Billie Jordan
After surviving an abusive childhood and repeated trauma in the Christchurch Earthquake in New Zealand, Billie Jordan used these experiences as a catalyst for transforming the lives of the senior citizens in her community.
She established The Hip Op-eration Crew; a hip hop dance group consisting of members aged 65 to 98 years old. They are in the Guinness World Records as the oldest dance group in the world and have performed at the World Hip Hop Championships in Las Vegas, to an audience of 17,000 at the Taipei Arena in Taiwan and to crowds of fans in Japan.
A feature documentary film called Hip Hop-eration about Billie's mission to get her elderly neighbours to the World Hip Hop championships has been playing in cinemas all over the world and has won many prestigious awards.
Billie was the New Zealand Woman of the Year in 2016, is a recipient of a Queen's Honour (MNZM) and received the New Zealander of the Year award in the Local Hero category in 2015. She has done a Ted Talk and Hollywood has purchased her life rights and plan on making a film about her story. She has been a keynote and guest presenter at many prestigious events all over the world including Scotland, Canada and Australia.
Billie's story shows us how we can all play a role in inspiring and influencing others to achieve the seemingly impossible, to look at obstacles creatively and challenge the norms, and how to focus on the end goal to a point where others will be inspired to follow your trail-blazing. With the right mindset anything is possible!
