Once bullied, 11-year-old girl now inspires girls to love the skin they're in

Article By DANIELLE GENET and CATHERINE THORBECKE

Meet the 11-year-old philanthropist and entrepreneur who is collecting and donating dolls of color to little girls in need, telling ABC News that she wanted to "let little brown girls know that their image is beautiful."

Zoe Terry, 11, and her mother, Nakia Bowling, launched the nonprofit "Zoe's Dolls" in 2011 when Zoe was just 5 years old. The group gives out dolls of color to young girls whose families may not otherwise be able to afford them.

"I started Zoe’s Dolls when I was 5 years old because at that time, I was bullied because the color of my skin and because my hair was so puffy," Zoe told ABC News.

"It really made me feel really bad," she added of the bullying. "It made me feel like I couldn’t do anything."

Bowling, Zoe's mother, told ABC News that she tried to turn the bullying Zoe experienced into a teachable moment and encouraged her to be confident in her own skin.

Bowling told ABC News that Zoe will "be the first to tell you it’s not about me, it just has my name on it."

Now a sixth-grader at the same school where she was initially bullied, Zoe is thriving.

“Me and my girl our now friends and she donates to Zoe’s Dolls every year. I think how we came to that was that my school and my mom really helped me and the girl understand that our differences are what make us special and we should celebrate our differences,” Zoe said  on “GMA.”

Click here for more.