiant smile.

“That moment stopped my world,” Doyne said. “I realized I couldn’t help every child, but I could help one.”

“When we were planning our trip, I told my team there’s one place we have to go and that’s Ursuline.”

She enrolled Hema in school and what began as one small act grew into a movement. “When a girl goes to school, the benefits are world changing,” Doyne told students.

Using $5,000 she had saved from babysitting, Doyne bought a small plot of land and built a home for orphaned children. “I wanted it to be yellow and bright and full of laughter. A place where children are tucked in at night and share meals around the table,” she said.

That vision became the Kopila Valley Children’s Home, co-founded with Sunita’s uncle, and later the Kopila Valley School, which now educates more than 500 students. The campus is regenerative and self-sustaining, featuring rainwater collection systems and a soccer field made of coconut husks.

^{All proceeds from her book and film go directly to support her students and school.}

Doyne is also the author of the memoir Between the Mountain and the Sky, which tells the story of her life’s work in Nepal. The book has been adapted into a documentary film, currently touring nationwide and gaining recognition as a potential Oscar nominee.

This week marked Doyne’s first visit to Texas, part of her cross-country film tour. She had previously spoken to Ursuline students during Global Week 2024 and remained in touch with Ms. Nipp, who helped make this in-person visit possible.

“When we were planning our trip,” Doyne said, “I told my team there’s one place we have to go and that’s Ursuline.”

All proceeds from her book and film go directly to support her students and school.

Doyne shared her admiration for Melinda Gates and Mother Teresa, whose words “peace begins with a smile” continue to guide her work. She reflected on how Hema’s smile embodied the spirit of hope that drives her mission.

When asked about her greatest challenge, Doyne said it has been balancing the wisdom of the local community with new ideas for progress. “You have to listen,” she said. “The community always knows what’s needed most.”

She encouraged students to see setbacks as opportunities. “Don’t get caught up in the rejections of life,” she said. “Sometimes what doesn’t happen is redirecting you toward something better.”

Nearly two decades after being rejected from Wake Forest, Doyne was invited back as a keynote speaker, where her memoir is now required reading for all freshmen. “That’s life,” she laughed. “The same school I once thought defined my worth later became part of my story.”

Doyne closed her talk with a message that resonated deeply with Ursuline’s Serviam mission.

“Share what you love with the world more than what you hate,” she said. “Find the root of what frustrates you and build the solution.”