Cases with a cause: Student-designed smartphone cases celebrate women empowerment, sisterhood, and the LGBTQ+ community

The original designs by the two awesome winners of the first annual Make My Case design competition have been released by Speck, BUILT BY GIRLS, and Verizon, and they're all about supporting empowerment, sisterhood, and the LGBTQ+ community. Yeah!

Related: 17 awesome gifts that honor feminist and activist women

All entrants, including the winners - college students Dyllen Nellis and Shannon Li, were tasked with designing an original case that aligns with the BUILT BY GIRLS mission, which is to prepare young women everywhere to claim their place in the careers, industries and roles they want -- starting with the tech industry. Both designs make powerful statements, through art and in Shannon's case, words, and are now available exclusively at Verizon stores or on their website. Congrats to both of these women, and props to Speck and Verizon for supporting BUILT BY GIRLS, and the important work they're doing!