“When I’m having a bad day, I remind myself of all the reasons I love my sport: the way it makes my body feel strong and healthy, how it clears my mind and helps me reset, the unforgettable moments I’ve shared with friends and coaches, and the incredible opportunities it has given me. Focusing on these positive aspects helps me push through tough days and stay motivated.” The sport that Grade 12 Senior Anna Risau is referring to is skiing!
As this season’s co-captain of MIS ski team, Anna pushed herself through grueling training sessions and unpredictable weather conditions. The sport tested her patience and willpower, forcing her to confront setbacks. But through every fall, she found the drive to rise again, stronger and more determined. She took pride not only in her own performance but in nurturing younger teammates; ensuring that they, too, learned the value of resilience, teamwork, and self-belief. Her role extended beyond the slopes—she coordinated travel logistics, organized team activities to foster a culture of collaboration and mutual support.
Beyond the ski team, she found herself deeply involved in global advocacy and volunteer work. Her participation in the Zonta Young Women in Leadership Award opened her eyes to the transformative role of women in public service. The Award “recognizes young women, ages 16-19, for demonstrating leadership skills and commitment to public service and civic causes, and encourages them to continue their participation in public and political life.” Anna represents a model candidate for the vision of Zonta through actively contributing her time and energy to local and international organizations and initiatives aimed at improving conditions for women and children.
Anna has developed a heart for mothers in particular from “watching my own mom. She is an incredible inspiration to me. She has struggled with balancing life as a mother while also working herself. She has really inspired me to – in the future – be motivated to be a mom and continue working. Especially in this international school setting, I see a lot of mothers who cannot work anymore and struggle with that. Often, women are still marginalized, even in a very privileged setting and still have to fight for certain rights”.
Determined to make a difference in especially the lives of mothers, Anna dedicated herself to supporting mothers at a local refugee center. She has worked to provide women in the center with language-learning opportunities, challenging the restrictive norms that confined them to traditional roles. By including the mothers in tutoring sessions with their children, she showed young girls that they deserved the same opportunities as their brothers—planting the seeds of change within families.
Beyond tutoring, Anna extended her support to the mothers at a local shelter, organizing workshops on basic literacy, financial independence, and employment opportunities. She connected them with resources to learn German and English, ensuring they had the tools to navigate their new lives. She advocated for their needs, working with local organizations to provide childcare solutions so that these mothers could pursue job opportunities.
Anna’s dedication to advocacy took her beyond her local community. In Germany, she championed for stricter censorship of harmful media content and pushed for expanded childcare systems, recognizing that enabling mothers to work full-time would create a ripple effect of independence for future generations. In Kenya, she immersed herself in a different cultural landscape, engaging with young women her age and learning about their lived experiences. She approached their stories with deep respect, understanding that empowerment looked different across cultures, and she valued their choices without judgment. These experiences reinforced her belief in the power of connection, dialogue, and empathy.
The same drive that pushes Anna to her limits on the slopes is the same force that will propel her forward in her mission to create a world where every mother, regardless of background, has the chance to rise. Anna has found her inspiration—not just in victory, but in the beauty of nurturing others.
Anna was recently interviewed by Sports Illustrated for their Wall of Will campaign. The massive mural was installed a few weeks ago in MIS’s Fitness & Athletics Building in collaboration with the Sports Illustrated initiative. The purpose of the Wall of Will is to inspire young women to continue playing sports, especially during the pre-teen and teen years when women drop out of sports at a higher rate than boys because of social pressure. Anna was the perfect representative to speak on empowering women in general and within the world of athletics. Click here to read more about the Wall of Will.