Teen Turns Adversity Into Advocacy

By Julie Peck | March 18, 2025

Listening to this year’s winner of the Generational Impact Award for outstanding advocacy reel off the many stops in her hectic high school schedule, you’d have no idea that she’s been managing juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) since age 6. Abigail Grace’s junior year studies have her balancing coursework in three separate settings: her high school, the University of South Carolina, and a highly competitive magnet program, where she takes intensive courses to prepare her for law school.

It’s that immersion in the field of law that leads Abigail Grace — who had initially set her sights on a career in engineering — to speak out about her JIA, which is currently in remission, how it has shaped her life and the role of the Arthritis Foundation in her journey.

“Working with the Arthritis Foundation has opened my eyes to how I can use my voice. I am very passionate about anti-bullying, especially for kids who have disabilities or diseases,” she says. “When I was first diagnosed, I didn’t want any of my classmates to know that I had been diagnosed. I didn’t want my dance teachers to know. I was just so scared of not being viewed as ideal, and that’s something that I’ve had to overcome.

“Working with the Arthritis Foundation allowed me to find my confidence again, and now I use my story to advocate.”

Abigail Grace showcased her story and her personal resilience in a children’s book called A Chance To Dance, which deals with how she persevered in ballet while struggling with JIA. She learned that she could continue to dance and move forward along with the other girls, even though, as she says, “I had something that made me unique.” She wanted to share that story of resilience with other children dealing with the disease.

Later, Abigail Grace created a program for others living with JIA. B.R.A.V.E. (Building Respect and Values for Everyone) for JIA is a platform that provides youth with the tools needed to promote safety, the inclusion of all children, and respect and value for all people, regardless of their differences. This led to her first work with the South Carolina Legislature, when she successfully lobbied to have June 2023 declared B.R.A.V.E. for JIA Month in the state.

She wasn’t done with the Palmetto State’s legislative body, however. Abigail Grace returned last year and worked to have the month of July declared Juvenile Arthritis Month in South Carolina. She’s no stranger to the halls of power: She has also testified on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with the Arthritis Foundation about her experiences with the disease.

The former Miss South Carolina High School America credits the Arthritis Foundation for turning her painful disease into fuel for a passion for activism.

“We started working with the Arthritis Foundation right after I was diagnosed, and if I hadn’t started working with the Foundation at such a young age, I don’t know that I would have all of the opportunities for advocacy that I have now, including my own personal initiative,” Abigail Grace says. “I’m very grateful to have the Arthritis Foundation to be able to promote advocacy, in South Carolina especially. I’m very grateful for the opportunities that I’ve been able to have.”

The Arthritis Foundation is grateful to Abigail Grace, too, whose hard work we value and appreciate. We congratulate her on being the 2024 winner of the Generational Impact Award for her amazing advocacy work.