Vivian Ho (center) and her All The Same co-founder, Anika Luangaphay (left), with school supply boxes they assembled to donate to Austin students in underserved areas.

Not Just a High School Student: Senior Vivian Ho Runs a Global Nonprofit

For UT High School senior Vivian Ho, community service isn’t an extracurricular activity or a box to check on a college application. It’s her mission. She co-founded and serves as CEO of All The Same, an international organization with 200 chapters and more than 8,000 volunteers. Since its founding in April 2025, the organization has supported more than 20,000 people, donated more than 150,000 supplies, and served 1,645 families through customized school-supply packages, scholarship connections, and resources delivered directly through schools so families can access them more easily.

“Growing up as a Vietnamese immigrant in Pflugerville, I was often the only English speaker in my family and helped my family navigate resources from a young age,” she said.

“At school, I watched kids like me do their best while quietly trying to hide worn-down clothes, missing supplies, and the fear of being seen as different, not because we lacked motivation, but because we lacked the support we needed,” Vivian explained in a story on Channel Kindness.

Vivian volunteered frequently at local schools after seeing that students and families faced the same struggles her family and many others in Central Texas had. “Seeing students struggle to access resources because of language, transportation, or simply not knowing where to look made me realize how important it is to bring those resources directly to them. That experience ultimately inspired me to start All The Same.”

Last year, a support specialist at Austin’s Dobie Middle School nominated Vivian for the Mayor’s Distinguished Service Award after All The Same donated more than 40,000 supplies to the school and took low-income students to NASA. All The Same has also been covered by KQED, the PBS station in San Francisco, and Vivian was profiled in Inspiring Teens Magazine in September.

Local Leaders, Global Reach

The organization’s global footprint raises an obvious question: How does a high school student identify needs in countries she’s never visited? The answer is local leadership. Students in other countries reach out to start their own chapters, and those chapter leaders become the organization’s eyes on the ground.

“Because they live there, they’re able to identify what their communities actually need and shape their work around our mission of making resources and opportunities more accessible,” Vivian said.

The same philosophy guides how All The Same chooses the schools it serves in the U.S. The organization concentrates on struggling communities and Title I schools, partnering with staff and community groups who understand their students’ needs. Vivian and her team look for places where barriers like transportation, language, and limited information make resources hard to reach, then work with school staff to deliver what students need, whether supply packages, educational opportunities, or career exploration.

Much of All The Same’s rapid growth has come from meeting students where they already are. Social media plays a central role in both recruiting volunteers and sharing the organization’s work. The team regularly posts distributions, volunteer activities, and school partnerships on Instagram and TikTok at @allthesameorg. Students discover the content, reach out to get involved, and often go on to lead their own chapters. That pipeline has fueled the group’s growth to more than 200 chapters and thousands of volunteers.

Leading at Home

Vivian’s advocacy extends to UT High School. Last year she served as vice president of the Cultural Committee. This year she is aiming higher: she is one of two finalists for Student Council president, with the election set for the last week of October.

Her goals reflect the same access-minded thinking behind All The Same. She wants to lead more engaging meetings, increase student involvement, and introduce initiatives like virtual volunteering, with service opportunities designed for UTHS’s online students, who don’t always have easy access to traditional in-person volunteering.

Whether she is working with fellow UTHS students or helping lead thousands of volunteers around the world, Vivian’s focus remains the same: making sure opportunities and resources don’t simply exist, but reach the people who need them. After UTHS, Vivian plans to major in public policy or business and likely minor in the other. “I hope to use my education to improve people’s lives while expanding my nonprofit and creating an even greater impact,” she said.