Our Mission & Vision
The mission of the Leah Avery Foundation is to honor the life and legacy of Leah Avery Graetz by empowering and educating young women through scholarships, educational opportunities, career development, cosmetology education, creativity, confidence, entrepreneurship, and community support.
• Honoring Her Memory
Leah Avery's Legacy Lives On
She was compassionate and kind. She lived with her conscience on her sleeve always doing right by everyone.
Empowering young women through love, education, and integrity.
The Leah Avery Foundation
Why the Leah Avery Foundation Exists
The Leah Avery Foundation is being established so that Leah's life can continue helping others.
Our mission begins with young people—girls and boys—who need someone to remind them of their worth, encourage their talents, help them pursue education or vocational training, and advocate for them during difficult moments.
We want young people to understand: A dark moment does not erase a bright future. Your present circumstances do not erase your potential. Your pain does not erase your talent. A broken friendship does not erase your family. A mistake does not erase your accomplishments. Someone else's opinion does not determine your value. You are more than the worst moment of your life.
The Foundation intends to use available resources, donations, Beautiful Bijou proceeds, partnerships, education, advocacy, scholarships, and community involvement to help young people recognize and pursue their potential.
We want to support education and vocational opportunities. We want to encourage entrepreneurship and creativity. We want to support young people interested in cosmetology and other skilled careers. We want to advocate for young people struggling with self-worth or self-harm. We want to support causes involving animals and compassionate care. And above all, we want young people to understand that they matter.
We cannot change what happened to Leah. But perhaps something learned through losing her can help save someone else's tomorrow.
Beautiful Bijou: Creating Opportunity From Creativity
Leah Avery's Beautiful Bijou will serve as a purpose-driven brand supporting this mission. Leah branded her jewelry business Beautiful Bijou.
It began with a 14-year-old girl sitting down with jewelry supplies and expressing herself through the things she created. Now those creations represent something much larger. Beautiful Bijou will carry forward the creative spirit of the girl who began it.
Jewelry. Art. Tea blends. Wellness products. Handcrafted goods. Creative projects. And whatever else the future brings. Each product can become another way to tell Leah's story while generating resources to help another young person pursue theirs.
Beautiful Bijou is Leah's creativity turned into opportunity for someone else.
Please Help Us Continue Her Work
We invite those who believe in this mission to contribute, participate, volunteer, purchase Beautiful Bijou products, share Leah's story, or simply help us reach a young person who needs encouragement.
The resources entrusted to this Foundation will be used with one overriding purpose:
Help people recognize their worth before a moment of darkness convinces them they have none.
We want young people to recognize their God-given abilities.
Their intelligence. Their creativity. Their talents. Their capacity to work. Their ability to love. Their ability to overcome. Their future. And the people standing beside them. Because sometimes the person who needs somebody to believe in them is the person standing quietly on the outside. Leah would have noticed that person. She always did.
This Is How Leah Lives On
Leah had so much going for her.
She worked. She saved. She created. She sang. She worshiped. She cared for animals. She loved her family. She planned for college. She bought her own car. She was building a business idea. She wanted a career. She wanted to help people feel beautiful. She defended the underdog. She believed in Jesus. She had an entire future in front of her.
At 18 months old, she was ahead of her time. At 14, she was ahead of her time. At 16, she was ahead of her time. At 17, she was still ahead of her time.
One moment of darkness does not get to erase all of that.
That is not Leah's legacy.
Her legacy is intelligence. Her legacy is compassion. Her legacy is hard work. Her legacy is creativity. Her legacy is faith. Her legacy is accomplishment. Her legacy is standing up for the underdog. Her legacy is helping the weak become strong. Her legacy is making people feel that they belong. And now her legacy will be helping other young people understand something that, in their darkest moment, they may desperately need someone to tell them:
You are still here for a reason. You have worthy. You have gifts. You have people who love you. You have a future that you cannot yet see. And one moment should never be allowed to define your entire life.
Our hearts are broken, and they always will carry the absence of our daughter. But we also carry hope. Hope that her story will reach someone. Hope that her Foundation will create opportunities. Hope that Beautiful Bijou will grow from the dream of a creative 14-year-old girl into something that helps other young people accomplish their dreams. And hope rooted in our faith that death does not have the final word.
We know Leah knew God. We know she loved Jesus. And that knowledge gives her parents peace even in unimaginable grief.
Leah Avery was loved. Leah Avery is loved.
And she always will be.
The Leah Avery Foundation will make certain that the world remembers our daughter not simply for how she died, but for the extraordinary way she lived.
Because Leah Avery was never darkness.
She was—and remains—a light that shines brightly enough to be seen from afar.
THE LEAH AVERY FOUNDATION
Leah Avery's Beautiful Bijou
Helping young people recognize their worth, discover their gifts, pursue their dreams, and understand that no moment of darkness can erase a lifetime of light.
Leah Avery Graetz
November 14, 2008 – May 21, 2026
Forever Loved • Forever Missed • Forever 17
Written by Michelle Graetz
Leah Avery's Mother