Directory

Kirby Jones was a student at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina who majored in English with minors in sociology and Spanish. She has worked to obtain a teaching licensure and hopes to dedicate her career to the empowerment of youth from a diverse array of interests and backgrounds. Kirby has a growing passion for human rights and social justice and believes that an equitable education system forms the infrastructure for a society. However, her coursework compelled her to confront the inequalities in our schools that inhibit many young people from fulfilling their full potential. Through the YP4 fellowship, Kirby seeks to create a series of culturally sensitive and culturally relevant workshops that will give students from marginalized populations the opportunity to think critically about and respond creatively to issues that impact the world around them.

Kyle Smith was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan; Kyle was inspired to make a difference in the education system after personally witnessing the lack of motivation from administrators and male educators throughout his academic years in public and private schools. Kyle studied in the Inclusive Early Childhood Education at Bowling Green State University with goals and aspirations of becoming a principal. At Bowling Green State University, he was an active participant in the university’s black student union, Chi Alpha Epsilon national honor society, and the Sidney A. Ribeau’s President’s Leadership Academy. It is Kyle’s goal to find and collaborate with individuals who want to develop a curriculum for all children that is safe, fun, and granted the proper resources, community activities, and lessons that involved diversity, mindfulness, inspiration, and uplift. During his downtime, Kyle enjoys journaling, readings on education policies, traveling, scratching items off his bucket list, and uplifting and empowering others on in person and through social media. Kyle also loves reading poetry and plans on writing a few books to empower and discuss different tips and techniques other educators can use and how they can incorporate mindfulness practices in daily school routines.

Lexus Phillips was a student at Spelman College, originally from Memphis, TN. She was a Comparative Women’s Studies major, focused on gender and sexuality, and minoring in Sociology. She is passionate in her belief that building relationships between communities is the best way to understand, celebrate, and work across difference. As a poet, she is particularly interested in the use of creative arts as both a healing practice for marginalized communities and a tool to use in social resistance movements. The majority of her organizing centered the inclusion of LGBTQ students on her campus through programming that provides spaces for critical discourse around the intersections of sexuality, gender, and race. Her work has extended beyond campus to establish an intercollegiate network of the LGBTQ student organizations of the colleges and universities in the Atlanta area with non-profit, queer-centered organizations of Atlanta.

Raised in New England, educated in the Midwest, and powered by California sunshine, Lisa currently calls Oakland, CA home. As a young queer womxn of color with Chinese biological roots, Korean cultural roots, and a mixed race chosen family, she thinks deeply about the intersection of lived experiences and data in policy and power. Lisa is a graduate of Macalester College, where she studied Geography, Environmental Studies, Political Science, and Community and Global Health. Her experiences include work with former sex trafficking victims, low-income youth, immigrants, and refugees; she has also worked with education and tech nonprofits and government agencies of varying scales, from local government and watershed districts to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2014, Lisa researched the intersection of the Syrian refugee crisis and Jordanian water scarcity crisis in Amman, Jordan. Her professional interests include water security, environmental justice, equitable health care, and community-driven development. Lisa is passionate about ensuring the right to health and a clean environment for communities of color and low-income immigrant communities, which she sees as foundational for other visions of social justice and racial equity. She is also a performer, writer, and director, committed to working with foster youth in the juvenile dependency system. Lisa was a 2013 Public Policy and Leadership Conference participant at the Harvard Kennedy School, a 2014 Public Policy and International Affairs Law Fellow at UC Berkeley, and a 2016 Hope Institute Fellow at the Democratic National Committee. She currently serves as Special Projects Coordinator at The Greenlining Institute, an Oakland-based racial justice policy nonprofit dedicated to economically and politically empowering communities of color in CA and across the States. In this role, she develops, implements, and leads Greenlining’s Post-Election Strategy through coalition-building, content generation, art activism, strategic relationship-building, research, policy, and mobilization.

Luis Fernandez is a first generation, non-traditional college student and is a senior at Rutgers University. He is an Equal Opportunity Fund (EOF) Scholar and is pursuing a major in Information Technology with a concentration in Social Entrepreneurship and Spanish. Luis currently serves as the Program Manager of the Google Community Leaders Program (CLP): New Brunswick. Their program also serves as the global model for Google, with the mission of bridging the digital divide. Luis served as the National Committee Chairman for the Google CLP Global Toolkit expansion initiative and will serve as the first-ever Global Executive Director of the Google CLP this upcoming year. He was also asked to serve on the Youth Advisory Board of Easter Seals, one of the largest nonprofits in the world that supports individuals with disabilities. Luis has had the honor of serving as the first person in Rutgers’ history to be elected to the National BIG Association of BIG Ten Students Board, representing 14 BIG Ten Schools and over 500,000 students across the nation on issues ranging from college affordability, mental health, and sexual assault. Through his work, Luis was able to attend briefings at the White House, Department of Education, was featured on USAToday and was selected as the Student Keynote Speaker for the United Nations International Campaign, HeForShe, launch at Rutgers. His past experiences include being a Resident Assistant, an Aresty Research Assistant, an EOF Scholar and served as a Rutgers Scarlet Ambassador. In the future, Luis wants to continue to pursue his passions of business, education, mentorship, and policy by working in the space of technology!

Maia Raynor is youth educator and activist, who’s happiest when pursuing justice in education, health or working with young people to develop tomorrow’s leaders. She is fueled by the desire to address and dismantle systems of oppression within institutions. After studying Peace and Justice Studies and Public Health at Tufts University and applying these academic concepts to her extracurricular activities on and off campus, she developed a critical lens with which to undertake the task of creating a more just world. Her passions include social justice organizing around issues facing marginalized communities particularly issues of housing and displacement. She has worked with Boston Healthcare for the Homeless as a Case Management intern and served with City Year as a Corps Member. She currently serves as the Teen Education Coordinator for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston and as a doula with the Boston abortion Support collective. Her drive for creating social change comes from the influence of her family and her experience growing up in a majority black neighborhood. Maia also enjoys writing poetry, art, and pancakes. She has hopes to become a midwife and advocate for alternative birth practices nationwide. From her experience working with youth organizations, NGOs and non-profits she is hopeful for the future and ready to create sustainable change!

Maura Pereira was born in York and brought to North Carolina at a young age. She slowly started noticing that the Latino community in Rural NX was being discriminated against and not being treated equally. She joined an organization called El Cambio, who at the time was fighting for immigration reform. The more she got involved she started noticing that at a local level her community was uneducated about their human rights and what was happening at a national level. She focused on educating her community and advocated for the expansion of DACA and DAPA. She continues to fight for those who are left out. She focuses on other reliefs available for those who are fleeing from Central America.

Michael Jorell Reyes strives to have his work speak for himself and his views of humanity’s needs. Wanting people to achieve the greatest self they can be, Michael is drawn to resource accessibility and the avenues for spreading awareness and change to the inequities people experience. Focusing on internationalization amongst three seemingly different groups of study, Michael found himself working in the realms of Engineering, Social Justice, and the Arts. Innovative alternatives that can curb global energy dependency on petrol oil fuels such as solar photo-voltaic cells and wind turbine were Michael’s research of focus. His pursuit of an Environmental Engineering degree is to remain at the forefront of developing technologies. Mr. Reyes has partaken in Wind Mitigation research at UF and has attended Florida Energy Systems Consortium located at UF. However, history shows development is only possible if considered a part of an engineering plan from inception. Here social justice and engineering planning blend in the form of legislative actions that considers all people and not just the wealthy elite. Michael has served as the Public Relations officer of CHISPAS UF, a club dedicated to accessibility for undocumented students; some achievements include a graduate practicum, a paid internship and a scholarship all eligible for undocumented students. Raising awareness isn’t only signing papers but can creatively require the arts to further agendas of equality. Michael was a member of the “Florida Players Troupe” and performed an ensemble role in UF’s first attempt of “In the Heights” a Broadway musical focusing on the has lived of Hispanic immigrants raised in York City facing gentrification. This historical linkage is part of his own narrative as a Latino from New York as well. Michael actively seeks to develop these three dynamic sectors of Engineering, Social Justice, and Arts by honing the skills entangled with each.

Monique Sawyer was a non-traditional transfer student at Roanoke Chowan Community College, who aims to help people find their passion and keys to success through education. During her journey as a non-traditional student, she has learned the benefits of having an education and access to educational opportunities. It is her goal to help people find these opportunities and to help them pursue their passions through traditional or non-traditional education.

Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed graduated from UCLA with a degree in political science and has served as the Associate Director of the Iranian American Women Foundation. Her passions lie in social justice, human rights, and the law. She hopes to attend law school in fall 2016 to fulfill her aspirations of providing legal representation for under-served communities. Before her academic career at UCLA, Negeen held leadership positions at United Nations Association of Orange County, as Vice-President of Membership, and Network of Iranian Professionals of Orange County, being the youngest member of the Executive Board in the organization’s 29-year history. She was a writer for Fempowerment Journal, a collaborative blog discussing feminist issues. In 2013, she was nominated for the Star Award at the OC Global Women’s Conference and received an honorable mention. Upon attending UCLA, Negeen was highly involved in student government representing UCLA in statewide and nation-wide conferences and elected UCLA’s first ever Transfer Student Representative for the Undergraduate Student Association Council. Negeen represented over 28,000 undergraduate students, hired and managed 30+ staff members, and advocated for equitable institutional change. She also served as External Vice-President of the Iranian Student Group at UCLA. Negeen was an IAWF staff member, Chair of the Orange County National Iranian American Council (NIAC) Action team, and active member of the Southwest Asian, North Afrikan Coalition, a collective she helped form in 2014. She has also led conferences on education and international relations. Her work has been featured on Washington Post, Manoto TV, Mic, KIRN 670 radio, FEMsmagazine, ABC’s Nightline, BBC World Service’s day, and Al Jazeera America.

Nuno Pereira is a first generation Mexican-American, 2016 Fellow, and community activist. As a scholar, he was recognized as a 2015 Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholar and has researched the impacts of memory on the criminal justice system in John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In the community, Nuno was involved in the organization Make the Road NJ in which he traveled to advocate for immigrant and worker rights throughout the country. Through this service he has given testimony before bodies of elected officials and activists, in locations such as the State House in Trenton NJ and Washington D.C. Nuno also has served as president of Educate the Future, a grassroots movement he founded in the town of Hillside with the mission to close the education gap by providing free tutoring services to all families regardless of their social or economic background. The organization’s, and Nuno’s, ultimate goal is to provide every child with the same opportunity to reach their full potential through a high-quality education. He has further been recognized as a 2016 Vera Fellow and will begin working with a partnering agency with the Vera Institute of Justice this coming fall. As he continues to study Forensic Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Nuno aims to shape public policy and legislation through research and reform the criminal justice and education system to best serve the community. His future goals have included continuing his studies in the United Kingdoms, receiving his Ph.D. in Psychology, and running for elected office to inspire change in the community.

Nyree Hodges grew up in Britain, CT; an only child of her strong loving mother. Her strong suits are intellectual speaking, poetry, and activism. She is a 2016 graduate of The University of Bridgeport. During her undergraduate years, she contributed to writing for the University of Bridgeport’s school paper and became Creative Chair of a poetry club on campus called (S.L.A.M.) SOPHISTICATED LOVE OF THE ARTISTIC MIND. At UB, Nyree studied Literature and Civilization her year, and thereafter changed her major to Health Sciences. At the end of her undergraduate career, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health Science – Community Health Education. In September 2015 Nyree was an intern for a Grassroots Environmental Justice Campaign in Bridgeport, CT called Healthy CT Alliance. There she was responsible for learning about environmental injustices, educating the community, public speaking, and grassroots organizing. Her primary areas of interest are preserving the natural eco-system, implementing independent food resources in communities, promoting equality amongst all classes and corporations, and devolving society constructs.

Oliver Telusma was born July 2nd, 1996 in Miami, Florida to Haitian parents. However, he is sure that his work lies not solely expanding opportunities for himself, but utilizing the resources at his disposal to create opportunities to disadvantaged communities. In his desire to combine elements of public service and civic engagement, charitable work and his love of public speaking and delivering spoken word pieces to create Progress (otelusma96.wix.com/progress), an entity dedicated to closing economic, educational and racial-based disparities. He also took up the mantle of campaign manager for Juliun Kinsey, a candidate for Alachua County School Board, who was committed to closing gaps in one of the most economically disparate areas in the state of Florida and the country (Gainesville). His desire to practice law and eventually enter public service in the future does not deter from his unwavering belief now in society’s potential to be and equitable for all people.

Omar Osvaldo Romandia was a student majoring in Economics at Arizona State University. He is the son of hard-working Mexican immigrants and proud to be the first in his family to attend college, soon to graduate with honors. Omar is an active member of his community, specifically serving underprivileged youth in their pursuits to attend college. Being a product of the public education system, he knows first-hand what changes are necessary to create competitive citizens of education. In response to Proposition 300 in Arizona that brought on unnecessary tuition hikes to hundreds of undocumented students, Omar was a member of the non-profit Manzana Foundation that helped bring affordable classes to students by establishing a satellite campus in the valley. These efforts helped keep over 300 students in college during complicated educational circumstances. Omar also developed a pilot program aimed to promote and foster STEM-ready youth in high school. By bridging the gap between technological readiness and classroom instruction, high school students can learn to enhance their problem-solving skills, yielding benefits in college and in life. After graduating, Omar hopes to pursue a Masters in Information Management and System to acquire the skills necessary to change how the public education system uses technology. His ultimate goal was to create an educational platform that would allow teachers and students to perform at their best

Raven Ealey is a social/cultural commentary writer, vlogger, poet and community organizer. She has been an active member of Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), an activist organization operating with a Black queer feminist lens dedicated to securing freedom for all Black people through direct action, advocacy, education and leadership development. She has served as Project Coordinator for the traveling photo/video campaign entitled “Our Streets Our Bodies Our Voices.” The campaign aimed to spark discussion around policing in York City and its impact on Black Yorkers. She is passionate about combating gentrification and uplifting marginalized communities through vocalizing their narratives.

Reginald James Singletary II was a student at Baylor University from the great city of Houston, TX. Reginald majored in Economics and Marketing with a Pre-Law track and was a student leader on campus. Reginald has served as the president of the NAACP chapter at Baylor, the Political Action Delegate of the Coalition of Black Ambassadors, Co-Chair of the Planning Committee for the Big XII Conference on Black Student Government coming to Baylor in 2018, and a brother of the Tau Alpha Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Reginald‘s passion is leaving a positive impact everywhere he goes and with every move he makes.

Rema Alzer is an Arab American who’s rooting stem from the holy land of Palestine. Coming from a country whose land is occupied opened Rema’s eyes to a lot of corruption and violence in the world at a young age. This made her empathetic towards victims of war, racism, Islamophobia, and injustice. Thus driving her to want to bring about change in many ways in her community. Passionate about influencing the Muslim community and urging their voices to be heard, she has educated them on the importance of voting in the presidential elections. She has also set up fundraisers to help the refugees of Gaza and Syria and regularly gathers donations for the Islamic Relief Center. Rema wants to create a platform to be able to broadcast middle eastern worlds in a truthful light to avoid media biases

Rob Alexander graduated from Morehouse College, where he majored in African American Studies and DePaul University College of Law where he was a recipient of the Benjamin Hooks Distinguished Service Award and the SBA Community Service Chair. He spent several years as a professional cook, where he began to think seriously about food security issues. He worked with a group of friends to run a non-profit dedicated to teaching young people from his community about healthy food and urban agriculture.

Ry Douglas was a Fashion Business major with a double minor in Marketing and Black World Studies at Columbia College Chicago. She is passionate about social justice for all marginalized groups but is specifically interested in doing something about the lack of representation for these groups in all media, especially in the fashion industry. She hopes to use her art and platform in the industry to make changes to the systematic discrimination set in place.

Samantha Lehman is a graduate of Hampshire College, where she studied anthropology and Middle East studies. She has worked as an educator, organizer and advocate. Samantha is passionate about educational justice and economic security, especially for families. She has experience in curriculum and project planning, campaigning, teaching, community engagement and voter outreach. She is currently working on issues related to family economic security and early childhood education.

Sandra Viviana Arboleda Moncada is a psychologist and social worker from Colombia with a focus in organizational psychology and community development. She has researched and designed programs in Colombia to work with victims of violent displacement, including indigenous populations. She founded an intervention project for disadvantaged communities in Colombia whose success led to an official government-supported mental health program funded by government and private grants. She also conducted community outreach efforts in Colombia for victims of domestic violence to promote awareness of rights, legal remedies, and prevention measures. Sandra immigrated to the United States in 2009. Since then, she worked with attorneys to start an immigration law firm, provided clinical support to Latino immigrant youths, and designed programs to assist the Latino community in the Washington, DC metro area, as well as indigenous populations in Panama. She is currently earning her Masters degree in Social Work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and she is an active member of the Latin American Solidarity Organization (LASO). Sandra will focus her career on providing adequate and culturally competent mental health care to underserved Latino immigrants in the United States.

Sebastian Nunez graduated Columbia College Chicago with a BA in General Theater with the hopes of attending grad school for Performance Studies or Chicanx/Latino Studies. After struggling with depression, he found himself in a cultural reawakening of sorts and rediscovered his roots and culture and sought to further decolonize and dive into his identity as a first generation queer chicanx of immigrant parents. An aspiring theater maker, he wishes to write, direct, and perform the stories of marginalized identities under a theater collective he is starting, 312Misfits; an intersectional, diverse theater collective of artists of all identities. He wants to be part of the movement that is seeking to diversify the American theater and bring broader representation of brown, black, queer, disabled, etc. bodies to the stage. He aims to use theater as a tool for social change and coping tool for the violence, trauma, mental illness, and social stigmas that many communities endure. Sebastian is also a Gates Millennium Scholar.

Shalesa Grey attended Winthrop University and studied business administration with a concentration in marketing. As a first-generation college student, she has served as Winthrop University’s NAACP Political Action Chair where she spearheaded initiatives to educate minorities about political issues and policies that affected them in within general and local elections. She has launched voter registration drives to register fellow students to vote on campus as well as events that covered topics such as mass incarceration, education achievement gap, and police brutality. She is passionate about social justice and voter education and hopes to use her marketing skills to create significant change within her community by motivating youth to take action.

Sohil Shah attended UNC Chapel Hill and hopes to pursue a career at the intersection of entrepreneurship and social good. Sohil has had experience running a college access organization that he co-founded, The College Essayist, and was appointed by A World at School as a Global Youth Ambassador. Sohil was also a leadership development consultant for the International Youth Council, an inaugural council member of the EarthEcho International Youth Leadership Council, and was an international development enthusiast. , Sohil continues his mission to expand education equality by planning to scale The College Essayist even further through an online platform and physical conference series. Sohil aspires to continue working to resolve equal access to higher education alongside pursuing activities in relationship to environmental activism.

Stephanie Gerspacher has attended SUNY Geneseo, studied sociology with a minor in women’s studies. She is a first-generation college student who grew up in a rural community outside of Buffalo, New York where her passion for reproductive justice and women’s rights began at an early age. She served as the president and women’s studies representative for her campus Planned Parenthood Generation Action student group. Stephanie was a public affairs intern at Planned Parenthood of Central and Western York where she engaged patients about volunteering and promoting healthy neighborhoods. For three years she has served as a rape crisis advocate for RESTORE Sexual Assault Services served five counties in Western York. During winter break of her year, she was recruited as a campaign fellow for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign to work in Iowa. She is passionate about bringing social justice to rural communities and ensuring access to reproductive healthcare in rural areas.

Summer Thompson was a Communications major with a minor in Business Administration from Abilene Christian University. She is passionate about cultural competency, sociology, and the social justice movement. On campus, she was involved with the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Black Student’s Association, and International Justice Mission. Eventually, she plans to partake in a position in the students’ association. Off campus, she served as Vice President for the Texas NAACP Youth and College Division. When people ask her how she’s doing in achieving her endeavors she always responds, “I’m doing me, but on a larger scale.

Suryaa Murali is from Fremont CA. As an ACE action Fellow for the 2015-16 Bay Area cohort, he has worked in coalition building, legislation, service, and event planning related to climate change. By doing work with ACE he was able to see that we have the capability to make social change happen to better our planet. The real issue today is people conforming to society’s so-called limitations and structure in the realm of politics, economics, and authority. People tend to make decisions that are not necessarily the best in regards to justice or society because of conforming. This world does not need economic, political, or psychological change to change for the better. It needs Moral change. He believes each one of us needs to make good moral decisions in order to stop the gridlock that is holding us back from achieving social justice in all aspects. To make change happen we must all come together with the one vision to save our planet for future generations. Suryaa hopes to build a network of like-minded people in order to achieve his goal of creating one vision based on moral values. Effective altruism is another one of his values, and it’s basically the philosophy that applies effective and evidence-based decision making. Through YP4 Suryaa took measures to make collective power, effective altruism, and moral decisions the norm of society.

Taylor Lamb was a student at the University of Virginia, studying English and Drama. She is most passionate about using art as a means to create change. This was something she has tried to do throughout her time at UVA. She has most notably done this by writing and acting in The Black Monologues, a student written/directed/and produced show about the black experience at UVA, and spending her time as social chair for Paul Robeson Players, a revolutionary Black Theatre organization. Taylor is most passionate about racial justice, women’s equality, and the intersection of these issues for black women. In addition to her artistic activities, Taylor was a small group leader for Women’s Leadership Development Program, a program designed to empower women to reach their leadership potential and teach them how to navigate the struggles they will face as a result of being women. She served as the secretary for Black Women’s Initiative, a small conversation group for black women to discuss experiences specific to them. She has interned for Iris Magazine through the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center, where she wrote articles pertaining to women’s issues. She has also been awarded the Miller Arts Scholarship, a program for exceptional artists to cultivate their artistic talent through interdisciplinary discussion and collaborative work. She plans to use the resources of this program to continue creating art which impacts social change. Taylor hopes to create and be a part of art ranging from novels to plays to TV shows and more that empower young black women, and other women of color, and help to assist in the liberation of her people.

Yetunde Obasade is a Nigerian-American and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. She has been a member of the Society of Women Engineers, an active mentor for ME2, her university’s’ Multicultural Engineering Mentorship Program, and served as the 2016 Public Relations Chair for the National Society of Black Engineers chapter at the University of Oklahoma. With a passion for sustainability and renewable energy, Yetunde plans on attending graduate school to obtain her Masters of Science in Sustainability and Design Systems. As a participant in her school’s Green Week, she advocated for the switch to renewable energy, as well as an increase in campus recycling. Yetunde is also extremely passionate about women’s’ rights and the continued advocacy for minority equality. She hopes to one day create a scholarship for underrepresented minority women who are pursuing degrees in the STEM field

Ysa Munoz was an undergraduate student at FIU. She has worked on her Political Science and Sociology dual degree, along with a certificate in Women and Gender’s Studies. Ysabella is a feminist activist who focuses her work and community service mostly on women’s rights issues. She has helped organize the first Feminist Summit in Florida, the SlutWalk, 1 in 3, and forums regarding gender issues and politics. Her main goal is to spread awareness and education in order to create a more respectful society.

Yulkendy Valdez attended Babson College and studied business management and entrepreneurship. She moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic at the age of 10, and ever since, she became more aware of the socio-economic inequalities that exist in today’s society. She was very active in leadership roles on campus from serving as Community Service Chair for both the Black Student Union and ALPFA (a Latino Business organization) to working directly with multicultural programs at her college to facilitate initiatives around diversity and social entrepreneurship. She is proud to be a Resolution Project Fellow as well as a recipient of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation-ESA LOFT Fellowship for her work on inclusive leadership and gender equality. She was admitted to the Public Policy Conference at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2013 and has spent her college journey traveling on immersive programs to Rwanda, Uruguay, Argentina, Russia, India, China, and most throughout Europe.

Zena Ali is an Egyptian-American. She is very passionate about minority-owned businesses growth within her community. Her dream is to work with Arab-owned businesses and analyze their progress. Her goal is to give these businesses the opportunity to branch out. She plans to attend North Carolina A&T for the fall semester and then UNC Charlotte for the spring semester with a major in international business. In the past, she has worked for two Arab-owned businesses, including her father’s. What she realized during this experience was that these businesses struggle in competition against those who are more privileged. Some of her achievements are the following: Treasurer of National Honor Society, Member of the National Technical Honor Society, Vice-president of Communities in Schools, and Secretary of Student Government at Northern Nash High School. Her parents brought the family to America to provide them with a better education and more opportunities. In the process of getting an education, Zena also learned how to have an open mind and a passion for others’ happiness. She says “The way to satisfaction is the freedom of choice and acceptance of one’s circumstance.” Because of this passion, she felt the need to Join Young People For because their main goal is to target hidden issues within communities. This was exactly where she feels she can make a change.

Flores-Abid is a first-generation, female college graduate from a working class family, Zuleima believes in the importance of helping people from all backgrounds allocate resources to have livable conditions to succeed in our society. As a former External Affairs Chair for Legal Education Association for Diversity (LEAD) and former mentor for Freedom4Youth, she learned that access to resources and opportunities is crucial, and makes the difference in individual’s future endeavors. Once, Zuleima graduated from UC Santa Barbara she returned to her hometown of Stockton, CA and took part in Motivation TV’s “Campaign For Change.” With a drive to bring about change, Zuleima helped to coordinate community events aimed at giving individuals an opportunity to share their story on stage. She also joined the National Alliance on Mental Illness in which she helped to run State programs and assisted affiliates in the state of California. To this day, Zuleima holds dearly in her heart the day her mother told her at the Tijuana border, “Tu Fuerte como un roble” which means “Stay Strong like an Oak Tree.” Those words have taught Zuleima that words are powerful and can change people’s perspectives towards life. That same message she plans to take to each individual she meets and hopes that those individuals pass that message on to others.

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Aber Kawas has been a burgeoned community organizer and activist for the Brooklyn and NYC community. She has completed a degree in International Studies from the City College of New York where she was the president of the Muslim American Psychologist Club. She worked as the Voter Registration Fellow at the Arab American Association of New York, where she worked to register over 2500 minority voters, and The Urban Justice Center’s Street Vendor Project, where she participated in citywide organized efforts to uphold the rights and dignity of the +20,000 food and merchandise vendors in New York City. Aber also has interned for CAIR New York and was an active member of MAS Youth New York and American Muslims for Palestine. Aber has also pursued her masters in Social Work and wants to work to improve the conditions of immigrants in the New York area by providing programs and services to both them and their children.

Adriana studied Psychology at Santa Fe Community College, where she was a Student Ambassador. Part of her job as an Ambassador was to focus on student retention and graduation. She has also been a part of the Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe, which worked to lower the rates of illiterate people in New Mexico. She has also done work for human rights, such as LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, and the Coalition for Prhasoner’s Rights. Her main focus was to improve the education system and work with students. She has become a licensed theraphast and has worked with schools as a counselor.

Aimee is a member of the Fort Peck Sioux tribe and has lived her entire life on the Yakama Reservation. She graduated with a Bachelor’s in Social Welfare. In the summer of 2012, Aimee participated in the AFSCME Union Scholars Program where she interned as a union organizer at UCLA. Aimee wants to use her experience with union organizing to alleviate institutional discrimination at the community level. In addition to the labor movement, Aimee has been dedicated to addressing the disproportionate representation of Native American children in the foster care system and work to place Native children in Native homes. She has used the foundation of her personal and educational experience as a jumped off point for something meaningful and productive for the Native community.

Alan Pelaez Lopez is an Afro-Indigenous nonfiction writer, poet, and educator originally from Oaxaca, México. Alan writes and speaks about race and racism, gender oppression, sex and sexuality, and the interconnections of settler-colonialism and undocumented immigration. Their work is influenced by their own experience growing up as an Afro-Indigenous and queer undocumented immigrant and organizing with the Student Immigrant Movement, the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, and the UndocuBlack Network.
In 2015, Alan was named one of “10 Poets for the Revolution” in the Best American Poetry Blog, and one of “10 Up And Coming Latinx Poets You Need To Know” by Remezcla Magazines. They have been published in Everyday Feminism, The Feminist Wire, A Quiet Courage, Black Girl Dangerous, and more. They have also been quoted in NPR, Huffington Post Latino Voices, Colorlines Magazine, Mic Identities, and more.
Alan lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where they completed an M.A. in Ethnic Studies and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies, as well as teaching at the University of California, Berkeley.

Alaysha attended Temple University and studied African American Studies. She has been involved in the facilitation of youth safe spaces and has facilitated a media-focused social justice internship for high school students. Her blueprint has also focused on similar capacity building with Black and Brown girls at a near by middle school. Alaysha also mentors for Big Brothers Big Sisters and has been involved on campus with Temple’s BSU and NAACP.

Alex Holland studied political science and economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and aspires for a career in public service. He co-founded the Bipartisan issues Group to open dialogue about the issues our nation faces. In addition to serving in both the Wisconsin state capitol and national capitol, Alex has represented UW-Madison on the cold, windy slopes as a member of the UW-Madison Alpine Ski Team.

Alexander has been an activist for social equality. He attended Northern Arizona University where he has a Sister of Tau Beta Sigma, the band service sorority created with the intent to support women and diversity in music. In addition, he has been an active member for PRISM to strengthen his knowledge and broaden his views of the perception of equality. With this goal, he intends to help lead forces that push for change in Arizona to increase inclusiveness and support of the LGBT community..

Alex was a first generation scholar at Tougaloo College. He was the co-founder of youth immigrant group Youth Organizers United (YOU), which advocated for advancement in education and comprehensive immigration reform. He has been dedicated to providing the immigrant community with knowledge regarding laws and policies that do – or could – affect them, as well as battled policies that negate basic human rights.

Alex has been a student at California State University, Long Beach, where he studied Political Science and Sociology. He was a community organizer with a nonprofit organization, the Orange County Congregation Community Organization, where he had the opportunity to work on a variety of issues that are important to the diverse communities of Orange County, that ranging from immigration reform to education to voting. With a background in student activism and community organizing, Alex seeks to find ways to engage the community, focused particularly on youth and seeking ways to get them engaged in the issues that are going on in their communities and, in effect, empower themselves. He eventually wishes to take what he has learned as an organizer and enter the field of public policy where he will focus on social policy.

Alexandra has demonstrated a strong commitment to expanding access and affordability to higher education through her work at the Oregon Student Association and as the Pacific Northwest Chair on the United States Student Association Board of Directors. After she helped pass Tuition Equity in Oregon, Alexandra has worked with students from across the country on developing a Tuition Equity toolkit for states that do not yet offer in-state tuition for undocumented students. She has been particularly concerned with combating the institutionalized barriers to higher education for students of color, LGBTQIA students, undocumented students, and students from other marginalized communities.

Alexandra (Allie) Lahey has been an unapologetic queer and feminist activist and Ohio State Organizer with URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, where she focused on civic engagement, trained and mobilized young Ohioans for reproductive justice.

She proudly hails from the Midwest and graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2014 with a BS in Human Development and Family Studies. She was student journalist and chapter leader with URGE, where she led the fight for accessible menstrual products and organized the first intersectional Take Back the Night rally on her campus.

As a 2013 Young People For Fellow, she worked on her campus to change sexual assault policies to make resources more accessible for survivors and has been an active alumni dedicated to training the next generation of progressive activists.

She also worked previously as an advocate at a domestic violence shelter, and with the American Association of University Women’s Tech Trek, a STEM camp for 8th grade girls. In her spare time, she likes to do trivia, travel, binge-watch Netflix and play with her cat, Mouse.

Alexandra was a Communications student at Millsaps College, and was extensively involved in the chapter of Amnesty International on her campus. She has done clinic defense work with the only women’s health clinic in all of Mississippi, and has also been an advocate for LGBTQ rights in both Mississippi, and her hometown of West Palm Beach, Florida.

Alexandria is from Ann Arbor, Michigan where she was a student at Washtenaw Community College majored in International Business and Economics. Her passion for nutritional awareness began at a young age when she realized how many local farmers were using pesticides. She broadened her horizons and was more aware and socially conscious of the impact of current conventional methods used in food production. Alexandria has always been drawn to work for companies that have been on the forefront of nutritional and environmental ethics, which led her to work at a local farm and at a Fortune 500 company. She hoped this program would give her the opportunity to guide others to understand nutritional awareness and environmental ethics.

Alexis has been an active member and leader of the Southerners on New Ground pilot program in Alabama. She has pursued a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a minor in French. She has also been a part of many progressive groups at the University of Alabama.

Amonte’, who studied Agricultural Business student, attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida. Amonte’ has been humble, passionate, eager, and committed to maked a difference in his community, and at his university, where he served as the 2012-2013 Mr. College of Agriculture and Food Sciences. With help from YP4, Amonte’ planned to start a non-profit organization to help empower, motivate, and aid single parents in the development of their children and themselves.

Andrea attended the University of Minnesota. She has worked on a variety of social justice issues, ranging from worked to get more gender neutral bathrooms on campus to voted rights. Her passion for social justice was really sparked when she spent fall semester of her junior year studying off campus in the Twin Cities through HECUA’s Inequality and America program. Andrea has been passionate about a wide variety of issues, and this was why she has been very excited to learn more about herself as to where her skills and passions align in the social justice field.

Angie Tran is a Vietnamese American, queer, first-generation college graduate who has been relearning and reclaiming her Vietnamese identity through her community work, travels, and her previous research from the Ronald E. McNair Scholars program. She is an advocate for her community in south Oklahoma City and is passionate about racial justice, education equity for students of color, Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) issues, youth empowerment, and higher education. She attributes her intellectual and personal growth in social justice issues to the relationships and experiences from the Young People For fellowship program (2013-2014), study abroad adventures in Ecuador, and summer internships with the OCA – Asian Pacific Advocates in Washington, D.C. and Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. in Los Angeles. Each travel has enabled Angie to find and embrace her authentic self, her Vietnamese and queer identities, and her pride of being from Oklahoma, even if that means leaving Oklahoma too many times.

Arleya has been a National Board Member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and a resident assistant at Xavier University of Louisiana. Her passion lies in the empowerment of communities through education and community organizing. She’s inspired by the words of Edmund Burke “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil was for good men to do nothing,” and pushes to make a positive difference wherever she can. She is determined to continue work in environments that allow her to motivate and empower others.

Aurielle is a nationally renowned poet and activist, using her words and voice to promote justice and equality for women of color, abuse victims, and young people of color. Performing under the alias Ellevated, Aurielle has always dedicated her voice and art medium as a tool to amplify the necessity of social rectification in her urban community. Aurielle has partnered with many youth and minority driven programs, including Atlanta Word Works, to develop and initiate arts education programs in the metro Atlanta area. These programs, she feels, will kick-start vehicles of change by stimulating social awareness and providing platforms of open dialogue to mobilize this generation.

Austin has served as the Chief of Staff for the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) President. He is a friendly, compassionate, and hard-working person who is committed to fighting for social justice and building student power. Austin has also been a former organizer with Cal Students for Equal Rights and a Valid Education (CalSERVE), where he organized with students and workers to fight for change both within his university and community.

Ben is a Detroit native. He is a lover of good music and queer people. He has been empowered by his hometown and inspired by the glorious people he has met through these years. Ben couldn’t wait to meet the beautiful and visionary leaders of YP4.

Ben has lived and studied in California’s Santa Cruz, and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area as a high school speech and debate coach. He was a member of Sin Barras, an organization of those directly affected by police terrorism and allies dedicated to prison abolition. On campus, Ben has been a participant in anti-privatization struggles, an organizer for the incipient California Student Union (CASU), and an ally in decolonized education.

Bianca is a Hispanic-American aspiring writer, and burgeoning humanitarian. She sees YP4 as the perfect platform to help her make a lasting change in her community. Bianca’s passions are the arts, education, mental health, and human rights. She believes in every human being’s right to health, happiness, and prosperity. Her goal is to meet and work with like-minded individuals striving to make a change in the world.

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Brandon studied political science and education policy at Stanford. In addition to serving as a Congressional intern in Washington D.C., Brandon has written for the Huffington Post, spoken for TEDx, and aspires to a career in government and public service. An aficionado of smooth jazz, Spanish language, and spoken word poetry, Brandon is excited about what lies ahead during his time on the Farm.

Brenda attended Oberlin College studying Comparative American Studies. Born and raised in Chicago, she takes particular interests in discussing and learning more about education including educational systems in urban areas, the privatization of education, education for undocumented people, or diversity in relation to transitioning into higher education. , Brenda has been involved with various campus organizations such as La Alianza Latin@, which serves as a safe-space for Latin@ identifying students. She mentored and tutored Oberlin middle and high school students through the Ninde Scholars program, in addition to being a peer mentor for Pell eligible and/or first-generation first-year students. Brenda plans on working in education in the future and hopes that opportunity will help her develop the skills and tools needed to create substantial change.

Brendien studied Political Science and Economics at Howard University, and he is prepared for his destiny. For the past 8 years, he has been active in civil and social justice as well as community development. He has argued in support of affirmative action, corporate accountability, and the Voting Rights Act on the steps of the Supreme Court, and continues to be a champion for economic development and educational equality. Brendien is a creative dreamer and decisive thinker with a vision for the future. Through YP4, Brendien continued his work in grassroots organizing and the civil rights movement.

Brian served as the Community Liaison and Campus Involvement Co-Chair of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) AZ Steering Committee. He also served as the President of the HRC@ASU chapter. Following direction and advice of the committee, Brian represented and served as a liaison of those involved with HRC at the local level with issues such as marriage equality, LGBT rights, inclusion, anti-discrimination, anti-bullying, etc

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Fatima Abdullah was a student at North Carolina State University, where she pursued a double major in Art Studies and International Studies. Fatima hopes to use her opportunities towards building dialogue through art working to bring about social change. Growing up in a culturally diverse country- the United Arab Emirates – along with being half Latina and Arab herself, encouraged an appreciation of cultural diversity, while her mother’s status as a widow opened her eyes to the unique struggles lower-income women face as breadwinners in a male dominated world. All of these factors have incentivized her to find ways to address the gender and income-based disparities in my community.

Pavitra attended the University of Michigan and spent her time as a community organizer in the greater Ann Arbor area. Her passion lies in voter engagement and creating a more inclusive and representative political process. Specifically, she works with minority women and engages them unto the electoral system. Her experience as an organizer instilled in her the value of personal stories and relationship building and these are skills she plans to use in her future.

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Zakiya was a student at Oberlin College. They were one of seven board members for the Edmonia Lewis Center (ELC) for Women and Trans*. Their work there included engaging in creative programming to transform intersecting systems of oppression, including, but not limited to, racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, xenophobia, transphobia, classism, etc. Zakiya also volunteered through America Counts (math-focused tutoring) at the Boys and Girls Clubs, which is an after-school center that provided safety, food, and education to low-income and of color youth in grades k-8th.

Priscilla Acosta is a first generation college student. She attended Northern Arizona University. Her involvement was in promoting civic engagement in lower socioeconomic communities. Her involvement in politics ranged from canvassing to organizing rallies and forums. She hopes that future policy makers are more diverse and are more representative of the United States.

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Kristina Agbebiyi is a writer, organizer, and graduate student currently living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Most of their organizing and writing focuses on feminism, reproductive justice, racial justice, and LGBTQ rights.
Kristina participated in YP4 as a fellow in 2014, and returned in 2016 as a trainer and an alumni FemMentor. Within their unpaid organizing work, they primarily worked on racial justice issues in Atlanta through a group called RiseUp, and served as the president of Kennesaw State University’s Intersectional Feminist group, YESBody.
Through these groups, Kristina participated in direct actions and campaigns dedicated to fighting white supremacy, police brutality, sexism, and xenophobia.
Kristina has also served as the Human Services intern for the Kennesaw State Academy for Inclusive Learning, an academy for adults with intellectual disabilities where they learn social, educational and work skills.
In 2017, Kristina served as the Advocacy Intern for Lutheran Services of Georgia in their Refugee Services division. Kristina also served on the advisory board for Campus Pride, an LGBTQ organization in 2016.
For paid organizing work, Kristina served as the Georgia Field Organizer for GetEqual, a radical LGBTQ group, and also as a reproductive justice blogger for Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity. They are currently serving as an Organizing Fellow with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan.
Kristina graduated with a degree in Human Services: Nonprofit Administration from Kennesaw State University in 2017, where they also received the Outstanding Graduate Award for their contributions to social justice movements, and a passion for serving others.
In the fall, Kristina will continue their studies at the University of Michigan, where they will earn their Masters in Social Work with a concentration in Social Policy and Evaluation in Community Systems. Kristina is Black, Queer, Nonbinary, and only uses they/them pronouns.

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Farhan Ahmad was a joint B.S. /M.D. candidate at The University of Texas at San Antonio with interests in public health, policy, and neuroethics. He was the co-founder of VideoMed, a project dedicated to providing free mental health care to the homeless, which is featured on Xconomy, Fox, and NPR affiliates. Farhan has also led his work on Alzheimer’s disease at the United Nations General Assembly and collaborated with NGOs to develop student-led global health projects in Peru.

BLUEPRINT: Ensuring student success in Houston. The University of Houston YP4 Fellows worked to increase the number of students who graduate from Yates High School and are able to advance on to college in order to decrease the poverty and unemployment surrounding UH. The YP4 Fellows formed an after school program featuring tutoring hours, college enrichment activities, and speakers to motivate students in their quest to graduate high school. The Fellows collaborated with: the UH Metropolitan Volunteer Program to find tutors, the UH Scholars Enrichment Program to hold college enrichment activities, and various education agencies in the Houston area to find motivational speakers for the students. The Fellows also held a FAFSA workshop once a month for students with questions regarding the application.

BLUEPRINT: Climate Change Compact at Stanford University. Stanford University YP4 Fellows worked with Campus Climate Challenge to call for a strong University commitment to the challenge of climate change, and to catalyze the institution-wide changes that will fulfill those commitments. They worked to push Stanford to become a principal signatory to the Campus Climate Change Compact by the end of the 2006 academic year, put the plan into effect by the 2007, and made measurable strides in implementation of on-campus renewable energy generation by the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year.

BLUEPRINT: Ensuring student success in Houston. The University of Houston YP4 Fellows worked to increase the number of students who graduate from Yates High School and are able to advance on to college in order to decrease the poverty and unemployment surrounding UH. The YP4 Fellows formed an after school program featuring tutoring hours, college enrichment activities, and speakers to motivate students in their quest to graduate high school. The Fellows collaborated with: the UH Metropolitan Volunteer Program to find tutors, the UH Scholars Enrichment Program to hold college enrichment activities, and various education agencies in the Houston area to find motivational speakers for the students. The Fellows also held a FAFSA workshop once a month for students with questions regarding the application.

Afsana Akter is a youth climate activist. She has worked with the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) and Global Kids. She was born in Bangladesh and moved to Brooklyn when she was ten years old. She is a graduate of Brooklyn School for the Collaborative Studies and attended Barnard College in New York City.

Fatimeh is a very active young person that has always been involved in what was going on in the world. She started becoming a speaker for important topics such as Justice in Palestine when she was 12 years old. She is going to rallies, marches, and events all her life dealing with capitalism, socialism and racism. Fatimeh Al-Sayed held leadership positions most of her years in high school and looks forward to sharing what she has learned with her communities.

Kassim was an anthropology major and economics minor at Davidson College. He is interested in social justice issues and has worked toward promoting racial equity at both Davidson and beyond. He is especially concerned with the role the education system plays in maintaining a racial and social caste system in America. As a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., he promotes brotherhood and academic excellence while providing service and advocacy for his communities. He looks forward to learning coalition building strategies with YP4 so that he can better bring different groups of people together to achieve a common goal of fighting racial injustice.

Melissa Alba was a full-time student at Loyola University New Orleans. Throughout her high school career, she participated in many community events that helped out the immigrant community of New Orleans such as free legal clinics and health fairs. Melissa volunteered for several nonprofit organizations such as Puentes New Orleans and VAYLA. She hopes to further her community involvement by starting her own campaign that would help undocumented immigrants and other members of the Latino population in New Orleans understand their rights.

Kyle attended Brown University where he studied sociology and gender & sexuality studies. There, he was the digital communications coordinator for the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center and student blog editor of Bluestockings Magazine, where his writing centered on the intersection of LGBTQ+ and feminist issues. At Brown, he was also the founder of GSASS, a student organization dedicated to working in solidarity with LGBTQ+ youth in Providence. Central to his progressive work is a commitment to exploring the power of digital organizing and activism to forge community, fundraise, shape opinions, and ultimately drive social change forward.

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Lela Ali was a 2014 YP4 alum and a graduate of North Carolina State University where she majored in International Political Science and minored in Middle East studies. She is a proud Egyptian immigrant that was raised in Rocky Mount, NC. Lela has interned with Common Cause NC where she worked with staff on grassroots organizing efforts, researched and wrote policy papers, and outreached to members of the North Carolina Legislature. She also worked with Ignite NC where she recruited students from all across North Carolina to train to be poll monitors for local, state, and presidential elections. Lela has worked in the bill drafting department at the North Carolina General Assembly.

Irving Allen has been a community organizer at the Beloved Community Center in Greensboro and Triad Coordinator for Ignite NC. He has worked to build community and youth coalitions both in Greensboro and throughout the state of North Carolina. He has also worked to train North Carolina’s next generation of activists as the Fellowship Coordinator of Ignite NC. Irving played an intricate role in organizing initiatives such as the Citizens Review Board, addressing police accountability in Greensboro, as well as the Teens Downtown Youth program. Irving has also launched GSO Voting Voices, an organization aimed at providing the greater Greensboro community with social justice and civic engagement information. Irving also served as the Communications Chair for the Greensboro NAACP chapter, National Council member for the Fellowship Of Reconciliation, Member of the Freedom Side Network, appointed to the Youth Advisory Board for the city of Greensboro, and was the Youth Director of Shiloh Baptist Church, Youth and Student Coalition for Police Accountability (Y.S.C.P.A.), Guilford Votes, and sat on the planning committees for Piedmont Together and The Wild Goose Festival.

BLUEPRINT: Reclaiming the Black Cultural Center Library at Bryn Mawr. The Black Cultural Center Library in the Bryn Mawr community was in need of repair, funding, and programming. YP4 Fellows at Bryn Mawr worked through their Blueprints for Social Justice and Sisterhood to reclaim the library as an institution that is able to serve the student community. They did so by building the library’s collection, by developing a space, structure and staff for discussions around Black culture and Black history, and through forging connections with local service-learning organizations like Books Through Bars.

Selma is an activist dedicated to creating and pulling strength and compassion from her family’s history and her personal experiences as a second-generation immigrant. As a strong advocate for racial diversity and multiculturalism, she is dedicated to empowering youth of color to make change on their campuses and in their communities. Extending her work in the state and throughout the country, Selma sat on the Board of Directors for United Council of University of Wisconsin Students and served as Chair of the National People of Color Student Coalition for the United States Student Association.

Jack was a student at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, who studied health administration & policy and public health. With a strong interest in health policy and community development, Jack is passionate about eradicating unjust health disparities, building safe and welcoming communities, and ensuring all individuals, regardless of identity, had the ability to live happy and healthy lives. Jack has gained valuable experiences through advocacy efforts and employment with local public health non-profit organizations.

Kyara Andrade (Troy Frost) is a DJ, painter and has been a student. She was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts into a poor/working class family. Her Cape-Verdean heritage and her experience as the child of a single mother has informed her life decisions and worldview the most. Growing up, Kyara’s strong interest in political movements, activism, and identity made her very aware of her racial identity, but her time at a women’s college forced her to think more deeply about her female identity and how it intersects with her race and socio-economic status.

Eddie has worked towards a degree in Industrial Design and an Associate’€™s Degree in Carpentry. In his organizing, he enjoys mixing visual arts with social media networked. He believes tolerance is the first step towards real change and equality.

BLUEPRINT: Supporting DACA Student’s Pursuit of Higher Education. Eddie’s Blueprint is helping increase access to in-state tuition fees for economically contributing immigrants, especially Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, in the state of New Mexico. Allowing DACA recipients to achieve a higher education will increase revenue and strengthen the overall economic growth and graduation rate of New Mexico.

BLUEPRINT: Community Building among Youth Organizations in San Francisco. Each of the CCSF Fellows has a background in community based youth work. They all recognized that while there were many different groups organizing youth around San Francisco, there was no sense of unity in purpose or movement building amongst the groups. They also felt that there was a lack of opportunity in the organizing world once somebody stopped being a youth. The CCSF Fellows sought to bring the different groups together to learn from each other and develop some common goals. Arjuna, Gustavo and Sammie therefore engaged in a series of train the trainer events to support ongoing community youth outreach, and held community events for local youth, all with the aim of forging a common agenda.

London was a student majoring in international studies at Spelman College. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, London loves to travel. She participated in various organizations to maintain her devotion to human rights, the elimination of domestic violence, and sex-trafficking reform. London hopes that participating in YP4 will allow her to expand her horizons, build relationships with like-minded peers, and further engage herself in service.

Hugo is the Co-Founder of Un Pueblo Unido, a group that focuses on education and increasing the involvement of parents in their students’ lives. Un Pueblo Unido collaborated with the PUHSD’s employee association and the Arizona’s Educators Association (AEA) to organize and present to communities about the opportunities for immigrant families. Hugo presented and organized events to help those eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals’ Work Permit, along with the guidelines for the possible Work Permit for Parents. He pursued his Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Information Systems, which he implemented into his non-profit and his job.

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Kevin Baisden has been an ambitious honors student versed in scholarship, leadership, and activism. He was active in the Honors community at the Northern Virginia Community College as an Honors Program member in good standing. Mr. Baisden was also the President and founding member of the Honors Club and also was employed in the Dean of Students office at the NOVA Alexandria campus. As a supporter of restorative justice, Mr. Baisden is dedicated to disrupting the epidemic of disproportionate mass incarceration among minority communities. He plans to create a statistical model to present to lawmakers who aggregate the relationship between recidivism rates and policies that hinder ex-offenders entering the workplace after paying their debts to society.

When Khari Baker was not trying to get healthier food options for the student body as Mr. Food and Nutrition, he worked diligently to find ways to help students on campus, and in the community, find viable ways to pay for education. He communicated with the Dean of Students and organized meetings with other staff to ensure that education was valued and help was accessible.

Teressa Unaliin Baldwin is Inupiaq from Kotzebue, Alaska, a small Native village 30 miles above the Arctic Circle. Teressa has focused her own work in the Native American community. She has developed a passion in mental health from a young age. Teressa traveled to over 30 indigenous communities speaking about the importance of mental health and suicide prevention. She focused her work on developing culturally relevant trainings and workshops to engage youth in the discussion around suicide prevention. Teressa was recognized by President Obama as one of his Champions of Change in 2011 for her work in native communities. Teressa has developed her early career in Washington D.C. working for a National Native organization. She currently sits on the Board of Directors for the National Indian Child Welfare Association, a nationwide non-profit that focuses on the wellbeing of indigenous children in the Foster Care system. She will be a first year graduate student at Columbia University this fall where she will be working towards a Master’s of Science in Social Work. Teressa is an alumna of UC San Diego where she earned her bachelors of arts in sociology- science and medicine.

Melissa was a Senator at Texas A&M University for the College of Education who sought to improve the university for those involved and concerned with the university. She did this through her Senate role by connecting with constituents and administration to find out their concerns and what she could do to improve the conditions.

Tyler worked with organizations to address the complex and challenging problems of education reform in the Richmond, Virginia area. Her experiences with the flawed education system have shaped the urgency she feels around education reform and motivates a desire in her to improve education holistically in the United States.

BLUEPRINT: Reclaiming the Black Cultural Center Library at Bryn Mawr. The Black Cultural Center Library in the Bryn Mawr community was in need of repair, funding, and programming. YP4 Fellows at Bryn Mawr worked through their Blueprints for Social Justice and Sisterhood to reclaim the library as an institution that is able to serve the student community. They did so by building the library’s collection, by developing a space, structure and staff for discussions around Black culture and Black history, and through forging connections with local service-learning organizations like Books Through Bars.

Claudio Barboza was a student at St. Olaf College. He majored in economics and political science with minors in Latin American and management studies. Originally from Venezuela, Claudio earned a scholarship to attend UWC-USA, where he became interested in social entrepreneurship, international development, and upward social mobility. In the past, he was involved with the Program for Reconstruction.

Emma is originally from south-central Kansas and entered her year at Kansas State University as a Fellow. There she pursued a degree in Political Science and International Studies with minors in Women’s Studies and Nonprofit Leadership Studies. While at K-State, Emma advocated for social justice through numerous progressive student organizations. As a Student Senator, she frequently met with state legislators and lobbied for comprehensive sex education, reproductive health care, gun control on college campuses, inclusive state bathroom policies and much more. Emma also worked in the Center for Advocacy, Response, and Education at K-State. This office provided advocacy to students who have experienced sexual violence. Through her work in the CARE Office and as a 4 term Student Senator, Emma worked to make sure K-State followed Title IX and supported survivors of sexual assault in every capacity. Emma is a proud member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority and was a member of Blue Key Honorary. When Emma isn’t hosting a rally or lobbying at the state capitol, she enjoys watching documentaries and cooking vegetarian meals. Emma Barnett also interned during summer 2016 with Young People For and supported the development of the Gender & Sexuality Justice Curriculum.

Emily Barney attended Arizona State University and studied Public Service and Public Policy with a minor in Political Science and a certificate in Women & Gender Studies. She was extremely involved in a variety of different social and academic organizations on campus, most notably Barrett, the Honors College. She was also the Director of Social Events in a community service based organization on campus, and additionally, she conducted undergraduate research with ASU’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Emily is exceedingly passionate about politics as she has interned for Arizona Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema and worked with the Andrew Goodman Foundation to host voter registration drives and advocacy events on campus. She is excited to work with Young People For to create a dynamic plan to advance social change in her community.

BLUEPRINT: Climate Change Compact at Stanford University. Stanford University YP4 Fellows worked with Campus Climate Challenge to call for a strong University commitment to the challenge of climate change, and to catalyze the institution-wide changes that will fulfill those commitments. They worked to push Stanford to become a principal signatory to the Campus Climate Change Compact by the end of the 2006 academic year, put the plan into effect by the 2007, and made measurable strides in implementation of on-campus renewable energy generation by the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year.

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BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

My name is Jason Baskette and I use they/them pronouns. I am an agender identified disabled person. I am an artist and designer by nature and am currently working on my second bachelor’s, this time in Graphic Design. I grew up in Connecticut and currently reside in New Haven, CT. I have done a lot of educational work surround Trans rights and Trans/gender variant work in college. At this stage in life I am using my art to bring together people from all walks of life to create and express themselves. I am also a very outspoken member of the mental health community. Most of my work there is speaking on various social media platforms on the intersection of gender identity and mental health and the struggles that come with it.

Bio unavailable.

Bio unavailable.

“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

JaQuan Beachem is a millennial interested in utilizing the arts for community creation and social change. JaQuan is a first generation Atlanta Posse scholar that recently graduated from Bard College with a bachelor’s in Theater & Performance. While an undergraduate through Executive & the Multicultural Diversity Committees he helped reinstate and institutionalize the Council for Inclusive Excellence on campus which strives to evaluate the campus climate. During his fellowship year with a YP4 fellow, JaQuan co-founded CREATIVE RESISTANCE, which aims to foster space for folks to engage with art as a means of reflection, to explore identity and trauma. This art collective pulls from the philosophies of authentic movement, mindfulness and ensemble theater practices. Currently, JaQuan works with his alma mater’s Admissions Office where he plans to continue facilitating critical social justice-oriented conversations while bridging the gaps in representation and educational access within higher education.

BLUEPRINT: Campus Climate Challenge at Temple University. YP4 Fellows at Temple University worked with the Sierra Club Student Coalition to engage in the Campus Climate challenge. They were able to sign up young Philadelphians to embrace the idea of wind power in their homes and pushed the University to adopt a variety of energy saving policies.

BLUEPRINT: Campus Climate Challenge at Temple University. YP4 Fellows at Temple University worked with the Sierra Club Student Coalition to engage in the Campus Climate challenge. They were able to sign up young Philadelphians to embrace the idea of wind power in their homes and pushed the University to adopt a variety of energy saving policies.

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Roberto, born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti has always had an interest for social change. As a young child, he could be seen helping people that were less fortunate, often sneaking in a few quarters into a homeless man’s hand when his parents were not looking. His interest in human rights took a pivotal turn in first grade after watching a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. From then on he went to research notable leaders such as Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, and Gandhi. Instantaneously his longing for a sense of leadership and social change took off. Today, Roberto is well known for his leadership as Student Council VP, NAACP Education Chair and has continued to serve the underserved by volunteering at Habitat for Humanity, and food pantries.

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Cyndi Bergloff studied linguistics at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. Her focus was on literacy in underserved communities, such as the Native/ Indigenous American community. Her educational journey was not easy growing up as a person living in two cultures and much of her primary and secondary education was spent moving between homes and schools. After transferring between three schools in higher education, she found herself at home at University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. After introspection, Cyndi found that her success and grades were because of the American Indian Student Services at UWM. The advisors were not only catering to her needs as a student, but to her needs as a Native American person. After finding that her college education was not challenging her in the ways she needed it to, Cyndi decided to take two gap years away from college to do service within the community through AmeriCorps. Cyndi spent the school year in 2014-2015 serving with City Year Seattle, and school year 2015-2016 with Playworks Wisconsin. Through her two years of service and her experiences from higher education, Cyndi learned about the importance of educating and serving the whole person. Her passions lie in social-emotional learning, literacy, and equity in the educational systems and one day hopes to create a support and mentorship system for students within her communities.

Verone Bernard was a political science major and economics minor at Howard University by way of Boston, MA. She was a 2013 YP4 Fellow and an intern with the YP4 Fellowship Program from September 2013-April 2014. As a Fellow, she worked to improve dialogue at Howard University around women’s rights and reproductive health, civic engagement opportunities, and other progressive causes. Supporting YP4’s collaborative projects, she organized Howard’s campaign on Money in Elections. Her Blueprint sought to serve as a resource to individuals who needed a refresher regarding their civic rights. From reproductive justice to voter identification laws, to laws that deal with law enforcement, Verone hopes to provide creative programming and a mobile application that gives a state-by-state analysis of the law, provide resources for counsel, and connect users with ways to report individuals when their rights were violated.

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Gabriela was a Resident Advisor at Tulane University Housing and Residence Life, where she oversaw residential communities with a focus on diversity and inclusivity, and an Intern for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. She is dedicated to creating sustainable dialogues about privilege and discrimination, as well as creating safe spaces that cater to the needs of women of color. Her involvement with organizations like Amnesty International and Planned Parenthood has allowed her to discover her passion for women’s rights and reproductive justice. Gabriela seeks to pursue her passions and develop her skills as an organizer and advocate.

BLUEPRINT: Ensuring student success in Houston. The University of Houston YP4 Fellows worked to increase the number of students who graduate from Yates High School and are able to advance on to college in order to decrease the poverty and unemployment surrounding UH. The YP4 Fellows formed an after school program featuring tutoring hours, college enrichment activities, and speakers to motivate students in their quest to graduate high school. The Fellows collaborated with: the UH Metropolitan Volunteer Program to find tutors, the UH Scholars Enrichment Program to hold college enrichment activities, and various education agencies in the Houston area to find motivational speakers for the students. The Fellows also held a FAFSA workshop once a month for students with questions regarding the application.

BLUEPRINT: The Queer Leadership Institute. YP4 Fellows at University of Texas-Austin created the Queer Leadership Institute (QLI). Through dialogue, interactive activities, training, and guest speakers, QLI poses critical questions relating to LGBTQ issues and rights to participants over the span of the institute and hopes to give participants the tools to explore questions and potential answers around transgender inclusion and safety on their campus.

Kate Black is currently serving as a Field Representative for Minnesota AFSCME Council 5, AFL-CIO, a labor union which represents workers in public employment and civil services. Kate is originally from Fargo, North Dakota and graduated with a BS in Microbiology and Chemistry from North Dakota State University. As a student, Kate served as a campus organizer with the Feminist Majority Foundation and led a team which worked in coalition with other community organizations to defeat a proposed personhood amendment to the North Dakota state constitution. Kate has also worked with Planned Parenthood affiliate groups in the state in order to facilitate healthy dialogue surrounding reproductive justice in the community, and to garner support for grassroots efforts for the organization at the national level. Kate has also worked with the North Dakota Farmers Union in their successful effort to defeat a corporate farming bill. In similar efforts, Kate led a grassroots campaign to educate around and legally challenge an unconstitutional voter ID law in her home state. During the 2016 election cycle, Kate helped in facilitating rides to polling places for those acting as water protectors during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Kate also served as an Iowa campaign organizer for MoveOn during the 2016 election, focused on grassroots organizing.

Jasmine Blackston was the second Vice President of both the Hampton chapter of the NAACP and Misses Sociology Club. Her involvement in the Hampton Roads area stems from engaging with youth in the Lincoln Park Boys and Girls Club. They constantly reminded her of what life used to be like. She is dedicated to giving children hope and reminding them that they are not a product of their environment. Her cross-campus involvement was a practical lifestyle that required time and a character that fulfilled all moral duties. She plans to develop a non-profit catering to at-risk youth while and continuing her youth activism.

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Emily was raised in Newport News and studied International Studies at George Mason University. On campus, Emily served on the executive board for her school’s Invisible Children club and worked in the Office of Orientation. Emily’s engagement in social justice is largely internationally focused, although she has a keen interest in American politics as well. She found where these two areas intersect during a course about Human Trafficking in which she learned about the slave labor used by many of America’s top companies and she has dedicated herself to advocating for fair labor practices since. She also completed an internship with Young People For, where she helped rebuild the program’s career center and select the Front Line Leaders Academy class. Emily is a fierce human rights advocate and in her free time, she enjoys playing music, sewing, and cooking comfort food.

“BLUEPRINT: Critical Queer Perspectives on Prison Abolition. Jenny is interested in the intersections of gender, sexuality, criminalization, and race. For her Blueprint, she organized a series of events at her college, one of which was a panel with three phenomenal speakers, titled Who are the Violent Ones? Critical Queer Perspectives on Prison Abolition.”” This panel invited the community to discuss the ways that gender and sexual deviance are criminalized in our society

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Marianna is from Evanston, Illinois and was elected the Vice-President for Student Life at Tulane University.
Through traveling on her gap year, she gained a passion for Gender Studies that morphed into an interest in queer theory, identity politics, and community organizing.
Marianna is one of the co-founders of the Queer-Feminist Collective student organization. As an active student leader, Marianna strived to create a more healthy relationship between her school and the city of New Orleans.

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Brandon Briscoe was a student at Capital University, studying Business Management. He is a first generation college student from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Since being at Capital University, Brandon became an intern for Capital University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, a Student Ambassador the Admissions Office, and a member of Capital University’s Integrated Marketing Communications Committee. Brandon also served as the Co-Coordinator for Capital University’s Smooth Transitions Program. He was an Equal Opportunity Review Commission Intern for the City of Pittsburgh, the home of Mayor Bill Peduto. He has also served as the Vice President of Communications of Student Government and is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Omicron Rho chapter. After graduation, Mr. Briscoe plans to attend graduate school to pursue a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management. In the future, Brandon would like to start a non-profit organization which will focus on Leadership Development for Minorities/Underrepresented Populations.

Blake grew up in Madison, Wisconsin which has some of the worst disparity gaps in the nation. This heavily influenced his motivation towards attaining justice in a variety of areas. He has been involved with the Black Lives Matter movement which is active in Madison, Wisconsin. His hometown is in the national media due to a police brutality case where Tony Robinson, a 19-year-old biracial teen, lost his life. This fueled his drive to major in Political Science and minor in Urban Studies during his time at Loyola University Chicago. His focus areas are judicial reform, economic inequality, and mass incarceration. Blake has taken part in an organization called Stop Mass Incarceration Chicago. He plans to become a civil rights lawyer in the future so that he can apply his passion for making a lasting change.

Kenyetta Brown graduated from Fayetteville Technical Community College with an Associate of Science degree in Early Childhood Education. She was a member of The National Society of Leadership and Success that rewarded excellence in the areas of academic honors, leadership and community service. Along with these honors, she has experience in community outreach from her years volunteering every Saturday at Holy Mission. She was also a two-year active member of Southern Early Childhood Association.

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Lea was a sedulous Bonner scholar who attended Guilford College. Before Guilford, Lea took a gap year to earn her pharmacy technician license and worked as a local store marketing manager. She also worked for the Multicultural Education Department and founded her own Queer People Of Color organization on campus. She has focused on justice and policy studies, African American studies, women, gender and sexuality studies, as well as English and psychology.

Nazshonnii (or Naz) attended Union College in upstate New York. As a Mechanical Engineering major and French minor, she has found ways to connect her rigorous STEM background to her dream of being a traveling polyglot. No matter how far from home, Naz has managed to stay connected with the roots from her birthplace, the Navajo reservation and hometown Oakland, CA. At Union, she was a work-study student for the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, Hillel’s Kosher Kitchen Coordinator, African Student Associations’ Treasurer, and a leader in the SAE Aero Club.

Charlie Bruce is a white, queer, nonbinary, educator, activist, and artist whose work is rooted Black liberation, native sovereignty, and LGBT equality.
Native to south side Virginia, they’ve worked in different capacities such as campaigning, demonstrating, podcasting, and painting a banner or two.
As an activist, they are most interested in storytelling to address issues of personal and historical traumas.
They will be applying their experience and values at a college in Philadelphia. In their free time, they explore the wonderful world of fermented foods.

Jahque Bryan-Gooden is a woke womxn on a mission. She is dedicated to serving others and embodies the qualities needed to be a catalyst for change in her community. She is passionate and committed to many issue areas that include racial justice, women’s’ rights, economic equality and educational equity. She is a first generation college student and recognized the impact that education has on both an individual and a community and aspires to enter the field of education reform to bring forth these benefits. Jahque holds the belief that all people are responsible for contributing to meaningful community development. She hopes to use her personal, academic and professional experience to continue to fight white supremacy and be an advocate for marginalized communities. In her spare time, Jahque enjoys writing spoken word, going for walks and traveling. Above all, she hopes that even small changes can result in lasting effects.

Jessiona was a Psychology major and African and African-American Studies minor. She was the former director of programming for the Black Student Union and is an avid believer in dedicating time to community service efforts. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. In her spare time, Jessiona volunteers at local schools in the New Orleans area. In the future, she hopes to become an AmeriCorps and Peace Corps member.

Dominik is a tenacious pioneer with a passion for uplifting and providing motivation to his peers and future generations. Serving as a correspondent for the Student Government Association of Florida A&M University, Dominik was a constant advocate for social issues and the importance of incorporating unity in the community. As an Insider, he is dedicated to providing a vision for the less fortunate and extending his hand to those looking to elevate the masses.

Brittany Burnam is a graduate of the University of North Texas. She received her Bachelors of Science in Sociology with a minor in Social Sciences. She served in many organizations and roles included The Amazin’ Zeta Eta chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., UNT Positivity Ambassadors, an SGA Senator, and a Youth Marketing Director for Cherie on Top Community Center. After her first year as UNT NAACP president, she worked with her organization and the next year they won the: National Chapter of the Year award, Economic Empowerment Award, and Voter Empowerment Award. She also served her second year as UNT NAACP President. She has spent much of her time empowering, educating, and advocating for the rights of women, poverty in America, voting rights, education, and people of color. A community organizer and educator, Brittany Burnam has spoken at and organized many programs for the community. Her first act that she was proud of was being able to speak at the rally at capitol hill in Austin, TX for social welfare and social worker rights. Brittany hopes to create a non-profit that creates opportunities and bridges the gap for those in disadvantaged communities. Also, creating her own business working with businesses and organizations to help them with their own missions and goals. With a unique focus on the social good, she is one that believes your story is someone’s testimony. You should never be ashamed of who you are or your past, but use your story as an advantage and how you can use it to look forward to the future.

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Luz was the Vice-President of the Latin American Student Association at Rollins College; an organization which aims to educate the community on relevant issues, both political and social, and engage the community in constructive dialogue. She was also active in the feminist organization on campus, Voices 4 Women, as well as the Students Against Sexual Assault group, which created workshops to empower college students and community members to be proactive in stopping sexual assault and to promote healing. She hopes to continue her work and for the programs to continue making an impact and bringing diversity to her campus.

Emmy was an economics major and served as an Advocate at the WATCH CDC Housing Clinic. As an intern for the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, she developed a strong passion for issues of economic justice and wealth inequality. Emmy is dedicated to the development of civic engagement and educational initiatives as mechanisms of addressing society’s most pressing socioeconomic disparities. A co-founder of No Labels at Brandeis University, she hopes to expand the civic involvement in fostering dialogue and engagement of students and the community on socioeconomic issues.

BLUEPRINT: Web Development through Reciprocal Learning. Emmy’s Blueprint seeks to address the issues of economic injustice by exposing students in underserved communities to quality STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education, with a focus on the inner-city and immigrant populations. Exposing youth in these communities to web development and coding skills through pair-programming-oriented mentorship by local Computer Science college students, coupled with the development of web applications and browser-based games, Emmys Blueprint develops and inspires the next generation of tech leaders from underrepresented backgrounds by providing them with the resources and mentorship they need to succeed in STEM. Emmys Blueprint also focuses on teaching basic computer and web skills to older folks in the community to bridge the common communication gap between youth and elders. With the investment of Emmys programming, youth in her community will then be able to teach computer and web skill classes to the older generation. Emmy has begun working with local non-profit organizations and public schools in the Boston community and hopes to eventually expand her program nationwide and internationally. Her ultimate vision is for all underrepresented and underserved youth to have the opportunity to create, innovate, and lead in the technology field and to find a creative outlet through technology.

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Emmy was an economics major and served as an Advocate at the WATCH CDC Housing Clinic. As an intern for the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, she developed a strong passion for issues of economic justice and wealth inequality. Emmy is dedicated to the development of civic engagement and educational initiatives as mechanisms of addressing society’s most pressing socioeconomic disparities. A co-founder of No Labels at Brandeis University, she hopes to expand the civic involvement in fostering dialogue and engagement of students and the community on socioeconomic issues.

Sixto Cancel is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University who grew up in foster care. His is the founder of Think of Us, a commitment of action for the Clinton Global Initiative. Cancel also serves as a Youth Innovation Advisor to Dell and is a member of the Youth Thrive Expert Panel. Cancel has been named a Millennial Maker by BET and recognized as one of the Top 24 Changemakers under 24 in the country by the Campaign for a Presidential Youth Council and Sparkaction. Cancel has been quoted on NPR’s “Tell Me More,” Fox News, and by the Huffington Post. Cancel presented issues facing black, LGBT youth in foster care at the White House’s Black LGBT Emerging Leaders Briefing.

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Alejandro Romo Carrillo is a son of Mexican-immigrant parents, Oakdale native, attended Modesto student College, YP4 2014-2015 Alumni and has been a Community Organizer in Merced for Communities for a New California Education Fund. He has several years of experience in political organizing, community outreach, capacity building and leadership development. Alex got his start in social justice work through the Youth Action Commission of Stanislaus County, in 2007, where he began as a volunteer and within five years served as its Executive Director. Alex developed and implemented programs to engage young people (11-18 years old) in civic participation within Stanislaus County. He is a co-founder and was President of a student organization called “The Freedom Forum”, a non-partisan political club, at Modesto student College. During his time as President of The Freedom Forum, he helped organize and execute a scholarship fund for civically engaged students, raising over $3,000.00 in seed money for scholarships. Through Young People For, Alejandro developed a social justice blueprint focused on developing young leaders and unlocking their potential in the San Joaquin Valley. He was a member of the Courts Cohort where Fellows and Alumni develop strategic plans on how to impact the United States judicial system. He is passionate about social economic issues, LGBTQ/Civil/Human rights, campaign finance disclosure reform, issues that impact rural communities in California and youth leadership development. When he is not organizing and studying, he is traveling or visiting the nearest beach.

Sapphire Carter was a honors student and Gates Millennium Scholar who studied International Relations at Carroll College in Helena, Montana. She is an enrolled member of the Chippewa-Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation in Montana. Sapphire was also a member of the National Congress of American Indian’s Youth Cabinet. She is passionate about Native American issues and policy as well as women’s rights. As an intern at Montana’s Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education for the statewide GEAR UP program, she compiled research on services that would most benefit high school students in their pursuit of higher education. She organized an Oxfam Hunger Banquet to give awareness about poverty and hunger around the world. The coordinator of Helena Food Share attended and gave information about local poverty within the community. Sapphire loves to travel. Some of her adventures include the Amazon jungle in Peru, South Korea, and Europe.

Joshua attended El Paso Community College. He has fought for LBGTQI rights at his college and helped educate people about the importance of diversity. He is a founding father of Delta Lambda Phi National Social Fraternity for Progressive, Bisexual and Gay Men at the University of Texas at El Paso. He has represented the college as a Regional President for his Student Government, and also served as the State Treasurer for the organization, which oversaw 72 colleges in Texas. Joshua was a Communications and Marketing Major and plans to attend law school. Some issues that are dear to him are LGBTQI rights and Immigration Reform. Joshua is just an amazing agent of change for El Paso!

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Maria was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she served as a mentor and the Internal Co-Director for the Scholars’ Latino Initiative (SLI), a three-year mentoring program that served Latino high school students in surrounding communities. Through her work with SLI, she became very passionate about reducing the educational achievement gap. As an advocate for equal opportunity, she hopes that her involvement targeted at youth will empower and inspire them to become change-makers within their communities.

Sarah was a pioneering member of the Social Justice Fellows Program at Rollins College and was an active member of both the feminist and LGBTQ+ activist organizations on campus. Her passion areas include working with children and addressing the issue of access to education. She is committed to looking at all concerns through multiple lenses and building community by personally embracing every individual in all of their identities. Sarah was involved with programming events for students and also worked as the assistant managing editor of a literary journal

Ashley Causey was a Special Education major at Winthrop University. She was a Lecture and Diversity Chair of the DiGiorgio Student Union bringing various acts to campus to promote awareness about different cultures to Winthrop’s community. Ashley is a McNair Scholar and studied how colleges of education can incorporate multicultural education in their teacher preparation program. She was also Vice President of Internal Diversity Training for Multicultural Student Council. Ashley plans to attend graduate school for Educational Leadership with a focus in advocacy and policy. In the future, Ashley hopes to work with building connections between communities and schools.

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Nick Chan is a Houston native and proud Texan. He is a first generation Chinese American and a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin where he studied Government and Asian Studies. He finds passion in the intersections of racial justice, gender equity, and global LGBTQ protections. In 2014, Nick worked at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute developing curriculum for ESL language learning programs and spent his summer at UC Berkeley as a PPIA Fellow. During his year, he was a White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders E3 Ambassador and YP4 Fellow, centering his blueprint project around an Asian American student conference in Austin. He worked as a legal assistant for a Chinese telecommunications company managing international business markets that cater to Asian immigrant populations in the US. During his free time, he enjoys binge watching Rupaul’s Drag Race reruns, playing board games, and cuddling with his cat Jovi.

Bernice Huiying Chan is the daughter of immigrant parents from Toisan, China. She attended Wellesley College, where she created her own Ethnic Studies Major and was a lead organizer of a student movement calling for the college to institutionalize Ethnic Studies and provide greater resources for marginalized students. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Huiying experienced and witnessed the racism and injustices within schools in relation to how working -class Asian immigrants are treated in society. She strives for a day when the next generation does not have to experience the same inequalities and one where children of color are not ashamed of their roots and home language. Huiying loves to write, perform at Open Mics, and engage in anything related to the creative arts.

“BLUEPRINT: Empowering Young Asian Americans. YP4 Fellow Arthur Chan felt there was a large discrepancy between different ethnic groups (within the Asian or Asian-American label) as well as a lack of unity. To address these needs within his community, Arthur used his Blueprint for Social Justice to create a leadership seminar called “”Empowering Young Asian-Americans.”” The seminar was designed and presented to Asian-American high school students in the D.C. Area. Arthur focused on civic engagement training as well as attempting to convey the necessary skills (public speaking

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Mili was an International Affairs and Political Science major at Florida State University. She was the core-leader of the Lake Worth chapter of Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER), a youth-led organization that aimed to address the needs of the immigrant community. She also worked on the “We Are Florida!” campaign, raising awareness about racial profiling bills in Florida. She was also an intern for Palm Beach County Coalition for Immigrant Rights (PBCCIR), implementing K Your Rights training for the immigrant community and researching the history of Florida’s immigrant rights movement.

Joe is a passionate environmentalist. From being a vegetarian to canvassing door to door to stop the pollution of coal plants in Michigan. He knows that true change starts with the individual. Though he is a hard worker for the environment, his true passion lies in history and archaeology which was what he majored in. Aside from work, he also enjoys coaching JV high school softball and playing it as well.

Bekki attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. She was a double major in Critical Media & Cultural Studies and Art History, with a double minor in English and Sexuality, Women’s, & Gender Studies. She held leadership positions in several of her college’s activist organizations, such as Spectrum (Rollins College’s LGBTQ+ organization) and Voices for Women. She is particularly passionate about disability rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and cultural heritage/property issues. She plans to pursue an MA in Social Policy and attend law school. Bekki hopes to create positive social and cultural change through work in law and policy.

Naeemah Charles was a student at SFSU where she served as Vice President of External Affairs for Associated Students at SFSU. As a student at San Francisco State University, she was a Political Science major and women and gender studies minor. Naeemah holds a great passion for progressive politics and is a strong advocate for the rights of womxn, people of color and higher education. In her spare time, Naeemah has also served as President of California College Democrats.

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Tara was the President of a local environmental club and active with the Alliance for Climate Education, Amnesty International, and a variety of other organizations. She has a broad area of interest, ranging from LGBTQ rights to Indian culture’s mainstream acceptance, and was dedicated to supporting them as she pursued her undergraduate degree. She worked on a published explanation and preservation of Hindu religious practices and on Oxford University Press’s latest Indian public health book with author Kanai Mukhjeree. Tara believes that when provided with proper awareness and tools, humanity as a whole can come together to confront the world’s problems together.

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Wadzanayi is a Zimbabwean student and graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from Hendrix College, Conway, AR. She was enrolled in the Downline Ministries Emerging Leaders Program in Memphis, TN. She is interested in the intersection between her Christian faith, social justice, and service particularly as it pertains to women and girls in vulnerable circumstances. She is also interested in cross-cultural dialogue.

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Grace Chin has a commitment to climate activism that stems from a deep concern about the destructive effects of global climate change and the realization that there is a more sustainable way of living. As a fellow with the Alliance for Climate Education, she advocated for divestment from the fossil fuel industry, gathered petition signatures, met with state legislators, and spoke at events. As a co-president of her high school’s environmental club, she has worked on increasing environmental awareness among students and on reducing the school’s carbon footprint — specifically reducing the use of bottled water and energy consumption through school-wide campaigns, the installation of several water bottle filling stations, and collaboration with Next Step Living, a Boston-based home energy efficiency company.

Rachel is a New Jersey native and was a student at Washington University in St. Louis where she pursued a major in American Culture Studies and minors in Anthropology and Music. Rachel seeks to understand the intersections of religion, women’s health, and gender equality in social, cultural, and political discourses in the United States as academic and personal interests. Applying this knowledge beyond the classroom through campus and community engagement, she strives to redefine how American politics and culture imagine and treat women in order to create a more just society.

Brooke Cisneros was a student at the University of New Mexico. She was a part of Ready to Run NM. The non-partisan program meant to provide women with tools to run for elected office or become more involved in public service. Through her internship, she closely worked with the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute. She roles the at University’s Children.

As a member of the Black Executive Exchange Program, Alexandria looked to hone her business marketing skills into advocacy. She has worked as a marketing intern for the U.S. Department of Energy where she had the opportunity to lead an outreach initiative to promote the department

Economic Justice

Brienne Colston was a student at Lawrence University. She was heavily involved in student activism, being the vice-chairperson of the Lawrence University Committee on Diversity Affairs, founder and president of All Is One: Empowering Young Women of Color, and chapter president of her local sorority. Colston’s hometown is the South Bronx, and she is committed to the empowerment of young women of color in low-income neighborhoods around the United States. Brienne is a proud alumna of the Sadie Nash Leadership Program Summer Institute and a Posse Foundation scholar in Lawrence University Posse 5.

BLUEPRINT: Creative Resistance at George Washington University. George Washington University YP4 Fellows engaged in an incredibly successful event called YP4 Creative Resistance. They organized a forum that also served as the kick off event for Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Crashing the Gate book tour. YP4 Fellows were able to bring students, activists and community members from across Washington DC to the event and to engage in a lively discussion afterward. Adam Connor, a 2006 YP4 Fellow took this experience with him to his training as part of the Front Lines Leaders Academy, and continues to work to find new and innovative ways to engage people in the political process.

BLUEPRINT: Greening Ohio State University. YP4 Fellows wanted to see Ohio State University become an environmentally friendly, or green, campus. With 58,000 students, The Ohio State University is the largest University in the nation. YP4 Fellows worked with campus offices and several student groups to challenge the administration to go green. Fellows and their allies developed several commercials to be shown on the campus television station, stickers to place over light switches reminding students to turn off lights and buttons to wear in order to show support for a greener OSU. They also held a solar powered Green Fair featuring several environmental solutions. For example, Toyota brought hybrid vehicles the school could use in its fleet. To bring their message home to students, the Fellows and like minded students conducted a dorm raid in which they replaced all of the light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs. The students continued to push the administration to rely on green sources of power and to dedicate some of their energy savings to continued research on environmental sustainabilty.

Regem was the External Representative of IDEAS (Improving Dreams, Equality, Access, and Success), the campus voice of undocumented immigrants at UCLA. With IDEAS, Regem was dedicated to spearheading legislative visits, phone banking, weeks of action, as well as assisting IDEAS’ END team to prevent the separation of immigrant families. He acted as a liaison for work at the campus, state, and national levels with other immigrant rights organizations demonstrating how coalition building is essential to organizing. He hopes to develop groups like IDEAS across the county to act as a continued force to effect policy changes that positively impact the immigrant community.

Ty is an activist and was the President of the Associated Students of Santa Monica College, where she advocated and worked towards college affordability and student success. Ty has a passion and a vision to make quality education free and accessible to everyone, as she believes that all social injustices are deeply rooted in education or the lack thereof. She advocated with the Student Senate for California Community Colleges and with local and state representatives to increase public education funding, student success and to close the achievement gap. She has authored and lobbied for many resolutions and initiatives and has founded the first community college Roosevelt Institute Chapter to encourage her peers to participate in the political process and join the progressive movement.

Dr. Crystallee Crain has been an educator, small business owner, and advocate for human rights. Ms. Crain has over a decade of experience in leadership development, teaching, and capacity building for organizations that work to prevent violence. Crystallee owns and operates Peaceful Profits, a conscious book and merchandise company. She founded Prevention at the Intersections, where she trained violence prevention strategists across the country. In 2011 she was featured in TIME magazine in the PROTESTOR Person of the Year issue. Recently, Dr. Crain has developed a project called the Truth Telling Series where she aims to broaden the violence prevention agenda to include accountability for acts of state violence. Ms. Crain has organized using methods and inspiration from popular culture, community based research, and community healing strategies. She understands the connection between self, society and the impassioned spirit that fuels our connection to others and our desire to make change. She earned a Doctorate of Philosophy in Transformative Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA. She holds a Master of Arts in Social Sciences (concentration in Sociology from Eastern Michigan University), and a Bachelors in Political Science from Northern Michigan University. In 2013 she received advanced training in Health and Human Rights in the School of Public Health at Harvard University. In 2011, Dr. Crain received the Norman Lear Alumni Award from Young People For. In the spring of 2014 she self-published the 1st edition of her first book – A People’s Primer: Exploration of Government & Social Change.

BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “Michigan Civil Rights Initiative” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly.

“BLUEPRINT: Igniting Political Dialogue and Action at Howard University. Howard University YP4 Fellows created “”Project Voice

Jabari Crenshaw was born and raised in Raleigh, NC. Jabri‘s goals have been to help inner city communities starting with his hometown. Jabari started a program called “Family Evolution” which is a Mentor and Education program that helps inner city kids have access to resources and information that will help them succeed. It is also in place to bring the community together as well and to collectively unite and bring resources together and help provide for each other. Jabari comes from a larger family and that has shaped his lens for social justice. Coming from a household of 5 siblings and a single parent, Jabari’s upbringing was very humble. He learned how to adapt to his surroundings at a very young age. In poverty-stricken families and communities, there seemed to only be a few outlets for young black males. Street Life or Sports life, having an education and going to get a college degree wasn’t the main topic. Jabari worked very hard and received a full scholarship to Wingate University and after two years of playing football, Jabari had to leave his university due to poor decisions. From those decisions, Jabari would rebuild himself. Jabari wants to make sure that the bridge to get young black youth in inner cities on the right track gets built and stays strong. Jabari knows their story and what it takes to succeed. Jabari wants to pursue a degree in early childhood education.

Ymani is the founder and creator of gracegoldandgold.com. She is a natural hairstylist, future expressive art therapist, and blogger. Ymani graduated with her degree in Creative Art Therapy from DePaul University in 2016. Developing a strong passion for helping people discover their dreams, she realized that cultivating and inspiring was her passion. Ymani uses her zeal for the visual performing arts to heal, direct, and love to help people reach their full potential.

Taylor Crumpton is a Master’s of Social Work Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. She is studying macro social work practice and working with Project HOME, a Philadelphia non-profit organization empowering individuals to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness through affordable housing, employment, health care, and education, in their Advocacy and Public Policy Department. During her time as a graduate student at Penn, she assists in the Gender and Sexuality Policy Lab which reconceptualizes policy work across public and private institutions to inform the lives of people experiencing marginalization in society and the housing economy–particularly LGBTQ youth who are most at risk.
Through her involvement with Young People For, she collaborated with a team of fellows on an amicus brief for the Whole Women’s v. Hellerstedt Supreme Court case, and was featured as a speaker for Center for Reproductive Rights Stop The Sham rally during the oral arguments of Whole Women’s. Her writing has been featured in Glamour, The Guardian and Teen Vogue.

Kanan identifies as a genderqueer trans* individual and majored in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies while minoring in queer studied at California State University, Long Beach. Kanan was a leader of the Choice USA chapter at California State Long Beach and has been passionate about advocating for reproductive justice issues for people in the queer and trans* community. Kanan is dedicated to deconstructing hierarchies within the LGBTQ community and is continuously working for their voice to be heard as a transgender and queer activist.

Lucero was an active and dedicated student at Phoenix College who obtained her Associate’s Degree and transferred to the University of Arizona. Lucero, also known as LuLu, is a proud Latina that has many dreams and turns them into reality by taking action! She has gained many leadership skills from participating in leadership workshops and conferences and wants to continue learning and to gain new experiences. LuLu hopes to inspire many young people through her life experiences and motivating them to take action in their dreams as well.

Stephanie was born and raised in Northern Arizona but has lived in Lawrence, Kansas. She is of the Navajo/Dine Tribe and attended Haskell Indian Nations University where she majored in American Indian Studies.

BLUEPRINT: Immigrant Rights Education at Trinity University. The YP4 Fellows at Trinity University engaged with the Administration to develop a semester-long program designed to educate the entire community about immigration and related social justice issues. The program launched in the spring 2007 semester and included: an ongoing debate series, an academic symposium, artistic and visual exhibits, advocacy trainings and smaller informational events.

Dom is an accomplished political communications associate specializing in strategic communications and speechwriting.
His experience staffing political campaigns has given him the skills to be an effective grassroots organizer and engage community stakeholders with a keen sense of issues that are of greatest concern.
He cares deeply about progressive issues including racial and economic justice, immigration, environmental and food policy.

BLUEPRINT: Immigrant Rights Education at Trinity University. The YP4 Fellows at Trinity University engaged with the Administration to develop a semester-long program designed to educate the entire community about immigration and related social justice issues. The program launched in the spring 2007 semester and included: an ongoing debate series, an academic symposium, artistic and visual exhibits, advocacy trainings and smaller informational events.

Nathan attended St. Olaf College. While attending he led various student groups such as the International Student Organization and was involved in programs against racial and religious identity-based discrimination on campus.
While focusing on campus activities is important to Nathan, he continues to strive for a career after college in social justice and specifically would be involved in reconciliatory work.

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Aditi Dinakar attended Creighton University, studied Economics, Health Administration, and Policy, with a minor in Public Policy. She was active in Creighton Students Union and enjoys writing legislation to improve the campus in student government. Aditi was also a programming intern for the Lieben Center for Women, the school’s women center. She is passionate about women’s representation, equal pay, cyberbullying legislation, and other social justice issues. In the future, Aditi would like to work at a non-profit or a public policy consulting firm, actively involved with social justice.

BLUEPRINT: The Goodfight – Speaking Truth to Power. YP4 Fellows at Universitiy of Minnesota were inspired by how Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas book Crashing the Gate used the power of the internet to affect social change. They worked on building, branding and publicizing a University of Minnesota- wide online forum called “”The Goodfight – Speaking Truth to Power.”””

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BLUEPRINT: Immigrant Rights at Carlton College. The Carleton YP4 Fellows wanted to inform their campus about immigrants rights issues, encourage people to think about the issue in a progressive way, and build an alliance between the campus and local Northfield community. To do so, the Carleton YP4 Fellows brought several groups together to host an informational panel featuring several faculty members knowledgeable about the issue of immigration. Community members were also invited and encouraged to attend. The debate was lively and productive. The Fellows designed and distributed bumper stickers at the event designed to show their support for immigrants rights. There are now many cars driving around Northfield with their bumpers declaring Si Se Puede!

Corey Dutton is a first-generation college student at the University of Louisville, where she studied History and Criminal Justice with a minor in French. She has been involved with her school’s Honor’s Student Council where she has worked to increase diversity and inclusion on Louisville’s campus as well as raise awareness about social justice issues on campus and around Louisville. She worked with Kentucky Refugee Ministries as a Rise-Up mentor where she helped young refugees find a path to college. As well as being very passionate about refugee issues and America’s role in global relations, Corey found her biggest passion in issues facing the Native American communities of the United States. She hopes to shape policy affecting the criminal justice system on reservations as well as advocate for Native American education across the country.

Julia was the Vice Chair of the Student Senate and President of the Pittsburgh Student Government Council. She has also been a first-year women’s mentor. In these roles, she worked to improve campus policies on sexual assault and its related violence and was trained to work with survivors. She has worked to change campus culture by working with students to use arts and technology to enhance educational initiatives

“BLUEPRINT: Buildling the “”Not in Our Town”” Movement. Columbia College YP4 Fellows worked on the production crew of the PBS documentary of the “”Not in Our Town”” movement. “”Not in Our Town”” is a national movement that encourages community response to hate crimes. The project combined PBS broadcast

Victoria is a courageous individual who is passionate about establishing real change in all of the communities of which she belongs. She studied Sociology and African-American studies. Additionally, Victoria devoted much of her energy to her elected positions as a member of Georgetown University’s Provost’s Committee on Diversity, a student-faculty committee, and as an executive board member of Georgetown’s NAACP chapter. She also loves activism, Black Feminism, music, popular culture, laughing and most importantly her family. Although she aspires to attend law school, Victoria is not certain of what her career trajectory will be. Nonetheless, she plans to always stay true to the people and to herself.

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Makela Elvy was an environmental geoscience major at DePauw University, a Bonner Scholar who committed 280 hours of service annually, a Posse scholar and a DePauw Community Service coordinator. As a coordinator, she was dedicated to creating opportunities for students to become more active in the local community and aimed to increase consciousness about issues being faced by not only the student body but also within the community.

Rubi was a Marketing and Management student at the Robins School of Business of the University of Richmond. She enjoys participating in the management of cultural organizations and advocating for social change. She was the co-founder and president of the group Ritmo Latino which promoted cultural awareness through dance. Rubi served as a student advisor with the Peer, Advisors and Mentors program at the University. She is a co-founder and organizer of the Siler City Immigrant Rights Team. Through the Fellowship Rubi hopes to give a stronger voice to the Hispanic-Latino community in her town, and throughout the nation.

“BLUEPRINT: Critical Queer Perspectives on Prison Abolition. Jenny is interested in the intersections of gender, sexuality, criminalization, and race. For her Blueprint, she organized a series of events at her college, one of which was a panel with three phenomenal speakers, titled Who are the Violent Ones? Critical Queer Perspectives on Prison Abolition.”” This panel invited the community to discuss the ways that gender and sexual deviance are criminalized in our society

“BLUEPRINT: Critical Queer Perspectives on Prison Abolition. Jenny is interested in the intersections of gender, sexuality, criminalization, and race. For her Blueprint, she organized a series of events at her college, one of which was a panel with three phenomenal speakers, titled Who are the Violent Ones? Critical Queer Perspectives on Prison Abolition.”” This panel invited the community to discuss the ways that gender and sexual deviance are criminalized in our society

Born in California and raised in Kansas, Leo lived in both a deeply blue state and a deeply red state. Leo attended Yale with interests in a wide range of subjects including international relations, government, foreign languages, and neuroscience. He says, “We have to learn how to listen more and speak less. When we engage in dialogue, we create solutions that satisfy all parties. Today, instead of listening, we tend to be stubborn in our ideologies and reject any sort of opposition before even considering it. Listening is the silver bullet to solving all conflicts whether they’re on a local, national, or international level.” He enjoys catching up on the latest events happening worldwide and traveling.

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Karim was a student at The George Washington University, majoring in International Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Resolution. In Fall 2014, he studied comparative human rights in Chile, Jordan, and Nepal, where he got the opportunity to meet with civil society leaders who were finding local solutions to pressing challenges. Farishta is a John F. Kennedy School of Government Public Policy and Leadership Conference Fellow and has worked at the Alliance for Peacebuilding to join other innovative Peacebuilders with their projects. Karim is also the founder of the youth-led Global Issues Summit in Sugar Land, Texas.

Jasmine has served as the Civic Media Coordinator at the Marian Cheek Jackson Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and been a youth mentor with Sacrificial Poets. She mentored for a youth radio show that aired every month and taught workshops on spoken word, writing, and public speaking skills. Jasmine enjoys writing, spoken word, performing, DJ’ing on the radio, and being a youth activist. Through the Fellowship, she hopes to gain more skills to take back to her community and students.

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Gustavo Figueroa studied at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. His focus of study involved a double major in Biology and Environmental Studies. He was involved in social justice work and movements at Lawrence University including co-founding Alainza, which was a Latin@ organization aimed to provide support and community for leadership Latin@ students, and he was involved with the Lawrence Enhancing Diversity in the Sciences (L.E.D.S.), where he helped direct a workshop on ally ship and intersectionality. Figueroa is also interested in exploring environmental justice and the connections it has with global politics, as well as promoting more ethnic inclusion in the science classes.

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“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

Cintia is an Oakland native and she studied Environmental Studies at University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC). Her social justice experiences range from art to event planning. She is passionate about community organizing around education, food justice, queer people of color, and the environment. She was a member of Familia X, an organization that focused on creating a safe space for queer Latin students at UCSC. Although Cintia does not yet have set plans for her future in community activism, she knows that she will give back to her community in Oakland.

Colleen Fonseca has worked as a Public Information Officer for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department in the Division of External and Community Affairs. In this position, she developed and implemented media, communications, and public relations strategies to advance initiatives and policies to deter youth crime and expand advocacy for re-entry programming. Impassioned to break down structural inequalities that often lead to criminal activity, Colleen has served as a Mayoral Fellow for the previous Mayor of Providence, at the Rhode Island Statehouse as a Senate Policy Intern, Massachusetts Statehouse, Rhode Island Office of the Child Advocate working on the issue of domestic minor sex trafficking and much more. In addition, Colleen was the youngest woman to serve in the Action for Boston Community Development: Mattapan Advisory Board. She also served as the Public Policy Director for Equality for HER, a women’s empowerment organization that seeks to create an intersectional feminist space. A graduate of St. John’s University and Bostonian Colleen hopes to continue to work within her own community to uplift the quality of life for all citizens.

Sarah is a nonfictionist who has lived in Georgia where she attended Georgia Southern University. She wrote about Southern culture, queer identity, Latina identity, and the strange little place where they all intersect. Her work has appeared in The Q Review, Lavender Review, and Diverse Voices Quarterly. Sarah was a 2012 Lambda Literary fellow, a correspondent for Choice USA, and a contributing editor for Autostraddle. She was named the winner of Seekardia’s 2012 poetry contest.

Leah Ford is a short, queer, anti-racist feminist who loves cats. They studied sociology and gender and sexuality studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Leah has served as co-president of their college’s Voices for Planned Parenthood chapter and co-coordinator of the service-based Queer Advocacy group. Leah interned with their local Planned Parenthood affiliate in the summer and fall of 2014 as a campus organizer against the anti-choice Tennessee Amendment 1.

Tiffany, a Chicago native, was a Human and Social Development and Economics double major with a minor in Health Sector Management and Policy at the University of Miami. In addition to her involvement in student organizations, Tiffany served as a student assistant and resident assistant on campus. Through interactive coursework, she remained active in the university community and the Miami community as a whole.

She was involved with research that explored health disparities within minority populations. In the summer of 2012, Tiffany served as an intern with a federally qualified health center in Detroit where she worked to increase patient satisfaction. She has a passion for equal access to quality healthcare and representative health education materials. Having achieved multiple semesters on the President and Provost’s Honor Rolls, she continues to demonstrate the importance of student involvement, strong academics, and a passion for the community.

BLUEPRINT: Consciousness Raising at Georgetown University. Georgetown YP4 Fellows brought a progressive training to campus to inspire the masses to become more active politically. At the conference, participants learned about issues in the LGBTQ community, womens rights, and voters rights. The Fellows training was held in September and was an incredible success, they trained close to 100 active and engaged students.

Samara Foster was an undergraduate at Boston College and has a passion for social change, love, and equality. She majored in Sociology and minored in African and African Diaspora Studies and Women and Gender studies. She was actively involved on her campus and was respectfully considered a student leader in promoting campus diversity. She was on the e-board of the Black History Month Committee, President of the NAACP, and the chair and creator of on-campus inclusive initiatives, and much more. She is dedicated to social awareness and community building. She also conducted research in Jamaica where she interviewed inhabitants of St. Elizabeth with the intention of contributing to the field of Sociology with her findings.

Griselda was a student at Paradise Valley Community College. She was a mentor and one of the program coordinators at Manzana Foundation a non-profit organization. Griselda was involved in various political campaigns and was responsible for communications in her department at Manzana Foundation. Her involvements helped her reach her goal of majoring in psychology and political science. She plans on attending law school in the future. She hopes to help her community overcome immigration and educational attainment issues.

Flor was a social work major at Salem State University. Her past experience included working as an Academic Mentor for freshmen and sophomores at Salem State University. She has a passion for helping college students succeed academically. She is looking forward to starting field work at Healing Abuse Working for Change (HAWC) and helping survivors of violence empower themselves. She loves to cook, bake and help others.

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Erin Gaddis was a communication specialist major from Baylor University with an interest in Public Affairs and Domestic Policy. She has studied and presented on the topic of cultural competency and has a vested interest in the social justice movement.

BLUEPRINT: The Goodfight – Speaking Truth to Power. YP4 Fellows at Universitiy of Minnesota were inspired by how Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas book Crashing the Gate used the power of the internet to affect social change. They worked on building, branding and publicizing a University of Minnesota- wide online forum called “The Goodfight – Speaking Truth to Power.”

Santiago Quintana was the president of the Outdoor Environmental Club and a member of the Sexuality and Gender Alliance at Beloit College, WI. He is dedicated to questioning the opposition of activism and academia in both environmental and queer groups. He also hopes to create connections through the engagement of theories in action and of action in theories, as well as the inevitable theoretical aspect of movements, and the inevitable impact of theory.

Gabe Gardiner uses they, them and theirs pronouns. They attended the University of Oregon, where they’ve were given many opportunities to do social justice work and organize. They got their grounding through the Oregon Student Association (OSA), a statewide student advocacy nonprofit that fought for student’s voices on a statewide level. With this organization, they participated in voter registration, tuition freeze campaigns, cultural competency for public higher education institutions and so much more. They also worked with their student government as well as the United State Student Association to work for students on a campus-wide, state and federal level.

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Kyler attended the University of Texas at Austin studying Political Communications. For much of his undergraduate career, Kyler focused his attention on societal inequalities and the work necessary to eliminate such disparities. He has served as the Chair of the Campus Social Justice Committee and has also interned with the Texas Gay Straight Alliance Network where he developed strategies and toolkits to help combat anti-LGBT bullying in public schools across the state. Kyler also studied abroad in London, where he learned the foundations and applications of public policy as it relates to social and economic justice. Kyler has also interned at People For the American Way.

Brielle is from Phoenix, Arizona and has studied Spanish and Sociology with a minor in philosophy at Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff. She grew up in a community where volunteering was encouraged. Their activism for Phoenix’s homeless, immigrant, and young mother populations played a key role in the formation of her progressive values. She was a co-founder of NAU Collegetown and has served as an advisor to the 2013 executive board. Brielle is an enthusiastic Sex and Body Positive advocate and proponent of the power of contagious optimism. She cares deeply about social stratification on the basis of socioeconomic status and access and their correlative relation to racial minorities. She enjoys all things Harry Potter, clever puns, Swedish Fish, world travel, and weird animal YouTube videos.

which would implement significant budget cuts and could force graduation from state universities to occur within four years

James hails from Kansas City, Missouri, but later resided in Washington, DC. He has worked on a multitude of issues that affect his community including children’s rights with the Children’s Defense Fund; youth justice with the Municipal Court of Independence; homelessness prevention with Enterprise Community Partners, Incorporated and Housing Counseling Services; and various constitutional rights issues with the U.S. House of Representatives and Office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia. These experiences confirmed with James that he has the knowledge and skill-set to build an organization that addresses the root of these issues. Ultimately, James would like to serve as an attorney for justice. He would like to take home the lessons and best practices he has learned in the nation’s capital to help build up the community in which he was born and raised. His passion for justice is what drew him to Young People For (YP4).

Antoinette Gingerelli was a student at Rutgers University pursuing majors in Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies as well as minors in Middle Eastern Studies and International and Global Studies. Antoinette worked with the Douglass Friends of UNFPA where she found a passion for global health and served as President. For two years, she served as treasurer for the Rutgers Women’s Political Caucus, which encouraged women to run for public office and become actors in the political sphere, and served as President as well. Antoinette served as the AAUW Youth Representative to the United Nations, a County Committeewoman in her hometown and Ms. EduCare 2015 for EduCare Foundation Inc. In the future, Antoinette hopes to pursue a career in social policy reform focusing on health care and education. She hopes to empower women and ensure they are represented in decision-making regarding public policy.

Ismael Gomez is a first generation college student who strives to be the first in his family to earn a Bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. His motivation for accomplishing his academic goals is fueled by the hope that his successes would inspire Hispanic youths to pursue post-secondary education. Ismael demonstrates his passion for empowering the Hispanic community by working for the Nash-Rocky Mount Schools Migrant Education Program. Through this program, Ismael has had the opportunity to tutor students who move from state to state due to their parent’s migratory agricultural work. These students often do not perform well in school due to the varying academic standards across the U.S and the abrupt interruption of their academic year. Ismael has worked to narrow the gap in the education of these children by tutoring them in the subjects they struggle with the most. IsIsmael has served the Hispanic community by being a mentor and encouraging Hispanic youths to pursue post-secondary education in order to strengthen the Hispanic community. Ismael served as the president of the Math and Science Club as well as a student ambassador at Nash Community College and was the former vice president of the Collegiate Academy of the North Carolina Academy of Sciences. These experiences have refined Ismael’s leadership skills, which he has put to use when he worked with migrant youths. Ismael has pursued a career in Biological research and is hopeful that he will be able to serve as an example for other Hispanic youths to follow. Scholarships from NASA and grants funded from North Carolina State University served as evidence that Ismael is a serious and motivated student.

Amanda was a Sociology major at Texas A&M University. She was a member of SAVE (Student Anti-Violence Educators), a peer education group that facilitated discussions on domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault. She has served on a university sexual violence awareness committee and has appeared in her school’s public service announcements on the issue. She was a volunteer at a sexual assault resource center. Amanda is dedicated to teaching bystander intervention methods to students while promoting a safe campus culture. In addition to her victim advocacy, she was a research assistant in the Department of Sociology.

Brian studied Economic Policy at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Brian has previously worked on projects with the Alliance for Climate Education to increase energy efficiency in the Chicago Public Schools. He is passionate about environmental issues and how they relate to communities and business development. Originally from Mexico City, Brian hopes to develop a sustainable community business model that is relevant to many corners of the globe. Brian has worked with the Sierra Club on the Clean Jobs campaign in Chicago.

Jaime Gonzalez is a third generation Chicano from a working class, culturally Mexican-Catholic background, born and raised for half his life in southern California, the other half spent in Wisconsin. His passion for social justice stems from being raised by a single mother who inspires him to always fight for what is just, not only for himself but for his community as well. His involvement in the movement began in the fifth grade as he lead a sit-in against school policies that aimed at silencing student voices and expression and continued on to join organizations such as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) during high school. During his undergraduate career he served as the chair of the Committee on Diversity Affairs, a sub-committee of the student body government, which addressed issues of injustice that arose on campus using a social justice framework. He also actively participated in various diversity and inclusion initiatives on campus including developing and conducting campus wide social justice trainings for students, faculty, and staff. He also served as a member of the President’s Committee on Diversity Affairs which advised the President on diversity and inclusion matters such as recruitment and retention efforts and opportunities for improvement in academic and co-curricular programs. He also co-founded Alianza, a support group for Latinx students on campus to discuss their ideas and concerns related to their identity and culture. Jaime received his B.A. from Lawrence University and is currently pursuing his M.A. at St. Norbert College where he also serves as Assistant Director of the Cassandra Voss Center, a nationally recognized innovative academic center for gender and identity programming and scholarship.

Carlos studied Political Science and interdisciplinary Latino Studies at Amherst College. He worked to make Amherst a more welcomed and supporting environment for first-generation students through his involvement in student-led organizations like La Causa, the Latino student organization on campus. Carlos is committed to organizing as a means to achieve sustainable social change. He has been a past Midwest Academy Organizing intern and a Grassroots Organizing Weekend (GROW) trainer for the United States Student Association, an opportunity that allowed him to visit colleges across the country and train students on how to be more strategic organizers. He has plans to work on immigrant rights issues, affordable healthcare, and access to higher education. Carlos will study social justice and sustainable development in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Italia was the state coordinator for New Mexico Dreamers in Action, a youth-led organization of young immigrant students and allies that fight for equity, access to education, healthcare, and the empowerment of immigrant communities regardless of their immigration status all throughout New Mexico and the nation. Her commitment to social justice and activism allows her to use positive youth development to work with high school and college students, as well as families, in leading the movement towards human rights for all people. Italia is also extremely passionate about biology and hopes to attend medical school in the near future, while also doing community-based research.

A student at Florida State University that majored in psychology and political science, Yakiara Gonzalez is working towards becoming an activist for world peace. She was a member of the Dream Defenders Chapter at FSU, an organization committed to promoting social change by training and organizing the youth and students. She has worked as an Upward Bound counselor working with 41 high school students ranging from 9th to 12th grade. In the fall and spring of 2012, she volunteered at a day care center with the Jumpstart Program working with children on various skills such as literacy, vocabulary and phonemic awareness, to promote educational success for their futures. She continues to support those who believe in social justice, equality, and the empowerment of others. She is honored to have been awarded this opportunity to be surrounded by others who are devoted to making the world a better place.

Eunice Gonzalez-Sierra is a Mexican-American Oaxaqueña who first arrived to the United States in the belly of her immigrant mother. She was born and raised in the Central Coast in Santa Maria, CA where her parents immigrated to and dedicated their lives to picking one of the sweetest fruits in the world, strawberries. She is passionate about social justice, immigrant rights, and educational equity. With a Bachelor’s degree in Chicana/o Studies from UCLA, Eunice hopes to use her own intersecting identities to advocate for educational access and equity and a plethora of social justice issues, she served as a College Site Coordinator for UCSB’S Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) where she worked with young students to ensure they found the tenacity and drive to excel within their educational trajectory, despite many economic and institutional barriers. In the future, Eunice plans to go back to school and earn a Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership with the hopes of becoming an educational policymaker and/or a principal in one of her local middle schools. Whether it’d be making a difference nationwide or locally, Eunice plans to advocate for educational access and equity for students across the board. On her spare time, Eunice enjoys writing poetry, playing tennis and reading.

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After serving as the President of Bowling Green State University’s umbrella LGBTQ+ organization for two years, Luke was the first to hold the organization’s Undergraduate Advisor position in his fourth year at the university. He worked to start an LGBTQ+ mentorship program at BGSU, while also restructuring the university’s trans* organization as a lead facilitator. In his activism, Luke strove to bridge gaps across identities and educate others, while continuously educating himself, on the experiences of complex, intersectional identities, both inside and outside of the LGBTQ+ community.

“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

Before becoming a student at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Grant served for the National nonprofit, City Year. There, he had the opportunity to tutor underserved students while volunteering at a middle school in the South Bronx, New York. During this experience, he was able to foster a belief in the power of young people and work to eliminate income inequality. Grant’s passions are deeply rooted in his conviction that every student deserves an equal opportunity for success.

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Ana Guevara was the Core-Leader for the E.Q.U.A.L. Club at Palm Beach State College-Lake Worth Campus. With the club, she was dedicated to raising awareness about human rights issues in her community. She also believes in equality for all, but most importantly, in a color-blind society where all people can truly be included and not be judged based on their race, background, or sexual orientation. She was also involved in other college organizations, such as ASPIRA, which believed in leadership through education by mainly focusing in the educational attainment of the minorities.

Tylasha Gusman was a student at the Xavier University of Louisiana with a major in chemistry-pre-pharmacy. She has lived in New Orleans all her life. Tylasha is interested in helping low-income communities to receive access to healthcare. She feels that everyone deserves a chance at a long, happy life.

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Emelyn was a bachelor’s Degree candidate in Public Affairs and Political Science at Bernard Baruch College’s Public Affairs School. She was elected to represent Baruch College as a University Senate Delegate in 2014. Prior to her election, Vice Chair Fernandez successfully started her leadership career as a club leader at her campus. Emelyn was elected to participate in the CUNY Model Senate Program provided by Edward T. Rogowsky Internship Program in Government and Public Affairs. This opportunity made her a winner for the Somos El Futuro Scholarship and an intern in the NYS Assembly working for the Bronx as a community liaison. As Baruch student, Mrs. Fernandez served as the Co-Chair of the Voting Awareness Committee of the University Student Senate. Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, Mrs. Fernandez is also fluent in Spanish.

BLUEPRINT: Building Community in Miami. YP4 Fellows at the University of Miami brought over 1,000 university and high school students from across Miami to do service work together and to begin to build alliances between universities, high schools and community-based organizations. One participant had this to say about their experience: Along with dozens of other students from Miami-Dade College, we were able to start a vegetable garden that will provide food for the locals.”

Emma was a dual major in American Studies and women, gender, & sexuality studies, with minors in public policy and economics. She served as Student Body Vice President at the University of Kansas, where she prioritized Title IX-sexual assault efforts. Her primary area of focus is state-level reproductive health policy, and she frequently advocated in the State Legislature on behalf of young people and reproductive justice.

Stephanie served as the Development Director of the UT Microfarm, a campus farm dedicated to sustainable, organic agriculture, and the President of UT Austin Chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Through her involvement in these organizations, she explored issues of institutionalized racism and economic inequality, particularly regarding the relationship between racial and economic inequality in Austin, Texas, and access to fresh, healthy food. By connecting with local leaders and pioneering organizations such as Food for Black Thought, she seeks an interdisciplinary approach to addressing these issues in her community.

Devon is a Posse scholar from Leimert Park, Los Angeles. He completed his undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His interests include food security, social justice, edible and natural landscaping, education, and various other matters that collectively contribute to the improvement of our personal and communal mental, physical, and spiritual health. He recognizes our current food system‒s capacity to drastically shape our communities and acknowledges its power both as a tool of oppression and empowerment. With this in mind, he intends to pursue a career that further empowers people through the facilitation of progressive communal conversations around the growth and consumption of food.

BLUEPRINT: Changing Communities by Changing Consumption Habits. Devon believes food can be a catalyst for social change. Food educates, celebrates and builds community, and it drives our daily actions. If we are what we eat and our communities are only as strong as the individuals who compose it, our communities are largely shaped by our individual consumption habits. Underrepresented urban populations are often targets of inaccessible nutritious food sources, ensuing that they are plagued with expensive health issues and malnutrition. However, too much power is granted to food distributers and fast food restaurants that take advantage of cheap food production, and its time people become more creative about what they eat, innovative about how they cultivate it, and constructive by engaging in dialogues about consumption. This can be accomplished in part by providing our neighborhoods with colorful fruits and vegetables and practicing entomophagy, the consumption of insects. Insects are considered high quality, inexpensive, sustainable protein sources. By converting segments of lawns, roof tops, and vacant lots into gardens and becoming comfortable with consuming/cultivating insects, communities can begin to take back their neighborhoods and tackle the many obstacles they face.

Brent, a 2014 Fellow is now propelling himself toward the front of the issue of Courts and Community Safety and Justice particularly in the inner city communities of his hometown of Chicago. Part of the goal of his blueprint for Social Justice, seeks to lift upon the positive alternatives that might help lead to the reduction of what he labels: incarceration and assassination of people of color. Since being offered the awesome opportunity of becoming a fellow with YP4, Brent became a volunteer of many political campaigns of progressive candidates whose mission was to tackle this issue head on. He became more active in groups such as: The Stop Mass Incarceration Network, The Iron Student Network, The Black Youth Project as well as just recently joining the Associate board member of Build Chicago. Build is a nonprofit based out of Chicago, who for almost 50 years has worked tirelessly in some of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods to curb the violence that they point out takes away not only the positive potential but also most tragic, the very lives of young people. He is also a part of the Gun Violence Prevention network with Generation Progress and is among the many progressive millennials chosen to take part in the Fight for a Future summit. Brent takes great pride in speaking to younger audiences and their families about the importance of Identity, history and self- determination. He is a Child Development Specialist with JCC Chicago. Brent plans on going for a Master’s degree in Special Education in the fall of 2015.

“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

Shon was the President of the Xi Eta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, an active member of the Wake Forest University Gospel Choir, the Protégé’ Mentoring Program, and NAACP. As a first-generation college student, Shon is passionate about tackling the numerous educational disparities within the American public schooling system as well as serving as an advocate for underrepresented demographics. Shon would like to establish a non-profit that focuses on providing resources for at-risk youth so that they can pursue higher education.

Quiana was a political science major at Winston-Salem State University. A native of Rich Square, NC, Quiana hopes to bring political awareness and promote civic engagement in the rural areas of North Carolina, as well as on her university’s campus. Her passion for social justice and political activism continues to develop as she strives to educate her peers and community on the importance of being involved in every aspect of our communities.

Greg is a Ronald E. McNair Scholar from Detroit, Michigan who studied public relations and ethnic studies at Bowling Green State University.
He was the President of the Black Student Union on BGSU’s campus, an organization whose mission was to encourage and increase cultural and political awareness of black students amongst the campus community.
He would like to obtain a government career that serves disenfranchised and underrepresented communities.

Elana pursued an International Relations degree while at Hendrix College. Her interest in environmental justice led her to assist the Sierra Club in hosting a series of clean energy town hall meetings across the state. She also researched and tracked progressive policies for the Arkansas Public Policy Panel during the most recent state legislative session. Above all, she values the opportunity to watch non-traditional allies, such as hunters and conservationists, as well as natural gas companies and landowners affected by hydraulic fracturing, find common ground. Elana is passionate about building coalitions amongst diverse populations and finding non-traditional solutions for complex issues.

BLUEPRINT:  Green Corner Toolkit. After graduating from Hendrix College, Elana began working with the Applied Sustainability Center at the University of Arkansas as an Energy Corps member. While working on a series of energy efficiency and renewable energy presentations, she discovered that while some cities were interested in investing in sustainable initiatives, they lacked the necessary funds or personnel to launch a public program. In the U.S., only 12% of adults can pass a basic energy literacy exam. Elana’s Blueprint addresses this issue by providing cities with a toolkit of quizzes, educational handouts, and policy and financing information to launch a public energy education program. The Green Corner toolkit promotes energy efficiency throughout the state in order to improve local economies, promote public health, and create a more sustainable Arkansas.

Tranard Harvin attended Claflin University where he studied psychology. He has a passion for working with underprivileged youth because he has experienced such conditions growing up. He understands the value of a quality education and seeks to instill the importance of community involvement in those who fail to realize it. Tranard is the founder of the Low Country Youth Enhancement Program (LCYEP), a youth-led outreach group that seeks to enhance the natural abilities of the youth in Williamsburg County, SC. He plans to move the youth in his native community by expressing the importance of self-investment and community awareness.

Tamarre Torchon was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. There she grew up fully immersed in rich Haitian culture. Torchon was the South Eastern Regional Director for National Action Network’s Youth Move, one of the leading civil rights organizations in the Nation with chapters throughout the entire United States. She is dedicated to organizing youth in communities to advocate for social justice, education, and against youth violence. Tamarre was a student at Georgia State University and studied Public Policy and Urban Education. Torchon has plans to continue her efforts in and outside of the community through civil service and social justice work.

Courtney Hauck developed her passion for law and its role in promoting equal opportunity in business, health, and education during high school; she has carried on that passion as she remained active in her community and pursued majors in Chinese, Business, and Religion at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. She worked as a law clerk for two consecutive summers in 2013 and 2014, implemented a community project to increase college access in her hometown as a Bezos Scholar, and used her role as a Johnson Scholar and leader in campus initiatives such as Moot Court and the biennial Science, Society & the Arts Symposium. Courtney is dedicated to exploring ideas and using her knowledge to promote social justice in her campus community and beyond.

BLUEPRINT: Immigrant Rights at Carlton College.The Carleton YP4 Fellows wanted to inform their campus about immigrants rights issues, encourage people to think about the issue in a progressive way, and build an alliance between the campus and local Northfield community. To do so, the Carleton YP4 Fellows brought several groups together to host an informational panel featuring several faculty members knowledgeable about the issue of immigration. Community members were also invited and encouraged to attend. The debate was lively and productive. The Fellows designed and distributed bumper stickers at the event designed to show their support for immigrants rights. There are now many cars driving around Northfield with their bumpers declaring Si Se Puede!

Mary-Pat was the National Youth Director for National Action Network, A Peace First Fellow and a student at Spelman College. Her passion is advocating for nonviolence through direct action. Mary-Pat is a motivational speaker and community organizer. Since her teen years, she has developed strategies and advised non-profits on relevant ways to educate, engage and empower youth.

TJ is the Communications Director at Americans for Tax Fairness. Prior to joining ATF, TJ most recently served as Associate Communications Director at the Democratic National Committee, where he designed and led media events that earned millions of dollars’ worth of airtime on local and national newscasts.

Markita is a black, queer woman who served as secretary of the African Student Union at UofL, a university located in a city that has eight times the number of African immigrants and refugees than the national average. She unconditionally defends the human rights of undocumented citizens of the United States, advocates for the fair treatment and equal opportunity in the education of disempowered youth, and is dedicated to social justice with a vision for community empowerment. Markita genuinely believes that people were more important than money, and fights for a world where human needs are considered before profit.

Zachary studied political science at Columbia University. He was the co-coordinator of the Columbia Urban Experience pre-orientation program, a week-long program that introduced incoming first-year students to different communities within New York City through community service partnerships and critical academic discussion. He also served as a coordinator for the Men of Color Alliance, a multicultural community building organization. Zachary discovered his spark for political engagement while attending The American Legion Boys State of Kansas summer program, and he hopes to similarly inspire other Kansas youth. Uniting Zachary’s varied interests is a desire to build connections University people from diverse backgrounds and to facilitate growth in pursuit of a common goal.

As a student at the University of Arizona in the College of Public Health, Alma Hernandez was the Campus Engagement Coordinator for CatPac Wildcats for Israel where she oversaw the recruitment of pro-Israel political activists. Her involvement with the Global Medical Brigades Professional chapter has led her to travel to Africa and help in clinics for the underserved communities in the western region of Ghana.

Jennyfer was a student at the University of Richmond majoring in political science and international studies with a minor in women gender and sexuality studies. She was the Vice-President of Women* in Living and Learning. She has interned in various political campaigns and organized her campus to make sure that students were registered to vote as well as get out the vote efforts. She also worked as a legal secretary for an immigration law firm in Richmond, VA.

Laura Hernandez graduated from Florida International University. She holds two bachelors in Political Science and Women and Gender Studies. At FIU, Laura was Vice President of the FIU N.O.W. chapter, served on the national student advisory council for AAUW, and held several internship positions. As an active student on campus she founded the Her Campus chapter at FIU, developed Title IX resource flyers for the University, co-launched the first feminist summit, and lobbied FIU’s SGA to provide funding to send a coalition of students to the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders two years in a row. Previous to joining her current position, Laura worked as an electoral organizer in Miami for Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund under the Community Outreach where she helped to grow state membership and recruited volunteers to volunteer for the Hillary for America 2016 campaign. In her current role, Laura is able to combine her passions in feminist activism and community organizing to help progress and protect access to reproductive healthcare for all and empower the community she grew up in. Laura was also recently recognized as a “Miami Girl” leader who is shaping the future of her city. Laura enjoys creating new vegan recipes, tweeting, and reading all the feminist theory books she can get her hands on.

Joseph was a student at Modesto College in Modesto, California. Joseph enjoys volunteering in his community. Joseph majored in International Relations and plans to transfer to The University of the Pacific after MJC. Joseph hopes that one day he can make powerful impacts on disadvantaged places around the world.

As a woman who is from a working-class family, Consuelo has experienced firsthand how important education is, and how many social and economic gaps it can bridge. She has reached out to high school students on the south side of Tucson to create a visual plan of where they want to go in life and to let them know they have millions of possibilities and options if they decide to follow through and work hard. Through interning for a State Senate campaign in Arizona, Consuelo actively recruited volunteers and interns, and, with their assistance, she helped to elect political officials who support education and the LGBTQ community.

Steve’s activism at University of Texas El Paso included the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA), Queer Student Alliance, and Students for Awareness and Community Service. His volunteer experience has included the Vagina Monologues, Queer Prom, and Project Move in the community.

Born in the U.S. and raised in Mexico, Veronica came to the U.S. to pursue a major in philosophy with a double minor in religious studies and political science and would like to pursue a master’s degree in theology with a concentration in comparative religion studies and a Ph.D. in philosophy. She served as president of the Texas Freedom Network chapter at her university (UTPA) in Edinburg, Texas.

Domonique Hill attended Cleveland State University majoring in Criminology. She was a member of the University Scholars program at Cleveland State and a security guard in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Domonique Hill is a dedicated and hardworking young woman that will be the voice of her generation.

Jon Hoadley, 2005 YP4 and 2006 FLLA, is the President and owner of Badlands Strategies, a progressive strategy firm specializing in coalition management, fundraising, donor advising, and advocacy campaigns. His clients include Bridget Mary McCormack for the Michigan Supreme Court, We Are Michigan, the Michigan Election Coalition, the Unity Michigan Coalition, Fontana Chamber Arts, and others. Hoadley also managed the One Kalamazoo campaign to defend the Kalamazoo Non-Discrimination Ordinance. As a result of that victory, Hoadley regularly consults on nondiscrimination campaigns across the country. Previously, Hoadley has served as Executive Director of National Stonewall Democrats, worked for the Gill Action Fund, and managed South Dakotans Against Discrimination. In the community, he has also served as the Vice President of CARES, an HIV/AIDS Service Organization in Southwest Michigan. Hoadley has trained with People For the American Way’s Front Lines Leaders Academy to prepare the next generation of progressive public servants.

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Matt Houston has served as Principal of MLH Enterprises and Chairman of the Board for the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce. MLH Enterprises is a Dallas-based firm that provides education, professional development, and political consulting to organizations across the country. Clients include The Nelson Mandela Foundation, KIPP Charter School System, and various political candidates in the Dallas area. Matt was previously Executive Director of Group Excellence, a mentoring and tutoring company that provides programs to schools across the country. By hiring the best professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, and educators, Group Excellence sets the standard in preparing students for college and life.A desire to drive change, specifically in the area of economic equality for all, is Matt’s personal mission. Houston believes the path to success is through education and business creation. To that end, he has worked tirelessly to advocate for new businesses, wealth and job creation, and communities that create and value their economic engines.

In February of 2013, Matt was selected to the Dallas Business Journal’s 2013 class of Minority Business Leaders. Matt has also been named to the Dallas Business Journal’s 2013 list of Top 40 Under 40, an annual who’s who that includes corporate executives, entrepreneurs and business leaders.Houston has also been an active member of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, served on the City of Dallas Parks and Recreation Board, the board of the Dallas Regional Chamber, the Dallas Citizens Council, the board of the SMU Black Alumni Association, is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and was in the Blueprint for Leadership Program Class of 2008 (Center for Nonprofit Management) and Leadership Dallas Class of 2012 (Dallas Regional Chamber).Matt is a native of Dallas and earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Southern Methodist University (SMU). He is currently getting his Executive Masters of Business Administration degree from the Neely School of Business at Texas Christian University (TCU).

Adorie attended Stanford University. She is passionate about art and storytelling as a way to reclaim history, connect people across generations, and inspire collective action. She wants to learn more about the ways intergenerational trauma manifests itself, especially among historically marginalized groups, and how people can heal from this. Her involvement around campus has ranged from cofounding a developing Black Feminist Collective to advocating for improved mental health services. She aspires to develop a community program that would allow for communities, especially those of color and in poverty, to reclaim their power, resist, and reimagine the world we live in.

Jordan is a thought leader at the intersection of sustainability, environmental education, and youth empowerment. As one of the youngest sustainability educators and green school champions, Jordan understands that education is empowerment, and she made it her mission to provide youth with the inspiration and tools to create the change they want to see in their schools, communities, and cities. Jordan was an environmental skeptic until she realized she was skeptical because she wasn’t educated on the solutions to environmental issues. Jordan has worked with non-profits across the globe to create programs to educate and engage elementary through high school students on environmental issues. From opening for Secretary Hillary Clinton at fundraisers for President Obama to developing youth programs to educate pre-teens in India, Jordan’s journey to equip youth to be the catalysts for change around the world is only beginning.

Shakera was a junior majoring in Applied Communications and African American Studies minor from Fort Worth, Texas. On a mission for knowledge, integrity, and peace Shakera served as an Executive Board Member of the P.O.W.E.R. Study Group on her campus as well as a Student Ambassador for the John H. Johnson School of Communications. Shakera is dedicated to promoting her core values of love, honesty, respect, and perseverance. This has led her to seek coalition and cohesiveness in the African American community as well as between communities everywhere. A small business owner, Shakera intends to “MANIFEST EXCELLENCE” with her entrepreneurial endeavors to empower young adults, thereby “Equipping Changed Youth to Change The World”.

BLUEPRINT: Consciousness Raising at Georgetown University. Georgetown YP4 Fellows brought a progressive training to campus to inspire the masses to become more active politically. At the conference, participants learned about issues in the LGBTQ community, womens rights, and voters rights. The Fellows training was held in September and was an incredible success, they trained close to 100 active and engaged students.

Reginald (He/His/Him) is a native of Atlanta, Georgia where he attended Morehouse College and graduated with a B.A. in Sociology. After Morehouse, he moved to Brooklyn, NY where he served as 6th grade math learning specialist at Achievement First for a year. In 2016, he moved to Houston, TX to serve as founding high school math teacher at YES Prep Eisenhower. Reginald’s passion for education was ignited while serving as a scholar coordinator at KIPP: STRIVE in Metro Atlanta during his undergraduate tenure. His passion was cemented after winning the Maureen Yusef-Morales Teaching Excellence Award from Breakthrough New York, a non-profit organization that transforms the lives of motivated, low-income students by preparing them for college graduation, as a summer teaching fellow. Reginald is currently enrolled in Columbia University’s Teacher College pursuing a masters in educational leadership while also continuing to teach full-time. Reginald was a 2014 YP4 fellow where his blueprint was to create a program to activate and inspire young black boys in the Southwest Atlanta community. Reginald was also a 2016 YP4 mentor and is excited to jump back into mentorship again.

Dr. Paul-David Perry is an educator and nonprofit leader born and raised in Norristown, PA. His parents were both veterans and small business owners. He is currently the Executive Director of COLAGE, a national nonprofit that offers leadership development and community resources for the over 6 million citizens with LGBTQ parents/caregivers in the United States. Paul previously served as Executive Director of The Reset Foundation, an organization that provides education and career training to youth as an alternative to prison. Other career highlights include co-designing innovative, new high schools in a number of cities as well as working as a middle school teacher in Philadelphia. Most recently, Paul earned his Doctorate of Education Leadership from Harvard University. He is running for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th District.

Joy was a History and International Studies double major at Spelman College. She is very passionate about creating sustainable development for countries in Africa and empowering youth to create change in their communities. Joy interned at Women Watch Afrika and with the Food Chain Workers Alliance. At Spelman, she served as the Community Outreach Chair for the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, a Class Agent on the Student Philanthropy Council, and the SGA Representative for the History Club. Joy loves to let everyone know she is Nigerian. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring and listening to music.

Blessing Ikpa attended American University’s School of International Service in Washington DC to pursue her Master’s in Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs. She is most passionate about issues relating to human rights and social justice. Blessing has completed internships with Oxfam International in Italy, Oklahoma Policy Institute, and the Gender + Equality Center at the University of Oklahoma where she completed her undergraduate degree in Criminology – Sociology. Blessing hopes to continue her love of traveling through her future career while implementing a focus on basic human rights for all people.

Ayesha Islam attended Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, majored in International Studies and double-minored in Arabic and Creative Writing. She was born in Arizona, grew up throughout various areas of the Northeast, and lived in York City. As a female Muslim minority, Ayesha is a triple-threat combination of marginalized groups and fought for the voices of these communities. She was a certificate recipient of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations for her activism-based work on Guantanamo Bay and police brutality. Ayesha has worked with Amnesty International for three years, served as Student Activist Coordinator of Amnesty’s Northeast regional leadership team for one year, and contributed to multiple national level roles with Amnesty’s Headquarters. She’s had experience working for judges, law firms, nonprofits, political offices, election campaigns, and more because she believes public service is an avenue for impactful social change. Her critical essay titled “Guantanamo Bay: A Real-Life Horror Story” won a Regional Gold Key within York City, and then moved on to win a National Gold Medal within the United States for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in 2015. She believes in the power of writing to shed light on injustices and is passionate about using narratives to share oft-ignored perspectives. Ayesha is considering various paths for her future, from participating in diplomatic work with the State Department or the United Nations to working in fields of local politics and government or to become a lawyer. The specific profession doesn’t matter as much as the outcome of her work. If Ayesha can make the world a bit more bearable to live in, put one mother’s worry for her children’s safety at ease, or help one person seek justice, then she knows she was doing the right work.

Romeo Jackson is a black, queer, non-binary, feminist who is dedicated to intersectional justice and cross movement building. They attended Northern Illinois University where they pursued a specialized degree in Intersectionality and Social Justice and will be attending the University of Utah to pursue their graduate education in Student Affairs and Gender Studies. They have served as the Director of Culture Affairs for NIU’s Student Association and a student staff for NIU’s Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. Romeo also served on the National Advisory Council for the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education and the President of the Campus Pride National Advisory Board. Named one of the 100 Black and LGBT-SGL leaders to watch, Romeo is committed to uplifting and empowering queer and trans people of color through a critical black queer feminist lens.

“BLUEPRINT: Critical Queer Perspectives on Prison Abolition. Jenny is interested in the intersections of gender, sexuality, criminalization, and race. For her Blueprint, she organized a series of events at her college, one of which was a panel with three phenomenal speakers, titled Who are the Violent Ones? Critical Queer Perspectives on Prison Abolition.”” This panel invited the community to discuss the ways that gender and sexual deviance are criminalized in our society

Joanna is a New Yorker who studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she majored in social welfare with certificates in gender & women’s studies and global health. She was the publicity coordinator at The Campus Women’s Center, a resource and referral center for students of all identities on campus. Joanna has also interned at Girl Rising, where she worked on their campaign to raise awareness about the power of educating girls. She is very passionate about using feminism as a tool of empowerment for youth, and largely credits Buffy the Vampire Slayer for igniting this passion when she was young.

Jonathan Jean-Pierre was a student and former member of the varsity rowing team at Lehigh University. He worked towards a dual major in global studies and Africana studies, with a minor in mass communications and political science. After graduation, Jonathan wants to join Teach for America to tackle the education inequality and homophobia in classrooms throughout America. From his upbringing and experiences in schools, he originally believed that there was no such thing as a great teacher. As he got more involved with after school programs in athletics and Teach for America, he realized that teaching was not easy, the best teachers have to go beyond their job descriptions to change the lives of the students that they teach. While at the second annual Nike LGBT Summit, Jonathan had the opportunity to voice his own personal struggles and challenges that LGBT athletes have to deal with on a regular basis.

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Maxine Jimenez was born in the Philippines and has lived in Los Angeles, California. Her passion for social issues was ignited and inspired by her school’s environmental club advisor, Karla Johnson, Peace Over Violence’s Melodie Kruspodin, and ACE’s very own Rochelle Younan-Montgomery. Aside from doing work to help make her community and school a more sustainable place, she hopes to inspire others along the way. Her many interests have included hiking, working out, yoga, discovering scenic views, reading, singing, and trying new experiences.

the limits of hate crimes legislation as a response to violence

Eli Johnson holds a Masters in Social Work, with a specialization in policy analysis and community organizing. They are a graduate of Bowling Green State University’s social work program and a former president of the LGBTQ+student organization on BGSU’s campus. Eli has worked with LGBTQ+ folks for over served five years. They are passionate about working with marginalized communities and doing social justice work, specifically uplifting Trans, and gender non-conforming youth. Eli was also an organizer with The Ohio Student Association, working at a statewide level around social and civil issues. They also finished an LGBTQ+ resource guide for OSU students and surrounding Columbus citizens.

DeAngelic Johnson was a student at Paul Quinn College where she studied Mass Communications. On campus, she held two leadership roles and served as the Secretary to both organizations. She has enjoyed being involved in various engagements in her community, such as working closely with youth and young adults teaching literacy and forming events to help stop Mass Incarceration. As an alumnus of YP4, DeAngelic hopes to gain ideas to better her community and build stronger relationships for development of awareness.

Regennia Johnson attended the University of Oklahoma where she majored in Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Spanish and African American Studies. She is most passionate about issues relating to racial and social justice and has plans to dedicate her life as an activist for the African American community. Regennia is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., past OU Lead Delegate for Big XII Council on Black Student Govt., and past president of the OU Chapter of National Association of Black Journalist. She also worked at the Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City as an Advocacy Specialist and Records Clerk. She was a tutor on campus, alcohol peer educator, and a teaching assistant for transitioning courses. Regennia co-organized a group of OU students to travel to Ferguson, Missouri and helped with their Election Day duties. She is passionate about being a part of change and believes that the events in Ferguson (and now many other cities) have rekindled a fire to an unanswered question that American Society has tried to ignore for years. She was a former press intern the U.S. Senate through the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Ultimately Regennia plans to become a political pundit and address disparities in the African American community by virtue of economics, education, health, housing, and the criminal justice system. in 2015, Regennia served as the alumni program Intern where she worked with YP4’s alumni board and the alumni department.

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BLUEPRINT: Ensuring student success in Houston. The University of Houston YP4 Fellows worked to increase the number of students who graduate from Yates High School and are able to advance on to college in order to decrease the poverty and unemployment surrounding UH. The YP4 Fellows formed an after school program featuring tutoring hours, college enrichment activities, and speakers to motivate students in their quest to graduate high school. The Fellows collaborated with: the UH Metropolitan Volunteer Program to find tutors, the UH Scholars Enrichment Program to hold college enrichment activities, and various education agencies in the Houston area to find motivational speakers for the students. The Fellows also held a FAFSA workshop once a month for students with questions regarding the application.

BLUEPRINT: Climate Change Compact at Stanford University. Stanford University YP4 Fellows worked with Campus Climate Challenge to call for a strong University commitment to the challenge of climate change, and to catalyze the institution-wide changes that will fulfill those commitments. They worked to push Stanford to become a principal signatory to the Campus Climate Change Compact by the end of the 2006 academic year, put the plan into effect by the 2007, and made measurable strides in implementation of on-campus renewable energy generation by the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year.

Sam Jones-Darling is a junior majoring in Political Science at Eastern Michigan University where he serves Student Senator in Student Government and as a Resident Advisor in Housing. He is originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, he was educated in public school until the 9th grade when he dropped out and sought self-education earning a GED in 2014. He attended Grand Rapids Community College before coming to Eastern Michigan University. Sam is a first generation college student and identities as a queer person of color. Sam is a fellow from the 2015 class and is passionate about LGBTQ inclusion and educational justice; these passions have driven him to serve on the several statewide boards including the HIV Materials Review Panel for the Michigan Department of Education. He has previously served as the Michigan College Democrats statewide political director and served a term as a county officer. He specializes in rural community outreach and integrating moderate viewpoints into a social justice framework. He currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the City of Ypsilanti Human Relations Commission and a Officer At-Large for the EMU Interfaith Coalition. Sam has attended Grand Rapids Community College and majored in Political Science.

Born and raised in Milwaukee WI, Keyla Jones-Rosa has a passion for volunteering, community involvement, and sustainability practices. Keyla was a Political Science and Public Administration student at the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse. She was involved in numerous campus organizations such as the Black Student Unity and Rainbow Unity. In April 2014, Keyla was competitively elected to the County Board and served as the County Board Supervisor for the 5th district in La Crosse, WI. Additionally, she served on the Health and Human Services Board and the Sustainable Lax Commission. Keyla hopes to obtain a law degree and Ph.D. in political science.

Denea Joseph was a student of African-American Studies and Public Affairs Minor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Denea was born in Belize, Central America and immigrated to the United States at the age of seven years old. Denea aspires to be an attorney, seeking to advocate on behalf of the rights of those who have been largely marginalized and oppressed. At UCLA, Denea has been active in the Undergraduate Student Association (USAC) where she’s been a Presidential Intern and a staff member in the External Vice President’s office. Denea is a large proponent of educational equity and believes that education has the ability to bridge the disparities that continue to persist in the world. As a result, Denea has worked on campaigns such as Fund the UC, IGNITE (Invest in Graduation Not Incarceration, Transform Education), and Prop 13 reform to address issues of affordability and accessibility in higher education. Denea has taken her activism outside the UCLA campus by attending conferences such as the Student of Color Conference (SOCC), Student Lobby Conference (SLC), National Grassroots Legislative Conference (LegCon), and the “May Lobby” conference where she’s lobbied elected officials and met with UC Regents to voice the needs of students.”

Olugbenga spent a significant portion of his college career discussing and addressing educational inequities. As a Providence resident and student at Brown, service paved the pathway for him to address educational equity these dual domains. Olugbenga has provided college guidance and access to students at a local high school, built stronger connections between families and schools with work at Providence’s school department, and was a bilingual Spanish tutor in an elementary school. Olugbenga has also served his peers on campus as a Peer Advisor and a Department Undergraduate Group leader for Brown’s Education Department. Olugbenga recognizes that direct service does not solely address root causes of educational inequity. He has developed policy knowledge and skills to complement his service, leading Brown students into a week-long immersion into education policy in RI, and dreams of a world where equitable education is available to all.

Pierre was a Political Science major at Amherst College and the Director of the Amherst College Roosevelt Institute, a student-driven public policy organization that develops and advocates millennial ideas for change. In the past, Pierre has served as lead fellow for the statewide Roosevelt Project: Blueprint for a Millennial Massachusetts, creating a roadmap for a progressive future for the Commonwealth. He has a passion for public service, especially using the tools of government to improve people’s everyday lives. His research revolved around studying policy diffusion dynamics as a means to regulate guns in America’s cities.

Regina was a Political Science major at Florida State University, where she served as the Vice President of the campus chapter of Dream Defenders, an organization of black and brown ally youth dedicated to fighting systemic injustice. She was the Outreach Coordinator for the Center for Participant Education, a free university that provided a forum for progressive issues through classes.

Hendy is a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University, where he earned a BS in Business Administration. After graduation, he began fervently engaging the progressive causes close to his heart. Since graduation, Hendy has authored 4 inspirational books of poetry and founded ‘Poinciana Hope’ a non-profit organization promoting lifestyles of environmental sustainability. Hendy has been a Program Director at KidsRock After-School Company and has had a great time leading his team at Poinciana Hope. Hendy is passionate about the environment and equal education opportunities.

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Gianna Judkins was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and attended Howard University where she majored in Legal Communication. Gianna’s future plans upon graduating are to attend Law School to pursue a Juris Doctorate while also pursuing a Master’s in Education Policy. Her ultimate career goal is to be a game-changing political maverick who will one day serve this nation as a White House Advisor. Lastly, Gianna believes in the power of young people and in being the change that you seek. She centers her life around a quote given by First Lady Michelle Obama during the First Lady’s Bowie State University commencement address, “Be an example of excellence for the next generation and do everything you can to help them understand the power and purpose of a good education.” The First Lady’s example of excellence was one that Gianna hopes to achieve while also making a substantial, impactful and lasting change in her community. Gianna carries the Howard University motto of “Truth and Service” wherever she goes and looks forward to upholding those values as a 2016-2017 YP4 Fellow.

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Areeba Kamal was a student at Mount Holyoke College, where she studied computer science, international relations, and Mandarin Chinese. She was a proud member of the All Leadership Team for the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network and served as the President of Kuch Karo: Pakistani Students for Change. She wrote frequently about her experiences as an international student, blogs periodically on political and social affairs for a variety of forums, drinks obscene amounts of Pakistani chai and sang with a wonderful women’s choir in the Pioneer Valley. She believes staunchly in the power of empathy and resilience and is a fan of all things interdisciplinary.

BLUEPRINT: Organizing for Fairness at University of Central Florida. In order to create a more tolerant and inherently equal environment at their university, the University of Central Florida YP4 Fellows and their gay-straight alliances organized a Same-Sex Hand Holding Day on their campus. The event was designed to encourage people of the same sex to hold hands as they marched across campus to the office of the president to demand that sexual orientation be included in the schools non discrimination policy and that the university offer domestic partnership benefits to gay employees. The YP4 Fellows efforts helped to turn out over two hundred students, faculty, staff and community members to the march. After the event, they organized a postcard campaign that led to hundreds of students mailing postcards to encourage the University President to support fairness. The event was a huge success and was covered in the campus paper, regional paper, and by the local news. In the face of media pressure, the president of the university endorsed adding sexual orientation to the schools non discrimination policy.

Tory Kappel attended the University of Oklahoma and worked toward her degree in microbiology. She is originally from Southside Oklahoma City, where she participated as a social media and blog content editor for a community organization Making HERstory. Her passion for feminism and cultural differences strives for change and awareness in South OKC and society as a whole.

Power, Privilege, and Oppression
Inspired by YP4s Power, Privilege, and Oppression Workshop, Omar is using his Blueprint to develop a similar workshop at UNC Chapel Hill for students, staff, and professors. The workshop, centered on racism, is designed to raise awareness and promote understanding of oppressive structures to encourage respectful discussions of diversity and to further participants’ abilities to reflect on their own privilege within the community. Too often, peers and even professors dismiss crucial policies like Affirmative Action, and Omar hopes his work will lead to a UNC campus that is more open and willing to engage in these difficult conversations. He envisions through classes and discussions on campus, students and professors will become more understanding and address issues of power, privilege, and oppression more seriously.

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Jasper works to improve the standard of living for the queer community, both on and off campus. At Bard, they headed the Queer Straight Alliance, providing a safe, supportive environment and fun events for people of all sexual orientations and genders. Outside of school, they have worked on two marriage equality campaigns: Maine in 2012 and Rhode Island in 2013. Jasper wants to help foster community involvement at Bard year-round by connecting Bard students to the issues they’re passionate about.

BLUEPRINT: Campus Climate Challenge at Temple University. YP4 Fellows at Temple University worked with the Sierra Club Student Coalition to engage in the Campus Climate challenge. They were able to sign up young Philadelphians to embrace the idea of wind power in their homes and pushed the University to adopt a variety of energy saving policies.

Jarod studied journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has interned in the media offices of both House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Planned Parenthood Federation of America in Washington, D.C. He was also Communications Director for the late Marco McMillian’s campaign for Mayor of Clarksdale, Mississippi. Jarod has been active in his campus women’s rights organization, as well as his local church community.

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“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

Hamdee is an American born in Florida in 1995. At the age of 10, he moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he attended The School of Research Science. He moved back to the United States in order to finish his studies. He was intrigued and has great knowledge of politics, as he spends most of his time conducting research on various political issues.

Varun Khattar is a young, queer, first-generation South Asian educator and community organizer from South Windsor, CT.
He currently works for the non-profit, CT Center for a New Economy, engaging teachers, youth, and the community in an effort to seek long-term, systemic solutions to the lack of teachers of color in Hartford public schools using popular education, grassroots organizing, and collective bargaining.
In college, he discovered a passion for intersectional feminism, mentorship, facilitation, and curriculum development as part of the UCONN Women’s Center.
He facilitated consent and bystander intervention workshops for incoming first-year students, and led a discussion group dedicated to rethinking masculinity and gender-based violence prevention.
As a volunteer with youth-led immigrant rights organization, CT Students for a Dream, he gained skills and analysis as a community and campaign organizer, fighting to defend access to higher education for undocumented immigrants and resisting criminalization, policing, and deportations via relationship and community development, popular education, leadership development, fundraising, canvassing, lobbying, and direct action.
Over the past few years, he has also gained valuable experience as a bilingual/ESL tutor, nutrition educator, legal assistant, camp counselor, diversity and inclusion facilitator, intern and volunteer coordinator, medical interpreter, research assistant, and international development consultant.
He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2016 with a Bachelor’s in General Studies with concentrations in sociology, psychology, race and ethnic studies, and gender and sexuality studies.
His theory of change rests on a firm belief in the words of Arundhati Roy: “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.

Eugenia Kim was the Chair of the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network’s Brain Trust. In this capacity, she guided a team of students to design and implement Rethinking Communities, an effort to work with universities and their communities to identify and advance solutions that promoted broadly shared economic progress. She presented on the initiative at the White House and American Democracy Project Conference in 2014 and was a 2013 Summer Academy Fellow and Opportunity Leader with Opportunity Nation. Eugenia has attended New York University, majoring in Global Liberal Studies and Philosophy. She’s previously worked with the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, David Abrams Legal Clinic, and Kimmel Center for University Life.

Shinna Kim studied an interdisciplinary course of Design and Community Development, which offered her the unique opportunity to empower her community through creative thinking. She was the director of the UC Davis student food bank, The Pantry, a member of We Are Aggie Pride, which helped assess and distribute financial scholarships to UC Davis students -, a Relay For Life team captain, and a volunteer at the UCD Children’s Hospital. Shinna Kim cares about bridging the economic gap, raising cancer awareness, and empowering communities through design. Her goal is to not just to build for the community, but inspire meaning in people’s lives by building with her community members.

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Chrystal Koech is a filmmaker and writer based in Boston, MA where she worked on a short documentary about the domestic workers’ rights movement. She graduated from Tufts University in 2015 with a BA in American Studies, with coursework in education, film and gender studies. She got her start in multimedia and film through Tufts University’s Program for Narrative and Documentary Practice, during which she produced three short-form multimedia projects.

BLUEPRINT: Fostering Civic Engagement at Oberlin College. The Oberlin YP4 Fellows realized many students on campus were not from Ohio and consequently were not very aware of, or involved in, Ohio politics. The Fellows set a goal of fostering more local civic engagement in Oberlin students. They engaged in a multipart strategy to achieve their goal. First the Fellows created a thinktank in cooperation with the Roosevelt Institution to help students write policy papers and engage in issue advocacy. Secondly the Fellows helped to found the Center on Political Engagement at Oberlin College, a central clearinghouse for youth organizing and civic engagement organizations. Lastly, they tied this work together by organizing and running a large voter registration campaign on the campus and are currently involved in educating students about Ohios voter ID requirements. The Oberlin Fellows broke the story about how Lorainne County, OH, was interpreting state voter identification bill could potentially disenfranchise thousands of Oberlin voters, allowing election protection volunteers to proactively work to address the issue.

Zach was a student at George Washington University and Field Director of DC Students Speak, a network of college chapters advocating for students in Washington, DC. He helped organize GW Not for Profit, a campaign to lobby the University for greater financial transparency and for student members on the Board of Trustees. Originally from Milwaukee, Zach is dedicated to working on issues relevant to urban areas including social mobility, affordable housing, and economic development. He hopes that one day the “American Dream” will become a possibility for all.

Diva served as the Entertainment Chair for The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. Diva attended Florida State University majored in Information, Communications, and Technology. She also served as a mentor at a local community center in Tallahassee which allowed her to directly impact the youth in the community. She is committed to a life of service with interests including civil rights, non-profit work, crime prevention, social action and change, and civic engagement. She wants to gain more knowledge on what she can do as an individual to uplift her community through acts of service and leadership.

Zachary aspires to increase civic participation by making civic engagement more inclusive. Finding his roots in programs advocating for youth socioeconomic literacy and empowerment is devoted to the vision of empowerment through education and inclusion. His blueprint included a plan for the integration of a student voter-registration program at his home university; he aspires to practice law in a governmental role of advocacy. He studied physics and economics at The University of Wisconsin-Madison/La Crosse; has held numerous roles in community development programs and student advocacy, believing the best way to win change is through grassroots activism and policy. Originally born in Elizabethtown, KY, he found his home in Wisconsin, where his life was made possible by the warm-hearted, giving culture of the Midwest. So full of gratitude, he is driven to return the investment; he is an avid dreamer and runner, his favorite route being beneath the sunset of Wisconsin’s state capitol.

Sara has lived and worked in Madison, Wisconsin. She worked with two statewide student associations, United Council of UW Students and Sankofa Squad, which was an association for students of color and allies. Sara spent much of her time running the Students Against Sexual Assault campaign through United Council. She is excited to see her vision turn into a reality, and is a proud member of the YP4 2013-2014 class.

Jon was an emerging leader at Haverford College who worked on both race and immigration issues. Jon aimed to make race an acceptable subject of discussion among all students, rather than only students of color and in a broader range of social contexts. He was the only white student involved in campus black and Latino affinity groups, and a founding member of the new NAACP college chapter. He became a leader of the campaign to establish need-blind admissions for undocumented applicants to Haverford.

Jacqui Lambert was born and raised in the Northwest Arctic region of Alaska in a town called Kotzebue. She is an Inupiaq Eskimo dedicated to keeping her culture alive. Jacqui was the Inupiaraaq Language Nest assistant for the Native Village of Kotzebue. She was also a freelance writer for The Arctic Sounder. Jacqui has owned a small multi-media communications business, EsquiMedia that aims to genuinely represent her home region and culture.

Jessica Lara attended Arizona State University and studied Public Policy and Administration. She was a Diabetic Mentor and Outreach Program intern for the JDRF, and also served on the Advocacy Committee for the American Diabetes Association. She is an advocate for the Diabetes Community and strives to make an impact on the young people she mentors.

BLUEPRINT: Coming Clean: Sexcual Assault Prevention at Amherst College. Fellows at Amherst College formed Coming Clean, a student-run organization that worked toward sexual assault prevention from the student side of the issue. They surveyed their campus to asses feelings toward sexual assault and what students defined as sexual assault. They also collected survivor stories to create a publication that brought a more human face to the issue.

Empris was born October 30th, 1992, claiming her to be the most interesting, inquisitive, comical, and down-to-Earth Scorpio you’ll ever meet. Above that, Empris has a dire need to help the progression of inner-city youth by bridging the gaps of mental health, physical health, and cultural awareness, along with encouraging them to think critically of ways to build on their academics. Growing up in Miami, Empris felt as though she was surrounded by the fine arts. Whether it is from an after-school center or local concerts, she remembers being inspired to love through it all. She hopes to one day incorporate the arts and creative skills of the youth to enhance their progression of positivity and enlightenment through her very own facility. Attending Florida A&M University, she received motivation for this dream through her influential peers, professors, and social group programs.

Shakayla Lawrence earned her Associate’s Degree from Kingsborough Community College, where she graduated with honors and gained recognition as a Kaplan Educational Foundation Scholar and a community liaison. She is extremely engaged in her community and has an unwavering commitment to social justice and educational opportunity. Shakayla has a son and attended Smith College and pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Government and Sociology. Upon graduating from Smith, Shakayla plans on pursuing a joint JD and Ph.D. program. Ultimately, she aspires to establish her own non-profit organization to help the educational advancement of minorities and young mothers.

Karen Lazcano was a student at Yale University double majoring in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration, and Political Science. A proud Latina, Karen hails from the great state of Illinois. She is a first-generation Mexican-American and college student. Her motto in life is “El que no vive para servir, no sirve para vivir,” which she believes embodies her passion for serving communities around her. She has interned at the US House of Representatives and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. At Yale, Karen was involved with MEChA de Yale and was a sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She is the Founder and former President of LWAY: Latina Women at Yale, a group dedicated to connecting Latinas at Yale through social activities, political events, and academic forums.

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BLUEPRINT: Turning Voters Out at Wilberforce. The Wilberforce Fellows wanted to increase civic participation on their campus. Concerned about low youth participation in voting, they worked as YP4 Fellows in conjunction with Working Assets, a socially responsible business, to help sponsor a Party at the Polls event on Election Day. The Wilberforce Party at the Polls event was designed to encourage students on campus to vote in the 2006 mid-term elections. On Election Day, the Fellows hired a DJ, ordered food, and secured space on campus to throw a party for students who voted. Only people who proved they had voted were allowed into the party. The event was a huge success. During the afternoon on Election Day almost fifty Wilberforce students who had voted came to the party to dance, eat, and talk about election returns.

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Jordan was the Vice President of Finance for Associated Students, Inc. Cal State East Bay served d 14,000 students and has been a student activist on and off campus. With aims of bringing economic and political representation to the underrepresented of the world, Jordan strives to apply his knowledge of economics, politics, and business to establish social capital strong enough to thoroughly address today’s economic, judicial, and political injustices. Jordan’s passion for positively impacting today’s society originates from his warm up bringing and his years as a student advocate, advocating for academic equality, and community activist, connecting and organizing community members on Bay Area-wide initiatives. He’s extremely eager to learn and share knowledge with those who share similar efforts or ideologies. Continuous growth and development in all areas of life are a fundamental principle of his.

Sarah was the President of Active Minds at Virginia Tech, an organization dedicated to reducing the stigma against mental disorders on college campuses. She has worked to foster dialogue between students and health workers, educate students regarding available resources and to improve equity among students. She was a dedicated volunteer for the RAFT Crisis Hotline and Students Helping Honduras. Her primary areas of interest include women’s rights, gay rights, and health care reform.

Shuyi grew up in New York, where she attended the Baccalaureate School for Globalization, a high school located in Astoria, Queens. She attended Bryn Mawr College where she majored in East Asian Studies with a concentration in Peace, Justice, and Human Rights. She is committed to solving global issues and was the co-president of Amnesty International and with the China Care Foundation. Outside of academics, she enjoys dancing and hanging out with friends.

Joelle Eliza M. Lingat (no preferred gender pronouns) graduated with Honors from Oberlin College in 2014 with majors in Environmental Studies and Comparative American Studies, a minor in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, and a concentration in Peace and Conflict Studies, she was a student at CUNY School of Law where she was a part of the National Lawyers Guild, the Labor Coalition for Workers Rights and Economic Justice, and Students for Justice in Palestine. She hopes to one day become a people’s lawyer. She was the Chairperson of Anakbayan NJ, a youth and student organization worked to educate, organize, and mobilize the community to address important issues that affect Filipinxs in the U.S. and the Philippines. They aimed to unite Filipinx youth of all backgrounds in order to achieve genuine freedom and democracy in the Philippines. She has led two teams on relief and exposure trips back home to the Philippines and have done worked hops and presentations at campuses all over the east coast and Midwest. When not studying or taking it to the streets, she enjoys comic books, slow jams, and the breeze of the Pacific Ocean.

The founder of LGBT Mississippi, which he created to raise awareness of sexual health among Mississippi’s LGBT community. Justin was a Healthcare Administration student at Jackson State University and formerly served as the President of the Student Government Association at Southwest Mississippi Community College. As a National Ambassador for Greater Than AIDS; Justin worked diligently to spread awareness in hopes of eradicating HIV through the launched #SpeakOutHIV campaign. In 2014 he was invited to join the Greater Than AIDS Advisory Council, while also serving on the Mississippi State Department of Heath MSM Steering Committee. Justin continues his activist work as a volunteer as the AIDS Services Coalition where he serves in many capacities.

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BLUEPRINT: Community Building among Youth Organizations in San Francisco. Each of the CCSF Fellows has a background in community based youth work. They all recognized that while there were many different groups organizing youth around San Francisco, there was no sense of unity in purpose or movement building amongst the groups. They also felt that there was a lack of opportunity in the organizing world once somebody stopped being a youth. The CCSF Fellows sought to bring the different groups together to learn from each other and develop some common goals. Arjuna, Gustavo and Sammie therefore engaged in a series of train the trainer events to support ongoing community youth outreach, and held community events for local youth, all with the aim of forging a common agenda.

Sahara was an honors student studying biology at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has continued her education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a pre-med track in the fall. She has also assisted in the Same Day Surgery Department at Duke Raleigh Hospital as a college volunteer and plans to expand her involvement to address various healthcare needs in the community.

Shea was the chair of the Committee On Diversity Affairs, a sub-committee of the Lawrence University Community Council that worked to address issues of diversity on her campus and create a safe space for all identities. She is most interested in the use of artistic expression and education to empower youth and has worked for the non-profit organization Young Chicago Authors that provided Chicago area youth a progressive space for spoken word. She believes deeply in collaborative processes, as all people possess a multitude of assets that can help build a community. Shea studied studio art and education and hopes to continue to advocate for the use of art and word as a means to empower, create dialogue, and restore our communities.

BLUEPRINT: Getting out Student Voters at Penn State. Seeking to increase civic participation on their campus, YP4 Fellows at Penn State put forth a full scale plan to register, educate, and get voters to the polls on Election Day.Working with a coalition of peers and other campus organizations, the YP4 Fellows created a website that provides students with the information they need to register and vote. The Fellows registered over 1,200 voters on their campus.Then, the Fellows mapped out all the different polling places on the Penn State campus and distributed maps and information to students.They also posted volunteers at polling sites and answered questions that student voters had such as where their polling place was and how to register to vote in the future. The Fellows also worked together in conjunction with Working Assets to help put together an event called Party at the Polls. The event was held at the polling place and was designed to encourage students to vote on Election Day and over 100 students showed up throughout the day. Their efforts help produce a 119% increase in voting at campus precincts, up from 2002.

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BLUEPRINT: Turning Voters Out at FAMU. Florida A&M University YP4 Fellows helped register hundreds of new students to vote on their campus of 11,000 students. After their voter registration efforts were complete, the Fellows worked together in conjunction with Working Assets, a socially responsible business, to help put together an event called Party at the Polls. The event was held at the polling place and was designed to encourage students to vote on Election Day. Students who voted were invited to attend a party that had a DJ with hip-hop and R&B music, food, and plenty of people to hang out with. During the course of the day approximately two hundred students participated in the party!

Ramona was the president of the Texas Freedom Network Student Chapter at The University of Texas at Brownsville. While going to college, she advocated for accurate sex education, fought for strong public schools, defended civil liberties and protected religious freedom. She was passionate about progressive advocacy and anxious to spread the movement all over campus and raise young peoples’ voices. This activism experience really opened her eyes and mind to reality, and she is eager to continue learning about her community and to acquire skills that will help develop successful strategies to achieve the grassroots organization.

Jonique Lyles attended North Carolina State University and is the founder and former president of S.P.E.A.K., Students Proactively Engaged towards Activism Knowledgeably. Understanding issues, systematic inequalities, and recognizing the lack of student activism, she created the foundation of S.P.E.A.K. Over the course of the first year, S.P.E.A.K received the chancellor’s Creating Community Award. She and the organization stand on the principles of, enriching ourselves to enrich our communities and aiming towards the activation of change and empowerment. As a student government senator, president of S.P.E.A.K., an Undergraduate Admissions Intern, and the social action chair of the Mu Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., she aimed to implement change within the university to increase access, equality, and inclusive culture. She eventually aims to extend past the university to work on economic and educational development, political participation, community growth and advocacy, and policy work to create a middle ground between varying socio-economic groups.

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Armani Madison is a graduate of Brown University, where he studied Political Science and History. He is passionate about education, civil rights, youth empowerment, and service for low-income communities. As his Idea Creation-focused blueprint, Armani created the SpeakUp! Oratorical Contest for public high school students in Providence, and coordinated a social media campaign and gallery exhibit, as part of the national “To My Unborn Son” and #BlackLivesMatter movement, at Brown. He is an alumnus of the Public Policy and International Affairs program, the Hope Institute, and a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Armani worked to build upon his interest in social innovation and entrepreneurship through Venture for America.

BLUEPRINT: Immigrant Rights at Carlton College. The Carleton YP4 Fellows wanted to inform their campus about immigrants rights issues, encourage people to think about the issue in a progressive way, and build an alliance between the campus and local Northfield community. To do so, the Carleton YP4 Fellows brought several groups together to host an informational panel featuring several faculty members knowledgeable about the issue of immigration. Community members were also invited and encouraged to attend. The debate was lively and productive. The Fellows designed and distributed bumper stickers at the event designed to show their support for immigrants rights. There are now many cars driving around Northfield with their bumpers declaring Si Se Puede!

BLUEPRINT: Immigrant Rights at Carlton College. The Carleton YP4 Fellows wanted to inform their campus about immigrants rights issues, encourage people to think about the issue in a progressive way, and build an alliance between the campus and local Northfield community. To do so, the Carleton YP4 Fellows brought several groups together to host an informational panel featuring several faculty members knowledgeable about the issue of immigration. Community members were also invited and encouraged to attend. The debate was lively and productive. The Fellows designed and distributed bumper stickers at the event designed to show their support for immigrants rights. There are now many cars driving around Northfield with their bumpers declaring Si Se Puede!

Darius was an undergraduate at Northern Arizona University and completed a Bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in political science. He is engaged in protecting civil rights, fair elections, and immigrant and Native American rights in America. With a background in Middle Eastern politics and history, he is also committed to building cross-cultural ties with Middle Eastern cultures and protecting human rights in such a volatile region. While living and studying in Istanbul, Turkey, he was able to gain valuable experiences and understanding of Middle Eastern and Islamic cultures. In addition, he was able to grow in his activism, organize, and recognize the importance of protecting political rights through participant-observation in the Gezi Park protests. He hopes to continue to be active in fostering a spirit of political awareness and engagement both in America and abroad.

A native Brooklynite, Lauren studied Gender Studies and Urban Studies and minored in Race and Ethnic Studies, Religion, Sociology at Barnard. On campus, she helped plan and lead many important events such as Queer Awareness Month ’12, the LGBTQA Leadership Retreat ’12, and Lavender Graduation ’13. Off campus, her commitment to her communities has been exhibited through much nonprofit work, internships, and volunteering. Through her on- and off- campus commitments, she remains dedicated to her many passions and communities.

Carly began her work around sexual health and rights in high school and is deeply rooted in her work to ensure all people are entitled to make informed decisions about their own bodies, without struggle or financial barriers. She attended the University of Michigan, where she was a part of Advocates for Youth’€™s 1 in 3 Campaign campus activist program. She also served as the President of Students for Choice at the University of Michigan and was a member of Planned Parenthood’€™s National Youth Leaders Advisory Council.

BLUEPRINT: Building Progressive Power at the University of Michigan. Carly’s Blueprint is aimed at implementing a progressive student government campaign on her that promotes progressive ideals, including student body diversity, student voice in decision making, administrative transparency, college affordability, increased racial dialogue and enrollment, a culture shift around student activism and rights, and pushing for a proactive administration that adequately addresses student needs.

“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan.In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

George Markarian, 2013 Fellow, transferred from Los Angeles Valley College to the University of California, Berkeley in the fall of 2013. There he majored in political science with a focus on comparative politics and a minor in public policy. George was born in East Los Angeles, lived five years in Argentina, and grew up in one of the tougher neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Motivated by his experiences growing up in a minority-majority neighborhood in Los Angeles George received his GED and entered college where he became more active on campus and in his community. He began to invest his time in improving the access of disenfranchised communities to quality public education and was elected to serve as the vice-president of the Los Angeles Valley College student government and a senator in Student Senate for California Community Colleges, the statewide student government. He worked as a field coordinator on two electoral campaigns and is an alumnus of the Roosevelt Institute Summer Academy and Young People For. During his free time, he enjoys relaxing at the beach, listening to music, and staying active.

the limits of hate crimes legislation as a response to violence

“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan.In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

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Emanuel transferred from a community college to the University of Pennsylvania. He centers his efforts on civic engagement and local community efforts, and his academic work is predicated on identity and consciousness building among Latin Americans. He is most interested in finding ways to empower disadvantaged youth, encourage them to apply to top colleges, and dream big.

Stephanie Mascorro attended the University of North Texas in the Social Work department with three minors, Women and Gender Studies, LGBT+ Studies, and Political Science, and was the Vice President of External Affairs of the League of United Latin American Citizens on campus, as well as an officer in the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance. Stephanie is dedicated to helping Latinx receive an education so that they can strive to be the best that they can even with barriers put in place, and helping those with barriers because of language or tradition to be able to live in the United States more comfortably. Stephanie is dedicated to advocating for women’s rights, especially reproductive justice and was also involved with the Texas Equal Access Fund that allowed for Stephanie to do so.

Christy is an ambitious student involved in volunteer community improvement, local culture and arts development, small business promotion, and bringing sustainability to the urban environment. Her aspiration in life is to pursue a career promoting social good through the honesty and ethical practices of her own business or by working to resolve global issues within an ethically motivated, environmentally conscious, and politically active non-profit or company.

BLUEPRINT: Immigrant Rights Education at Trinity University. The YP4 Fellows at Trinity University engaged with the Administration to develop a semester-long program designed to educate the entire community about immigration and related social justice issues. The program launched in the spring 2007 semester and included: an ongoing debate series, an academic symposium, artistic and visual exhibits, advocacy trainings and smaller informational events.

Micah E. McClain was the founder and director of Haute Humanity, which he founded with friends to bridge the gap between fashion and humanitarianism. Through Haute Humanity Micah raised thousands of dollars for charitable organizations to better the lives of individuals on an international scale. In addition to his work with Haute Humanity, Micah was also a Resident Adviser at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. He was involved in many leadership activities on campus such as Student Voice Association as well as being a part of the directorial committee of the Annual Benefit Fashion Show. Through his strong leadership and community engagement, he hopes to inspire and provoke his peers to become leaders in their own community by doing what they love with the intent to change the lives of others.

BLUEPRINT: The Progressive Network at American University. The American University YP4 Fellows built upon work begun by the class of 2005 YP4 Fellows. They continued to develop and initiated a university wide progressive network, appropriately called The Progressive Network. The mission of the network was to increase the unity, size, and effectiveness of the AU progressive community. The Fellows wanted to encourage more students to be progressive and to motivate and empower those students already involved in progressive organizations.

Meagan was a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who pursued her Master’s Degree in Public Administration. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia with degrees in both Public Policy and African-American Studies. Meagan is a native of Trinidad & Tobago and moved with her family to the US in 2002 after residing in Islamabad, Pakistan for 4 years. She has also worked with the Carolina Women’s Center and the Chatham Economic Development Corporation. Meagan is very passionate about achieving greater gender equity through economic/community development and hopes to enter into the nonprofit/NGO sector upon completion of her degree.

His work on behalf of progressive causes and candidates frequently generates headlines and quotes in the New York Times, Washington Post, and major outlets across the country. He previously led the communications departments at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, the Working Families Party, a marriage equality campaign, and three congressional campaigns. He also spent two years as a consultant with Blue State Digital, where his clients included Madonna, a daytime talk show host, and a celebrity fitness guru.

BLUEPRINT: Creative Resistance at George Washington University. George Washington University YP4 Fellows engaged in an incredibly successful event called YP4 Creative Resistance. They organized a forum that also served as the kick off event for Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Crashing the Gate book tour. YP4 Fellows were able to bring students, activists and community members from across Washington DC to the event and to engage in a lively discussion afterward. Adam Connor, a 2006 YP4 Fellow took this experience with him to his training as part of the Front Lines Leaders Academy, and continues to work to find new and innovative ways to engage people in the political process.

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Trevor McNary is a native, and proud, Kentuckian. He was a student at the University of Kentucky where he was a Gaines Fellow, a member of the Student Government Association, and was an ambassador for the College of Arts and Sciences. He spent one summer working for the Center for American Progress and another working for a Senate campaign. After graduating, Trevor has plans to pursue a Master’s degree in public policy and dive into the world of political campaigning. Ultimately, he hopes to work with an NGO, think tank, or advocacy group that aims to politically empower young people across the country (partly due to his own fear of aging).

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Kelly was a political science major at Union College in Schenectady, NY. As a native of California, Kelly enjoys spending her time adjusting to new and exciting perspectives and opening her eyes to the possibilities that advocacy and politics could bring to different communities. As co-chair of Union College Amnesty International and a contributing writer and communication director of the Union College Banner, a political newsletter, Kelly remained active both on campus and in her communities at home in California, and in her second home in New York. Kelly hopes to continue her advocacy on women’s and LGBT rights as well as for human rights on a local and international scale as she looks to the political nest of Washington, D.C. for more opportunities to change the nature of our conversations about equality and the rights of others.

Lizeth was a high school student at Spanish Springs High School getting ready to graduate in June 2014. While in high school, she got involved with leadership retreats with GREENevada, which sparked an interest in her to want to live her life in a more sustainable matter. This also influenced the start of the green club, which Lizeth was president of, at her high school. This allowed the education of the community with the help of Lizeth as well as her peers. She hopes to continue her involvement with sustainable organizations to do her part in changing people’s lifestyles.

Juan Carlos is very active with the Arizona Dream Act Coalition and has worked with the No Dream Deferred program which helped eligible youth fill out and apply for their Deferred Action (DACA). He himself being a DACA recipient, he sees the need for more programs that helped immigrant communities free of cost. He hopes to continue the work and hopefully expand when Deferred Action for Parents comes into effect.

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Micah lived in Prairie Village, Kansas, and studied Anthropology and Psychology at the University of Kansas. Inspired by her love of learning and service, she hopes to pursue work related to the cultural and social factors that affect and shape educational policy, education system, and curriculum and teaching. She worked as the Development Director at the KU Center for Community Outreach and was a Research Fellow at the KU Work Group for Community Health and Development. In these positions, she established sustainable programming through active fundraising and created more service opportunities for students on campus.

“BLUEPRINT: Buildling the “”Not in Our Town”” Movement. Columbia College YP4 Fellows worked on the production crew of the PBS documentary of the “”Not in Our Town”” movement. “”Not in Our Town”” is a national movement that encourages community response to hate crimes. The project combined PBS broadcast

Cairo is a an undocumented, queer, immigrant from Brazil. He began to organize around the DREAM Act in 2010 with the Student Immigrant Movement (SIM), during the past six years in SIM Cairo has transitioned from leading media campaigns, to running Deferred Action (DACA) clinics as the DACA Coordinator, and to presently being the Lead Organizer, helping to manage and support the statewide chapters. He is a 2013 Yp4 Fellow! Currently, Cairo is finishing his undergraduate degree in Economics and Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Lulu is a social innovator and community organizer committed to re-imagining civic engagement for the twenty-first century. A Barnard College Centennial Scholar who majored in Urban Studies; Lulu co-founded the Barnard and Columbia Design for America Studio, which partnered interdisciplinary, enthusiastic undergraduate teams with community organizations to facilitate the innovation of products and systems that could sustainably address local need. Projects ranged from re-designing condom packaging to making creativity kits for public middle schoolers. Combining her experience as a campus change-maker and local government intern, Lulu launched an initiative aimed at opening up communication between Columbia University and the surrounding West Harlem community.

Kate Mikuliak is a YP4 alumni from the founding class of 2005. Originally from Philadelphia, PA, her home base has been NYC since 2001, with time spent living in Paris, Guatemala, and Mexico City. Kate’s passion as an activist and change maker started with women’s rights organizing at her college campus, and has bloomed into a fulfilling career in public service.
While at the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT), her accomplishments include passing state laws to lower NYC’s citywide speed limit to 25 mph and to increase the number of speed cameras in NYC, and gaining political and community support for the implementation of game-changing additions to NYC’s transit infrastructure: the bike share system Citibike and the Select Bus Service program.
She now serves as the agency’s Program Manager for Strategic Policy, where she conducts policy analysis and project coordination activities to implement the cross-divisional initiatives of DOT’s 2016 Strategic Plan.
Considering herself a “trash head”, Kate is an appointed member of the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board, where she serves as the Chair of the Legislative Committee. In this role she advocates for the advancement of sustainable solid waste management practices in NYC.
Kate also serves as a pro-bono government affairs and marketing consultant on issues close to her heart, including violence prevention and renewable energy. In 2016, Kate was elected to the Kings County Democratic Committee.
Representing the New Kings Democrats, Kate stands for transparency, accountability, and inclusionary democracy on the County Committee. Kate received her Masters of Public Administration from NYU Wagner School of Public Service, and her Bachelors of Science in Urban Public Health, Summa Cum Laude, from Hunter CUNY. When she’s not head-deep in policy and politics, she enjoys hot yoga

Desmond served as the Student Body President at Eastern Michigan University. Desmond started off as a Senator, then became Student Body Vice President, and held the Student Body President position for two terms, becoming the longest serving person to hold executive office. He also served as a voting member on LaunchProgress, a board designed to give funding to first-time candidates for local and state elections. Desmond has also served as his University’s representative for the Ypsilanti Steering Committee.

BLUEPRINT: The Queer Leadership Institute. YP4 Fellows at University of Texas-Austin created the Queer Leadership Institute (QLI). Through dialogue, interactive activities, training, and guest speakers, QLI poses critical questions relating to LGBTQ issues and rights to participants over the span of the institute and hopes to give participants the tools to explore questions and potential answers around transgender inclusion and safety on their campus.

BLUEPRINT: Turning Voters Out at FAMU. Florida A&M University YP4 Fellows helped register hundreds of new students to vote on their campus of 11,000 students. After their voter registration efforts were complete, the Fellows worked together in conjunction with Working Assets, a socially responsible business, to help put together an event called Party at the Polls. The event was held at the polling place and was designed to encourage students to vote on Election Day. Students who voted were invited to attend a party that had a DJ with hip-hop and R&B music, food, and plenty of people to hang out with. During the course of the day approximately two hundred students participated in the party!

Preston was a Mathematics, Sociology, and Cognitive Studies Triple Major. He pursued the Dual Degree Program while maintaining strong ties with the community that surrounded him. As an African-American, Chicano, gay male from poverty, Preston came to find harmony with community engagement and self-expansion. He is a founding member of the Gender and Sexuality Student Advisory Council and was a Senator-at-Large for the Undergraduate Student Government, a Community Engagement Advocate, Public Relations Chair of GENTE (Generating Excellence Now and Tomorrow in Education), and Vice President of Cohesion for Tulane’s Black Student Union. He was a POSSE Scholar who has been passionate about empowering those around him.

Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Candace was a student majoring in Business Management, Leadership, and Innovation at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. An aspiring social entrepreneur, Candace is passionate about providing underrepresented and misrepresented communities of color with resources needed to overcome structural barriers. Candace has worked with various organizations on her campus to educate fellow students about disparities that oppress communities of color across the nation. She is an advocate for increasing diversity initiatives and requirements at her University. In her free time, Candace enjoys singing, playing cards and laughing with the people she loves most.

Bryan Miranda is a New Jersey native from a town called Bound Brook. He studied at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His family is made up of immigrants from Ecuador who came to the United States before he was born. Bryan has pursued a major in planning and public policy with minors in literature and education.

Catherine Mitchell is passionate about educational equity, gender equality, and race and class justice. She studied international relations at Stanford. She was the co-president of Stanford Students for Education Reform, worked on awareness, advocacy, and activism work in local, state, and national education issues. Additionally, she is interested in supporting foster youth who have aged out of the system because of her personal background and experiences.

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Farhan Mithani is a trained community organizer and activist for the Los Angeles and Houston communities. He graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Economics and B.S. in Biology. Farhan co-founded “All of Us”, a nationally recognized mental health campaign geared towards advocating for mental health reform on college campuses. Farhan was also a board member of the Mixed Student Union, a cultural organization on the UCLA campus and a board member for Interaxon, a nonprofit, neuroscience outreach organization. Farhan was awarded the Chancellor’s Service Award and the Mongelli Award for Excellence due to his commitment to civic engagement and service within the Los Angeles community. Farhan hopes to tackle systemic, social issues within the healthcare industry in order to ensure accessibility, affordability, and equal treatment for all. In his spare time, Farhan enjoys playing tennis, learning languages, and volunteering at community health clinics.

Kamaria Moir, 2006 Fellow, has educated consumers about food insecurity and provided logistical support to farmers markets and food depositories in the Chicagoland area.

BLUEPRINT: Igniting Political Dialogue and Action at Howard University. Howard University YP4 Fellows created Project Voice.

Wilmer is the CEO & Founder of Leaders Working, a non-profit organization that aims to help low-income students nationwide get into top colleges and become leaders in their community. At Leaders Working, Wilmer has devised a 1-on-1 mentoring program that combines resource accessibility, community engagement, and comprehensive mentoring that starts in high school, continues through college, and lasts a lifetime. Alongside Leaders Working, Wilmer serves on the National Board of the Quest Scholars Network where he works to create an unwavering network of support for thousands of low-income students.

Lamonte has been a student activist and organizer who sat on the Board of Directors for United Council of University of Wisconsin Students and is also one of the founding members of the first statewide People of Color organization in Wisconsin. Lamonte is dedicated and driven to advocate for racial and social justice issues, and strongly believes in the empowerment of all students from every aspect of life to effectively affect change on their campuses and everyday lives.

Luis was born in West Los Angeles and grew up in Fountain Valley, Orange County, California. His father taught him the basics of guitar at a young age, and he gradually stoked his passion for music. When he started in high school, Luis demonstrated talent in the sports of track and field and cross country, becoming a four-year letterman and earned a scholarship to the Division 1 University of California. He transferred back home to Orange Coast College to pursue higher academics, music, and track.

Alicia is a proud first-generation Cuban-American raised in Union City, New Jersey, who recently earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Columbia University, where she double-majored in Sociology and the Studies of Ethnicity and Race. Alicia joined the YP4 network as a Fellow in 2014 and her Blueprint entailed creating the Director of Training and Staff Development role for The WomanHOOD (Helping Ourselves Overcome Discrimination) Project– a woman of color led program for high school girls in the Bronx dedicated to facilitating workshops on racial justice, gender empowerment, media literacy, and leadership development.
During the summer of 2015, Alicia had the honor of serving as a White House Intern in the Office of the First Lady, where she edited, prepared, and coordinated responses on behalf of the First Lady. Most recently, she worked as the Supervisor for the Double Discovery Center at Columbia University, a college preparatory program for low-income, first-generation high school students in New York City. Alicia’s Latina identity motivates her to continue fighting for a more just society free from all systemic oppression.

the limits of hate crimes legislation as a response to violence

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Daisy Muñoz is a Mexican-American, and first-generation student who attended the University of Oklahoma majoring in intercultural communication and minoring in social justice. She is a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and researched community building in Oklahoma City, was an executive member for the Mosaic Social Justice Symposium, and served as Sisterhood Enhancement Chair for Sigma Lambda Gamma Inc., Xi Beta chapter. She is very passionate about serving the south side community in Oklahoma City. She hopes to uphold education as a tool to break the barriers and challenges that prevent children, adolescents, and adults from obtaining an education. She has also participated in a campaign for Aspiring Americans, an organization that strives to raise awareness and funds for undocumented students who pursue higher education. She hopes to serve as a voice for the people in her community who are silenced.

Devin Murphy was a double major in political science and Afro-American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Born and raised in the San Francisco, CA, his unwavering commitment to progressive issues is no surprise. His exposure living in the city has given him insight to the structural inequities that limit the access to education, healthcare, and the right to vote for African-Americans and other historically disenfranchised communities. He intends to pursue a career in public policy in order to provide communities of color with access to resources that provide the knowledge and skills to enhance their ability to enter higher education and become conscious, proactive participants in their democracy.

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Matthew Murray is from Detroit MI, attended Bowling Green State University (and transferred to Morgan State University) and was a Telecommunication Major and Ethnic Studies Minor. He is a poet, activist, actor, and trainer.

Donya Nasser studied Political Science and Women’€™s and Gender Studies at St. John’€™s University. She was the President of Pi Sigma Alpha, and the Founder and Executive Director of the university’s Roosevelt Institute, a chapter of the largest student-run campus network that promotes activism among young people, community action, and progressive policy. Donya is very interested in women€’s issues and advocacy and was heavily involved with the Gender Studies Department at her university, non-partisan organizations like NOW, AAUW, and WCF, and political campaigning. She employs politics as her outlet for true change and dedicates great time and effort to worthy and dynamic candidates. She is also passionate about equality for the LGBT, immigrant, and low-income communities. Donya€’s campus and community involvement are results of her commitment to change and progress.

BLUEPRINT: Watch.Her.Lead. Since Donya became involved in politics, she realized there was something missing. Despite there being a strong emphasize on encouraging more women to run for office which is incredibly important there was almost no focus on the race gap in elected offices and empowering women of color specifically to run for office. As a Middle Eastern woman, Donya had no representation in Congress and no role models to look up to. These experiences and awareness led to the creation of her Blueprint Watch.Her.Lead., a project dedicated to encouraging young women of color to think about running for office and raising awareness about the lack of minority women in politics. She has been able to amplify the impact of her Blueprint across the country through presentations, workshops, and social media.

Cindy Nava is a graduate research assistant at the University of New Mexico Center for Education Policy Research. Her work in policy, advocacy and civic engagement has led her to lead distinctive statewide and national policy agendas to support access to higher education for minority students. Through her political engagement Cindy has become the first dreamer/undocumented immigrant to imbed herself in democratic leadership at a state and national level. In 2015, Cindy became the first dreamer to serve as an intern for the Democratic National Committee in DC, and in 2016 became the first dreamer to be awarded the Rising Star Award by the NM Democratic Party. Cindy is currently completing an MA degree in Higher Education Leadership and Policy, recently served as a NM House of Reps legislative education analyst and does motivational speaking across the country focused on empowering minority students. Cindy is a blogger for the Huffington Post and was recently completed a TEDx Talk focused on empowerment.

BLUEPRINT: Fighting for the New Mexico Scholarship Lottery System. Cindy’s involvement in student government, community centered fellowships, education and immigration work, and in progressive policy advocacy in New Mexico (NM) have allowed her to create a dynamic and effective Blueprint for Social Justice. Through her Blueprint, Cindy has created a direct collaborative alliance of organizations, community members, and policy makers to ensure underrepresented and low-income, first-generation New Mexican students have access to higher education. Cindys Blueprint works to create an informational campaign to assist students and communities to become engaged in the fight for saving the most important scholarship given to all high school graduates in her state, the New Mexico Lottery Scholarship. Historically, this scholarship has provided higher education tuition coverage for 4 years, but it had become insolvent. Several exclusionary, merit, and excellence-based solutions have been proposed, all of which would have excluded many low income students the primary recipients of the lottery scholarship from receiving benefits. By conducting informational forums between students, community leaders, and policy makers, Cindys Blueprint has united her community around the legislative debates surrounding the New Mexico lottery scholarship, organizing people for progressive change and ultimately saving the lottery scholarship.

Taylor was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill majoring in Comparative Literature with minors in Environmental Studies and Social and Economic Justice. She was an active member and former co-chair of Homeless Outreach Poverty Eradication, which aimed to alleviate poverty and homelessness through advocacy and community education. She has also been a research assistant for food justice issues, a Buckley Public Service Scholar, and a sibling at St. Anthony Hall, an all-gender literary and art fraternity. Taylor is passionate about tackling justice issues through creating dialogue about the frameworks that are keeping them in existence.

Steve Negrete served s as Public Relations Representative for Uriel Ministries, Social Media Intern for Connections Community Church and Facilitator for Foursquare Missions Press; all non-profit organizations destined to the benefit of the community, supplying the physical and spiritual needs of each and every individual. He has dreams of running his own non-profit.

Carly Nelson was a student at Kent State University pursuing a major in Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology, minors in Psychology and Nonprofit Studies, and a certificate in Disability Studies. Throughout the past two years, she has worked with her campus chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops to organize in solidarity with local and international workers. She is passionate about libraries and was on the library board of trustees for her hometown. She is excited to see what role YP4 will play in cultivating her social justice passions, particularly in the area of disability rights.

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BLUEPRINT: Organizing for Fairness at University of Central Florida. In order to create a more tolerant and inherently equal environment at their university, the University of Central Florida YP4 Fellows and their gay-straight alliances organized a Same-Sex Hand Holding Day on their campus. The event was designed to encourage people of the same sex to hold hands as they marched across campus to the office of the president to demand that sexual orientation be included in the schools non discrimination policy and that the university offer domestic partnership benefits to gay employees. The YP4 Fellows efforts helped to turn out over two hundred students, faculty, staff and community members to the march. After the event, they organized a postcard campaign that led to hundreds of students mailing postcards to encourage the University President to support fairness. The event was a huge success and was covered in the campus paper, regional paper, and by the local news. In the face of media pressure, the president of the university endorsed adding sexual orientation to the schools non discrimination policy.

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Growing up with a single mother but being fortunate to go to school led Binh to believe firmly in the need to reach out to our neighbors with arms of compassion & education values. This belief reflects in his involvement with different organizations when he emigrated from Vietnam and chose to live with his relatives in the East Side of San Jose, which struggled with severe socioeconomic challenges. Through his work with elected officials and non-profit organizations such as S.I.R.E.N., and Community Health Partnership, his vision of health and medicine was infused with political advocacy. He found himself as a patient advocate and made legislative visits to fight for bills that would address loopholes in health coverage to immigrants. Through building relationships with doctors, he became more passionate about being a doctor to make a difference in people’s lives.

Jill Nguyen majored in International Relations and Gender Studies at Hendrix College. A proud alumna of the Young People For Fellowship, Jill is passionate about civic engagement and reproductive justice. She was a member of Roosevelt Institute Campus Network’s All Leadership Team as the Southern Regional External Engagement Coordinator, the Co-Director of Roosevelt Institute at Hendrix College, which was nominated for Best Chapter of 2014. On campus, she was the Head of Marketing for TEDxHendrixCollege, the Coordinator of the Annual Dean’s Civil Rights Trip, and was involved with multiple efforts to increase diversity on campus. She came back from a semester at the University of Amsterdam, where she conducted research on international law and gender studies.

Jodi Nimmo was a returning student at the University of Arkansas, who studied sociology, gender studies and sustainability. She is the founder of the Students for Gender Equality organization, where she advocated for gender equality by combatting oppression, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and patriarchy.

Scott’s work in the progressive movement was sparked by a high school course in Women and Gender studies taught by the inspiring Ms. Moore. Since then he has worked in rape counseling, LGBT advocacy groups, HIV counseling and prevention, food justice, and workers’ rights. His passion predominately lies with working on access to nutritive food, nutrition education, and workers’ rights within the food industry.

Crystal O’Grady has attended the University of Washington, School of Law. Before coming to law school, Crys worked as a Policy Coordinator at the California Youth Connection (CYC), and previously interned with the National Resource Center for Youth Development and FosterClub.
She has utilized her advocacy skills in policy to be a better legal advocate for youth. She was also the legal intern at the Center for Children and Youth Justice and a summer clerk at the National Center for Youth Law in Oakland in 2015. She is recognized as a Pride Foundation Scholar, Point Foundation Scholar, and 2015 Bergstrom Child Welfare Fellow.
Crys believes that innovative community approaches to child welfare will improve outcomes for youth and families.

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Karen Obertubbesing (she/her) is excited to be returning to the YP4 world as a fem/mentor! Karen graduated from the University of Vermont (UVM) in May 2016 with a B.S. in Environmental Studies.
While at UVM, Karen’s academic experiences studying abroad and taking service-learning courses and her co-curricular involvement as an Orientation Leader and Alternative Spring Break site leader helped her identify an interest in civic engagement programming in higher education.
After graduation, Karen ran an after-school environmental education club at a local middle school where she developed urban ecology programming that took place in the neighborhoods and parks of Burlington, VT.
Karen also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA, filling the role of Program Coordinator at the Dewey House for Community Engagement in order to increase access, retention, and success for students through a residential learning community focused on civic engagement and creating positive social change.
Currently, Karen is continuing her work in the higher education world as a program coordinator in the Learning Communities team at UVM, developing programs with students around the themes of sustainability, leadership, and civic engagement.
She is excited to begin graduate coursework this fall! She also sits on the planning committee for the Translating Identity Conference among other identity-based retreats and programs at UVM.
She particularly enjoys being able to connect with students and support them in their social justice journeys. When she is not working, you can find this queer fun-loving woman hiking in the mountains, running along Lake Champlain, curling up with a good book, or petting as many dogs as possible.

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As a person who was born and raised in Guatemala, Lily gets to see the world differently. Lily sees comparisons of marginalization in Guatemala and the United States; in Guatemala, the indigenous groups are marginalized and in the U.S. the people of color are. The four years she’s lived in the United States, she has gotten to the conclusion that education is a big factor that leads to success and possibly changing the world. She thinks that minority groups often are not being recognized as they should. She seeks equal education because she believes that education leads to freedom. Lily seeks the type of education that teaches people to think, not to obey and follow. As a fist generation college student, she has experienced a life changing event and wishes that more people could have the same opportunities here and also in Latin America.

Natalie Omary studied political science at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. She served in various capacities as a leader at her school and in her community, included hosting voter registration drives, participating in various campaigns and working to increase civic involvement in the area and statewide in Massachusetts. She has also been involved with the Raise Up Massachusetts initiative to increase the minimum wage. Natalie is passionate about civic engagement and looks forward to expanding her efforts in the future.

April is a graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill with a Bachelor’s in Food Studies and Public Policy with a concentration in Global Health Policy. With her current background and future pursuits, she hopes she can be of use in an increasingly critical space where public health, social justice norms, and policies are collaborating. April thinks the passion she has long cultivated for public health stems from a fundamental recognition that far too many people, in our local and global communities, are depending on their health as the sole means of their families’ livelihoods. Domestic and global policies regarding the distribution and sourcing of our food, medicines and other life essential commodities have far too often favored corporate interests over public health considerations to the detriment of our most vulnerable. With such injustices constantly in mind, she believes that dismantling health disparities will at least bring forth some form of the right to health. Some undergrad experiences April reflects most fondly on include time with refugee families and folks at the local shelter, political activism, a forum for dialogue about diversity and food security-related advocacy. April is planning how to most effectively dedicate her post-graduation year to learning more about our nation’s relationship with food sources. With a strong belief in the healing of a wholesome diet and outlook on health April will continue to work toward better access to quality food and health care for families.

My name is Lorraine Orozco and I attended the University of Arizona South in Tucson, Arizona. I have been a piano and voice instructor and I love to travel and meet people.

Yvette was a student attending the University of New Mexico. She has worked towards her B.S. in Biology with a minor in Spanish. She worked at the Graduate Resource Center, where she provided assistance to underprivileged students to improve their pre and post-graduate educational opportunities. She was also involved with El Centro de la Raza, which was an underrepresented ethnic group center that took on civic projects within the community. Karina hopes to gain opportunities that will help her be part of the solution through improving the lives of others.

Adriana Ortiz was a student at the University of New Mexico who studied intercultural communication and studio art. She is a first-generation college student who migrated from Mexico at an early age. She was an active student with Working Classroom, a non-profit arts and theater program for at-risk youth, for four years. She was an intern, program manager for mural restorations, and apprentice for international and national artists. Adriana was also a member of New Mexico Dreamers In Action and has done advocacy work for her immigrant community. Her passion is creating art for social change, especially when that engaged the youth.

Cassandra was born and raised in Kansas. She attended the University of Kansas and was a double major in history and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. She is interested in resource accessibility and helping others discover their true potential, especially young people. She also cares deeply for nachos.

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Cuyler attended Oberlin College and majored in Comparative American Studies and Political Science. He has been interested in community building with the Oberlin Multicultural Resource Center and has created a video documenting Oberlin’s queer community of color called “Intersections”. He has also served on Oberlin’s Sexual Offense Policy Task Force, worked at the Hawai‘i House of Representatives as a legislative aid and newsletter designer for Representative Jo Jordan.

Rachel attended undergrad at DePaul University. At DePaul, she double-majored in Political Science and Women and Gender Studies with minors in Social Justice and Public Policy. She has also served as President of Act OUT, an LGBTQ based service work, advocacy, and activist organization. While not at school she spent her time interning at the Chicago Board of Education. Rachel is committed to fighting systemic oppression and injustice as well as working to provide safe spaces for students and young people to engage in critical conversation and self-reflection.

Stephanie is a Native American who has grown up on the Pueblo of Isleta, located in New Mexico, and she is also half Hispanic. She attended the University of New Mexico and majored in English and minored in religious studies. Once she finished her undergraduate studies, she intends to study law or criminal justice and eventually be a part of Isleta Pueblo’s government. Stephanie’s passion is her Native American culture and heritage and she is dedicated to the preservation of her culture. She once did a commercial with MTV about the importance of culture and how it keeps Native youth away from drug and alcohol abuse.

Samantha attended Howard University and studied Legal Communications. She comes from Virginia Beach Virginia, by way of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her life goal is to become a district court judge and be instrumental in reforming the American Justice system.

Naloti attended Westfield State University, majoring in Ethnic and Gender Studies. Naloti was the president of the WSU Queer Straight Alliance and a leader for the WSU Track & Field team. Naloti has been dedicated to educating and informing the campus community on issues of the LGBTQ community along with other marginalized communities and is dedicated to creating a safe environment for those who are part of these communities. Naloti is also dedicated to creating awareness of matters that pertain to those of varying sexual orientations, genders, ethnicities, and identities to create social progress and change.

BLUEPRINT: Building Community in Miami. YP4 Fellows at the University of Miami brought over 1,000 university and high school students from across Miami to do service work together and to begin to build alliances between universities, high schools and community-based organizations. One participant had this to say about their experience: Along with dozens of other students from Miami-Dade College, we were able to start a vegetable garden that will provide food for the locals.”

Elanie Paredes was a student at Barnard College where she majored in political science. She was part of the Young Women’s Initiative (Shewillbe), sponsored by the New York City Council, and was the Director of Operations for One Girl, a women’s empowerment nonprofit. In 2014, Elanie was chosen as an ANNpower Fellow by Ann Taylor and Vital Voices and was granted $2,500 to start her own community project, Ignited Voices. Elanie is passionate about uplifting the voices of young women of color in her community.

BLUEPRINT: Building Community in Miami. YP4 Fellows at the University of Miami brought over 1,000 university and high school students from across Miami to do service work together and to begin to build alliances between universities, high schools and community-based organizations. One participant had this to say about their experience: Along with dozens of other students from Miami-Dade College, we were able to start a vegetable garden that will provide food for the locals.”

Gian Parel is an aspiring radical economist from Louisville, Kentucky, by way of Manila, Philippines. Gian attended Oberlin College where he studied economics and neuroscience. He also organized with the Filipin@ American Students Association, enjoyed food and community at the Third World Co-op for people of color, and was a Bonner Scholar committed to community service. Beyond the campus, he was a fellow at the Bonner Foundation and served as a member of the Bonner Advisory Board. As a scholar-activist, Gian’s interlocked academic and activist interests include political economy; neoliberalism and post-capitalism; international trade and finance, particularly in Philippines-U.S. relations; migrant labor, particularly Filipin@ migrant workers; multiracial solidarity; queer economics; feminism; and history of economic thought, particularly Marxian theory. As an YP4 Alumnus, Gian hopes to reimagine and work towards a world founded on an ethic of love.

Jackie pursued a degree in Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies and a minor in Education Studies. She was the president of Women of Color (WOC), an official organization at Middlebury College that is devoted to enlightening and uplifting women of all backgrounds and their surrounding communities on campus. Jackie strongly identifies as a woman/feminist of color and takes on the term as agency and as means of power. She is dedicated to promoting more visibility in Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) activism and prioritized working in solidarity with women of color to liberate people from all oppression and marginalization that keeps people down, in and out of higher education.

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Nicolas (Nic) Parra is a native Tucsonan who studied Business Law, Education, and International Business at Arizona State University. Nic was involved in Undergraduate Student Government, Devils’ Advocates Tour Guides, and over 20 different organizations throughout his years at ASU; he also ran to be the Student Body President of ASU in 2014. Nic was also the Student Director for the Medallion Scholarship Program, as well as a mentor for underprivileged high school students through the “Explore ASU” Program, and his main focus was with the Arizona Students’ Association. After being appointed as Secretary in 2014, he was elected to serve as the President for 2015-16. Through ASA, Nic worked with the three public universities and all community colleges in Arizona to lobby the collective student body’s interests at the local, state, and national levels. He graduated in May 2016 and is looking to attend law school afterward.

BLUEPRINT: Combatting Sexual Harassment and Assualt at U Penn. University of Pennslyvania YP4 Fellow Sonia Pascal decided to tackle the problem of sexual harassment at her school by creating a sexual harassment task force. Sexual harassment is a problem at many campuses, but it has been made more acute at U Penn by accusations in recent years that several high-profile faculty were sexually harassing and sexually assaulting students. Sonia was successful in building a bridge between administrators and students on this critical issue and created a safe space for students being sexually harassed to go for help.

Simbrit was a student at Westfield State University double majoring in Spanish and Ethnic and Gender Studies with a minor in Journalism. She was active on her campus and in her community as President of the university’s Multicultural Awareness organization, the So Seductive Step Team, Coordinator and Director of the WSU Fashion Show Collective, an Admissions Daily Tour Guide, a 2nd year Resident Assistant on campus, a 2nd year Orientation Leader, and an intern at Springfield’s Community garden organization: Gardening the Community. Simbrit volunteered at local middle and high schools within the city of Springfield, some of which she attended herself, and has a passion for work with urban youth of color. From the island of Trinidad and Tobago, Simbrit loves to travel, help others, and learn. She hopes to do two things: travel abroad and help build up a strong diversity-focused organization on campus for incoming students.

Karuna is a youth activist from Nepal. Her interest lies in Ecological and Environmental protection. She was part of the team that advocated for Climate Change Studies for High School in Nepal.

Jenifer was a Youth Organizer at Puentes New Orleans. Puentes is a Latino Organization in New Orleans that builds assets and creates access for the Latino Community of the Greater New Orleans. Jenifer was born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, raised in New Orleans, and is dedicated to making New Orleans a welcoming city for immigrants. She likes to volunteer at libraries, schools, hospitals and develop new leadership skills to bring back to her community. Jenifer is passionate about youth engagement and hopes to develop and discover better ways to reach out to the community and empower youth to take action. Her career goal is to have a degree in Business Administration and develop new ways to incorporate her passion for youth involvement into her career.

Isolda Pazo attended the Jesuit Institute Loyola University New Orleans. During her tenure at Loyola, she achieved a high level of confidence, trust, and recognition from her professors. Her dedication to cultural activities, forensic associations, and avocation to student affairs counseling for sexual assault victims earned her an opportunity to continue her forensic chemistry studies through dental school. Isolda’s achievements demonstrate once again her leadership skills and trust from other students to follow in her path of success. Her goal of becoming a Forensic Odonatologist is closer to becoming a reality as she continues her path of success into the next challenges.

Janae Peats is a native of East Palo Alto, California and has attended Bennett College. Janae was introduced to activism in the city of Greensboro and has taken action on voter rights, education equality, and the relevance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Janae considers herself a student of life, she looks forward to learning all she can with Young People For.

which would implement significant budget cuts and could force graduation from state universities to occur within four years

BLUEPRINT: The Goodfight – Speaking Truth to Power. YP4 Fellows at Universitiy of Minnesota were inspired by how Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas book Crashing the Gate used the power of the internet to affect social change. They worked on building, branding and publicizing a University of Minnesota- wide online forum called “The Goodfight – Speaking Truth to Power.”

BLUEPRINT: The Goodfight – Speaking Truth to Power. YP4 Fellows at Universitiy of Minnesota were inspired by how Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas book Crashing the Gate used the power of the internet to affect social change. They worked on building, branding and publicizing a University of Minnesota- wide online forum called “The Goodfight – Speaking Truth to Power.”

Caylyn Perry was a student at Vanderbilt University where she pursued a major in History and Political Science. After she worked as a fellow in the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Education, Caylyn found a love of urban planning and policy. She wrote a monthly column for the Vanderbilt Political Review in which she framed domestic issues within a local context. She also aided a professor in research on media ownership’s effect on partisan coverage and revolved her other extracurriculars around giving back to the greater Nashville community. Caylyn is a lover of hot yoga and Don Draper. She still waits for her letter to Hogwarts.

Victor was a Fall 2011 initiate of the Xi Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. Upon receiving his Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill he enrolled in the pre-dentistry Post-Baccalaureate program at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Victor is an avid workout enthusiast with a passion for cooking.

Amanda Perry is a painter, womanist, and student. Her experience growing up in a low-income family in the Bronx, New York has informed her passion for urban youth empowerment. Amanda is interested in work that focuses on education through the arts, food and housing justice, as well as economic empowerment. Amanda has also collaborated with other artists of color on projects that explore ideas of beauty, intersectionality, wellness in communities of color, and what it means to combat and process displacement.

Sydney was a member of the executive board for a chapter of United For Undergraduate Socio-Economic Diversity (UFUSED) at the University of Virginia (Uva). As advocacy chair, she tried to create relationships with faculty, other organizations and the community to encourage dialogue about socio-economic diversity at the university and at secondary institutions. With the cuts to AccessUVa (UVa’s financial aid program), UFUSED’s role was even more important. Sydney sought to engage the community through her activities inside and outside the organization by emphasizing student empowerment and encouraging and equipping students to be catalysts for positive change. Aiming to create a cohesive university community and promote multiculturalism, she was a peer advisor for the Office of African American Affairs and a resident advisor for the International Residential College at the University of Virginia.

Johnson studied Linguistics as an undergraduate at the University of California, Riverside. On campus, they do advocacy work within queer and working class communities. Johnson believes in the strength of community work and working to cultivate a healing space that is cognizant and appreciative of people from all different backgrounds. Aside from being concerned with restorative justice, Johnson is a self-identifying nerd. They are heavily engaged with TV, film, celebrity culture and firmly identify as Rachel from the sitcom Friends.

Megan Phillips has led the campaign to raise the minimum wage on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. This campaign put pressure on many decision makers on campus, resulting in wage increases for hundreds of students in different departments. Additionally, she was involved with the University of Wisconsin-Madison student association as the Nominations Board Chair and was a member of the Student Labor Action Coalition. In her free time, Megan enjoys running, hiking, and watching Netflix.

Leanne Pick has been involved in social and political activism since her youth. Her mother, an anti-apartheid activist, instilled in her a deep respect for religious and political freedoms and inspired her to get involved in volunteering on campus and in her community. She was a member of Lead with Pride, her campus’ LGBTQIA organization and has dedicated over 100 hours to her local Humane Society. Above all else, Leanne is committed to starting conversations wherever she goes, believing that the more she reaches out to people, the more she can empower and enlighten them and grow as an individual herself.

In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.” – Marianne Williamson Meneftha attended the University of Central Florida, majoring in Interpersonal Organizational Communications with a minor in the accredited DeVos Sports Business Management Program. Meneftha served as President of the National Council of Negro Women for two years during her time at UCF. Their mission was to lead develop and advocate for minority women, with a big emphasis on giving back to the community. Meneftha is dedicated to making a difference through advancing positive social change.

Leslie Polk is an author, speaker, and worship artist interested in addressing social issues through the arts. She was an active member of NMV and The Baccus Foundation, two organizations that advocated for gang and gun violence prevention and an end to mass incarceration. Her ultimate goal is to create documentaries addressing these issues and to open up a performing arts center for homeless youth and low-income communities.

Leslie N. L Potts is a proud product of the Renaissance City (Detroit, Michigan). As a fellow of the 2015 class, Leslie’s blueprint focused on creating a space to amplify the power of women’s issues based organizations at her alma mater Bowling Green State University. She is currently studying Public Administration at the University of Washington in Seattle WA, where she also concentrates in Nonprofit Management and Social Innovation. Leslie is excited to serve a 2nd year on the YP4 alumni council! Leslie sees themselves as a community-capacity amplifier. Leslie loves talking about access expansion, cross movement building, the benefits and dynamics of virtual community, and steven universe. They recognize themselves as the hope and dream of ancestors, as well as an important actor in the futures of those to come. Leslie believes that radical love, the value of impact, a belief in the power of persistence are inherent to their survival.

Kelly was an international student from Peru. At the age of seventeen, she received a full scholarship to represent her country at Lester B. Pearson College – United World College of the Pacific – Canada. After graduation, she took a gap year to volunteer with indigenous Peruvian people. She participated in sustainable farming projects in the Andes and has also volunteered coaching students at a Peruvian orphanage. Kelly was an Environmental Studies and Economics double major, and she is interested in pursuing Environmental Justice after graduation.

Those who are politically marginalized are almost always socially and economically marginalized. Rahul, a progressive from Tempe, Arizona, wants to collectively bring their voices to the bargaining table. Rahul completed a 3+1 BA/MA at Arizona State University, where he graduated with a BA in political science; he will start his Masters Program in Global Logistics afterward.

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Morgan majored in Peace and Conflict Studies. She has worked in the Office of the External Affairs Vice President and served as a Co-Campus Organizing Director and State Affairs Chief Deputy. Additionally, she was Co-President of Berkeley Common Cause, a campus chapter of a national organization working on good governance reform. Her main interest is in contributing to the movement to overturn Citizens United and enact comprehensive campaign finance reform; she hopes to spread this movement to other college campuses.

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Maria was a committee chair in the Global Service League, president of the Capoeira club, and a Vagina Monologues warrior at Tulane University. Through GSL, she put on Human Trafficking Awareness Week through a series of events on campus. She has also volunteered at Oportunidades NOLA, an adult education program for the Hispanic community of New Orleans, and partnered with them to initiate a health and wellness program in Spanish. She has been passionate about health since she took a gap year to travel and volunteer in Mexico and Nepal.

Caitlin attended UC Berkeley, where she studied Political Science, Public Policy, and Ethnic Studies. At her time at Cal, she immersed herself in progressive politics on- and off-campus, and has worked to empower womyn and queer folks to become politically engaged. She has worked in the Gender Equity Resource Center on campus, connected students to campus resources, engaged in critical dialogue, and facilitated a variety of events. She has been an ASUC Senator with CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights and a Valid Education), endorsed by the queer community at Cal. Also in the ASUC, with the office of the External Affairs Vice President, she headed the non-partisan Vote Coalition in Fall of 2012, led the campus to register over 8,500 students and community members to vote in the general election. That was how she got her start with YP4 as a Civic Engagement Organizer in fall 2012, and Caitlin looks forward to growing even more with YP4.

BLUEPRINT: Divesting in Sweatshop Labor at UC-Berkeley. Caitlin’s Blueprint focuses on improving UC Berkeley’s impact on communities. Instead of feeding into sweatshops and poor working conditions in the United States and abroad, Caitlin seeks to build strong ties between her schools student government, the Associated Students of University California, and the Berkeley community all of which have nurtured so many progressive leaders and movements by helping UC Berkeley students find local, union-made goods for their groups at prices that they can afford.

Warren is the founder and vice president of the Human Rights Association at Johnson C. Smith University. He is committed to advocating for diversity in his role as assistant in Multicultural Student Affairs and was the member of the advisory council. He is known fo his passion for engaging students on social justice topics and address on lyceum platforms. He also served as the Senator At Large on the Student Body Association. He was appointed to serve as the intern for Charlotte’s Mayor’s Office. He rallies community partnerships to strengthen the LGBTQA programs on campus.

BLUEPRINT: Fostering Civic Engagement at Oberlin College. The Oberlin YP4 Fellows realized many students on campus were not from Ohio and consequently were not very aware of, or involved in, Ohio politics. The Fellows set a goal of fostering more local civic engagement in Oberlin students. They engaged in a multipart strategy to achieve their goal. First the Fellows created a thinktank in cooperation with the Roosevelt Institution to help students write policy papers and engage in issue advocacy. Secondly the Fellows helped to found the Center on Political Engagement at Oberlin College, a central clearinghouse for youth organizing and civic engagement organizations. Lastly, they tied this work together by organizing and running a large voter registration campaign on the campus and are currently involved in educating students about Ohios voter ID requirements. The Oberlin Fellows broke the story about how Lorainne County, OH, was interpreting state voter identification bill could potentially disenfranchise thousands of Oberlin voters, allowing election protection volunteers to proactively work to address the issue.

Fredy Ramirez is a first-generation college student from Bell Gardens, California. A son to undocumented immigrant parents from Central America, Fredy was front and center as he witnessed the struggles his parents faced here in the United States and pledged at a young age to develop himself so that he may help those like his parents in a greater capacity. In an effort to reinforce his strengths, he majored in Communications with a minor in Pre-Law at Long Beach City College. Understanding how crucial diversity and leadership skills are in our society, Fredy took part in the National Teen Leadership Program (NTLP) from 2013-2014 and returned in 2015 as a volunteer staff member. He volunteered as a staff member for NTLP and sat on the organization’s Advisory Board, was part of his college’s John Fylpaa Leadership Institute, and a part of the YP4 Fellowship Cohort. Through his devotion to his parents, his studies, and his self-development, Fredy hopes to become a licensed attorney to guide undocumented immigrants through the complicated justice system that both granted his Salvadorian mother U.S citizenship and deported his father back to Guatemala years ago.

Maricela has served as one of the core leaders for the E.Q.U.A.L club at Palm Beach State College. It is a club which aims to educate the community about equal rights and opportunities for all, and encouraged leadership development. She was also the Vice President of human services for the Psychology and Human Services club. As a Psychology major, she hopes to become a school psychologist to help children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities, eating disorders, and other mental disorders that could interfere with academic achievement.

Fernando is the founder of the Puerto Rican non-profit Proyecto Inocencia, was the Vice President for Student Life for Tulane University, the ex-chair for the Tulane Student Health Advisory Council, an intern for the International Centre for Migration Health and Development in Geneva Switzerland, and an active service contributor to the New Orleans community. He completed his public health and international development Bachelor’s degree and is a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Amir Rankin was the president of his school’s Gay and Straight Alliance, the bulldog for school events and one of the founding members of the student booster club. While he attended Pitt, Amir made it his goal to get involved and make a difference, and under his leadership, the GSA had several successful events such as “Ally Day” and “Awareness Week.” Amir’s philosophy is that we are all human living for love and happiness and with his tireless efforts he believes that he can accomplish every goal and overcome every hurdle until equality is reached for all.

Darrell Real was an undergrad at Rutgers University in Brunswick, majoring in Latino &Hispanic Caribbean Studies. He is an active leader in the Latino community and creates events for the awareness of marginalized minorities in education. He is a very friendly, charismatic and an outgoing individual.

Christian Redbird has worked to create safe spaces for women and their families to talk about issues in their community, ensuring that their stories and experiences were considered when important decisions were being made. Christian worked as the Campaign Organizer at Young Women United. Young Women United was a community organizing project by and for women of color in New Mexico. She worked closely with their teenage organizing circle and continues to build upon her role as a friend, mentor, and activist. She is a native New Mexican and Native American; her tribal heritage includes Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Kiowa.

BLUEPRINT: Reclaiming the Black Cultural Center Library at Bryn Mawr. The Black Cultural Center Library in the Bryn Mawr community was in need of repair, funding, and programming. YP4 Fellows at Bryn Mawr worked through their Blueprints for Social Justice and Sisterhood to reclaim the library as an institution that is able to serve the student community. They did so by building the library’s collection, by developing a space, structure and staff for discussions around Black culture and Black history, and through forging connections with local service-learning organizations like Books Through Bars.

Inglish is a graduating scholar from Bowling Green State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communication with a focus in advocacy and emphasis in social services. During her time at BGSU she served as President of Chi Alpha Epsilon National Honor Society, Department of Communication Student Ambassador, and founder of the support group “Accepted”. She is passionate about communications, social justice, inclusive leadership, empowering people with differing abilities, and community development. She aspires to be an empowerment coach, communication consultant, and philanthropist.

Jazzmin attended the University of Richmond majoring in political science and sociology with a minor in women’s studies. Jazzmin’s experiences on and off campus have allowed her to deconstruct the intersecting institutions that lead to systemic oppression.

IonaPearl was born in New York, grew up in North Carolina, and attended school in Massachusetts. A student at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, IonaPearl worked for the Civil Liberties and Public Policy [CLPP] program. In addition to reproductive justice, IonaPearl is interested in journalism, psychology, and law.

Shawn was a college mentor for the Students of Stonewall program, a high school queer and ally activism group, and resident advisor for the McGill project, a philosophy dorm at Vanderbilt University. They are the former Vice President of the Vanderbilt undergraduate queer organization, and volunteer student program coordinator of Engage, a week long queer-focused immersion trip to Chicago. They organized the gender inclusive housing initiative on Vanderbilt’s campus and worked to create dialogue around social justice issues through programming. A proud member of Sigma Lambda Gamma, they also focus their organizing efforts on worker’s rights, women’s issues, and public education advocacy.

As a first-generation immigrant and entrepreneur, Luisa values lived experiences, self-awareness, and the power of a hustle as core to her identity. The roots and front-lines of her experience fueled her action and nurtured her vision for equitable access and youth empowerment within her communities. She believes that empowerment starts with being empathetic and uplifting to youth and that fostering these safe spaces develops power, creativity, and community. She seeks to use innovative education to facilitate her vision and equip youth with the tools to sustain and build their own opportunities. Empowerment, innovation, and access play transformational roles the recognizing their true power. Luisa worked as the VP of Business Development with Jossle, LLC and spent her free time writing poetry and appreciating creativity. Her track record includes building coalitions at Wellesley College, learning at the African Leadership Academy and The Lawrenceville School, and graduating from NJ SEEDS.

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Kelsey Reynolds was a student in college from Los Angeles, California. Shea attended Tulane University through the Posse Foundation, which awarded her a full tuition scholarship based on leadership and academics. Since being on Tulane’s campus she made it her mission to immerse herself in leadership opportunities on campus as well as the greater community of New Orleans. As a student, she applied for the Newcomb Scholars program and was accepted into the cohort of 20 women. As well, she was on the planning committee for the Black Arts Festival through the Black Student Union. As well, she tutored for the Roots of Music Program. Lastly, she was chosen to be the RA for the multicultural floor. Furthermore, her true passion is working with kids, education reform, and prison reform.

Samuel Rich attended Tulane University. Sam has lived in New Orleans but is originally from Beverly, Massachusetts. He was elected as the Vice President for Student Life for the Undergraduate Student Government. He oversaw the diversity and inclusive excellence committee, the sustainability committee, and the student life committee along with the progressive initiatives that were formed within these task forces.

BLUEPRINT: Turning Voters Out at Wilberforce. The Wilberforce Fellows wanted to increase civic participation on their campus. Concerned about low youth participation in voting, they worked as YP4 Fellows in conjunction with Working Assets, a socially responsible business, to help sponsor a Party at the Polls event on Election Day. The Wilberforce Party at the Polls event was designed to encourage students on campus to vote in the 2006 mid-term elections. On Election Day, the Fellows hired a DJ, ordered food, and secured space on campus to throw a party for students who voted. Only people who proved they had voted were allowed into the party. The event was a huge success. During the afternoon on Election Day almost fifty Wilberforce students who had voted came to the party to dance, eat, and talk about election returns.

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Zoe is a co-founder of No Red Tape, a group of survivors and allies fighting to end sexual violence and rape culture at Columbia and beyond. She was a lead complainant in the Title IX, Clery, and Title II complaints against Columbia University, where she studied political science and critical race studies. As a case manager for End Rape on Campus, she helped other students file Title IX and Clery complaints against their schools and provided media and organizing support. She also worked as an organizer for K Your IX, a survivor-led and student-driven campaign to end campus violence by improving both campus and government policies. Zoe also worked on issues of mass incarceration, juvenile justice, and youth empowerment, and has founded and run multiple programs dedicated to supporting incarcerated youth. As a second generation queer woman and a survivor of sexual violence herself, she is committed to centering the voices of survivors and people of marginalized identities in anti-violence work and building community-based solutions to sexual violence that do not rely on inherently violent institutions like the prison-industrial complex.

Christian attended Columbia University. During his freshman year, he was part of several clubs: Peer Health Exchange (PHE), Heights 2 Heights, and Public Safety and Sabor, a Latino dance group. He loves to use photography, videos, and drawings to express himself. Over the summer, he was part of a trip to Ecuador through the WorldTeach program. He plans to use the skills from PHE and WorldTeach to return to his middle school, and help teach students there.

BLUEPRINT: George Jackson Academy College Mentorship Program. The George Jackson Academy College Mentorship Program assists high school students in navigating the high school experience and the college application process, engaging recent George Jackson Academy graduates as mentors to current program participants. By pairing high school students with recent graduates of the program who are now in college, the high school students receive invaluable mentorship and support in SAT prep, the college application and selection assistance, and visiting college campuses.

Candace Roane was a student at Bowling Green State University who studied communication with a focus on promotions and advertising. She was an executive board member of BGSU’s Feminist Organization Raising Consciousness and Empowerment and is passionate about raising awareness for social and reproductive rights. She was also the first student at BGSU to produce The Vagina Monologues, and she organized a community donation drive for the Cocoon Shelter, a local women’s shelter. Candace is a self-proclaimed bargain hunter, she enjoys thrift shopping, reading magazines, making art, and watching how-to videos on Youtube.

Jestina Roberts is a cisgender young woman has lived in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area who is passionate about gender and sexual minorities. She is an active participant in LGBTQ organizations in her area and spends most of her time and resources raising awareness about equality among all gender, sexual and romantic orientations and identities. Jestina feels passionate about these topics because she personally identifies as pansexual. She hopes to educate herself and others on how to be an effective ally to the LGBTQ community and become a better leader.

BLUEPRINT: Sparking Civic Participation at University of Cincinnati. In order to increase civic participation, University of Cincinnati YP4 Fellows started an event called Northside Celebrates Voting. The event took place the weekend before Election Day. They sought out sponsors, invited bands to perform, and all candidates running for office were invited to speak. Over a dozen officials running for office came throughout the course of the event to speak to hundreds of voting community members.

Aida was a student majoring in sociology with a concentration in global and international studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She transferred to the University of Pennsylvania from Palm Beach State College, a community college in South Florida, in fall 2013. Aida first became involved in the immigrant rights movement in 2010 and since then is dedicated to advocating for the fair treatment of immigrant youth and families. She is very concerned about the injustices Central American unaccompanied child migrants face while crossing Mexico to reach the United States. Aida hopes to continue working on immigration issues and potentially advocating for public policy to protect unaccompanied child migrants.

Karina studied Political Science and Sociology. She has been involved with pro-immigrant organizations that work hard to mobilize and engage the immigrant community in making progressive change that is fair and just at a local, state, and federal level. Karina hopes to continue working with the immigrant community, and one day she hopes to run for office to represent her community through the policy-making process.

Trinidad is the founder of Las Nietas de CuauhtŽmoc, an organization at the University of New Mexico. Dedicated to embracing and empowering Chicana feminist voices through learning and creating self-publications, Trinidad’s primary involvement in the university and community was to promote higher education to students who lacked support or the proper resources to attend higher education. She was involved in New Mexico Movimiento Estudiantil de Aztlan, Mexican Student Association, and volunteered at the National Impact conference. She also exhibited her leadership in her community by advocating for immigrants’ rights. Through her involvement in New Mexico Dreamers in Action in Albuquerque and in her hometown in California with the San Gabriel Valley Immigrant Youth Coalition (SGVIYC) and United without Boundaries (UWB). Trinidad helped organize to stop the deportation of two activist students who were located in the Georgia deportation center.

Jorge was a journalism student at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU). While attending FAMU, Jorge occupied numerous positions at the student newspaper “The Famuan”. In the newsroom, Jorge continued to keep the student body informed on issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, hoping to bring understanding to a topic seldom spoken about on campus. Before attending FAMU, he worked with Spectrum, an LGBT outreach program, which was funded by Big Bend Cares. There Jorge brought attention to legislation and issues facing the LGBT community in Florida through marches and demonstrations at the Tallahassee Capitol building

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Nohemi Rosales is a queer Xicana student who attended Columbia College Chicago. She was a Cultural Studies major/Photography minor and was a photojournalist for The Columbia Chronicle. She uses her love of photography and writing to spread awareness on social justice issues. Nohemi was involved in the Free Oscar Lopez Rivera Campaign, which fought for the release of Puerto Rican political prison Oscar Lopez Rivera; as well as with Centro Autonomo, a community center in Chicago’s most diverse neighborhood that focuses on immigration rights and political consciousness.

BLUEPRINT: Coming Clean: Sexcual Assault Prevention at Amherst College. Fellows at Amherst College formed Coming Clean, a student-run organization that worked toward sexual assault prevention from the student side of the issue. They surveyed their campus to asses feelings toward sexual assault and what students defined as sexual assault. They also collected survivor stories to create a publication that brought a more human face to the issue.

Sylvie was a board member at the Edmonia Lewis Center for Women and Trans*people, a student-run center at Oberlin College dedicated to anti-oppression work from a multi-issue standpoint. She has focused on cultivating a community of politicized disabled students on campus. She co-founded and led a peer support group for disabled and/or chronically ill students who see collective healing as a radical response to an ableist society that attempts to isolate them. She was also involved with anti-prison organizing in North East Ohio.

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Alyssah Roth was a student at the University of Texas at El Paso, majoring in women’s and Gender Studies and minoring in creative writing. She has been extremely passionate about her job as a writing tutor, and her other passions include activism, biking, gardening, and spending time with her partner, family, friends, and bear of a dog, Baloo. Alyssah is dedicated to reproductive justice issues that affect Texans and was the Director of West Fund, an abortion access fund based out of El Paso in far West Texas.

Peter Ruiz was a theater major at Rollins College. He has served as president of his college

Daniel Runningen was a computer science major has attended the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota. As a strong advocate for environmental and human rights issues, he hopes to use technology to influence better relationships between people and the environment. He acknowledges that people enjoy both the technology and other products they use but has wanted to encourage consumers to make smarter choices by creating a network of information geared solely towards pushing green products and practices. He believes that many people want a greener future but may not have the knowledge to help them remove waste and chemicals from their lives.

“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

Cuahuctemoc attended UC Berkeley. He quickly noticed that his passion is to help and empower his community, so he did just that. He has interned for an ASUC (Associated Students of the University of California) Senators, served as a Raza Caucus Facilitator, mobilized as a CalSERVE Community Coordinator, and much more. His passion for educating, empowering, and changing his community is contagious, and he hopes to someday change government policies surrounding queer and undocumented rights.

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My name is Carlos Sanchez and my personal goal is to get as far as possible in my education; unfortunately, I have to pay out of state tuition for being a DACA student (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). I plan to get the Hispanic community in North Carolina more engaged in the local election because I believe that the only way to make a difference is by having a voice in our state legislature. With more representation, we will be able to advocate for more comprehensive laws with better results. I have also served as the Student Government Association President at Central Carolina Community College and Local Interaction Chair for the North Carolina Comprehensive Community College Student Gov. Association (N4CSGA, NC. State SGA Executive Board). As an SGA President, I served as a member of the College Board of Trustees, representing the student body on decisions taken by the board, as well as, work with other clubs to promote student engagement by organizing events for students. Furthermore, as Local Interactions Chair, my job was to work with the community College System Office, on issues that affected community college students in North Carolina. Our issue of the year was Staff and Teacher pay and promotes Civic Engagement among community college students.

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Cortney Sanders has demonstrated leadership, scholarship, and citizenship at The University of Texas at Austin. Cortney is a proud Houstonian who loves serving others and promoting academic excellence. While serving as a student representative for the Fisher v. Texas Supreme Court case, in which she filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Black Student Alliance, Cortney has shown her passion for equal opportunity at UT. In fall 2013, Cortney worked as a full-time intern for the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce, making that the highlight of her college career. Courtney has gone to Accra, Ghana for economic development service. After that, she plans to attend graduate school studying Public Policy. In between going abroad and graduate school Cortney is excited to design a social justice project focusing on community development and education policy.

Simon is a social activist who continuously strives to mobilize and amplify the voices of South Asian LGBT youth as well as other marginalized communities. He has been organizing since high school and has worked with organizations such as South Asian Youth Action, Project Reach, Chhaya CDC, The Center for HIV Educational Training and Studies, and Peer Health Exchange. Through these experiences, he has gained valuable skills that have made him into the fierce and dedicated organizer he is today. He hopes to continue his journey of social justice by gaining new experiences and exploring new aspects and viewpoints.

Karla Sandoval is a hard-working, self-driven student who is determined to make a change in her community. She was part of the Valley Project, a summer program designed for high school students to help incoming immigrants in the Valley area of Texas. She returned to the program as a chaperon and influenced others to face the immigration problems in Southern Texas.

Valerie was born in Los Angeles, California and has lived with her mother, two brothers and two sisters in South Central, California. She moved to South Central during her freshmen year and joined the Eco Club to work for a better environment and because of her teacher, Robert Jeffers, who introduced her to the many reasons we should care about the environment. The love of nature and smiles it brought to people faces she cared about were life changing. She is motivated to continue making changes in her community on an ongoing basis. Valerie was the ASB president and hosted beautification days on her campuses on Saturdays. She’s also been the Soccer captain, an Eco club member, the YES Audubon Leader, LA Audubon Restoration leader, LA Audubon Intern, Santa Monica Aquarium volunteer, Golf Manager, Student Run LA member, and an Action Fellow with ACE. Juggling all these incredible experiences only grew her love for the work she did. She wants to change and spread awareness throughout her community. Valerie attended Vanguard University Southern California. She majored in Biology and Minored in Communications. Her long-term goal is to be the Mayor of Los Angeles and to travel to all 50 States. She loves camping, hiking, tubing, cliff jumping, swimming, shopping, EATING, playing soccer, listening to music and lip syncing. She loves animals, long boarding and snap chat.

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Zuhdiah is a founding member of the George Mason Chapter of United2Heal, a humanitarian non-profit which raises money to send excess medical supplies to countries in need. She was an active volunteer with Mason Life, a post-secondary program for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and assisted the students of the program with class work and residential life activities. As a part of the Arab Student Association and a member of the Dabke team, a traditional Mediterranean folk dance, it seems that the common denominator between all Zuhdiah’s projects was connectivity between people from all different walks of life with the goal of decreasing discrimination and hate, whether it was due to differences in culture, disability, or need.

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BLUEPRINT: Community Building among Youth Organizations in San Francisco. Each of the CCSF Fellows has a background in community based youth work. They all recognized that while there were many different groups organizing youth around San Francisco, there was no sense of unity in purpose or movement building amongst the groups. They also felt that there was a lack of opportunity in the organizing world once somebody stopped being a youth. The CCSF Fellows sought to bring the different groups together to learn from each other and develop some common goals. Arjuna, Gustavo and Sammie therefore engaged in a series of train the trainer events to support ongoing community youth outreach, and held community events for local youth, all with the aim of forging a common agenda.

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Rebecca had been involved in a variety of political organizations during her time as a college student. She worked on antiwar campaigns and environmental issues. She had been involved with the Santa Cruz branch of Hillel, a Jewish youth organization. She has also worked with Feminist organizations to end gender discrimination. She0 considers all of her work to fall under the umbrella of sustainability, a cause which she is passionate about.

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“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

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Nia Scott is a Spoken Word and Visual Artist from Tampa, FL. Scott is a recipient of the First Wave scholarship at the University of Wisconsin: Madison. First Wave is a program that stands on principles: Arts, Activism, and Academics. Scott was the High School Program Director over “One Life” under the JVN Project organization. “One Life” was a workshop series that used Hip-Hop as a tool of empowerment for 13 – 19-year-olds by teaching Creative Writing and music competition with the objective of improving academic trajectory through affirmation, inclusion, and performance. Scott has earned two Regional Gold Keys for her poetry collection and a National Silver medal for her poetry portfolio from the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards. In 2011, Creative Loafing named & honored her in a segment titled “Top 20 [artists to look out for] under 25.”

Bobbie Sedlmajer was an Architecture graduate from South Dakota State University and an Anthropology student at Colorado State University. She is an enrolled and active member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. Bobbie aspires to create a dialogue with her tribal members about the hardships and poor living conditions faced by many on the reservation. Then, together develop a plan to improve these conditions and make change happen.

Olivia Sedwick is a current law student at Howard University in Washington DC. She is a graduate of Winston Salem-State University, where she studied political science, economics, and history. She is from Indianapolis, IN. In undergrad, she was the Student Body President and was extensively involved as a student leader on her campus.
She is very passionate about equal access to education and civic responsibility for minority groups, so much so that she has organized many voter registrations on her campus and led a sit-in at the local county Board of Elections office in Winston-Salem to protest the potential closing of their on-campus voting site.
She is inspired by great activists of the past to fight for justice and accessibility to a quality and “free as practicable” education for all.

Naz is a first generation Guyanese-American Queer Trans guy based in New York City looking to create positive change in a world of constant struggle. He was a student pursuing dual undergraduate degrees in Criminal Justice and Culture and Deviance Studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Naz was a plaintiff and won the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund’s lawsuit challenging the New York City requirement that transgender people undergo surgery in order to update their birth certificates. He is a mentor, an educator, and a self-proclaimed social justice activist.

which would implement significant budget cuts and could force graduation from state universities to occur within four years

Selwyn Selina hails from Second Mesa, AZ, where he has passionately worked to educate Native American youth in his community and has worked tirelessly for a youth organization that serves Native American youth for over eight years. A Hopi and first-generation college student, he envisions a place where Hopi youth gain the motivation to further themselves in education’ and learn more about their historical culture and traditions.

Holly Semma attended Michigan State University and studied psychology. She is the founder and was the president of Spartan Spectrum, which was the only student organization on campus dedicated to autism awareness. Holly’s passion for disability advocacy stems from her younger brother, who was on the autism spectrum. The mission behind Spartan Spectrum was “education through experience” in which the organization provided opportunities for college students to learn about autism through people who have autism. In doing so, Spartan Spectrum promoted a better understanding of the autism spectrum and acceptance of disability.

Josh was a student who studied economics and political science with a focus in public policy at The George Washington University. Originally from Wisconsin, Josh worked on numerous political campaigns before coming to DC to serve as a United States Senate Page. Josh was the financial director for the GW chapter of the Roosevelt Institute and for GW Not for Profit, a student organization focused on financial transparency and college affordability on campus. Josh is specifically interested in economic development and community investment. In his free time, Josh enjoys traveling, affairs, public policy, and following the U.S. Senate.

Eva Shang is the founder and was the executive director of the Student Alliance for Prison Reform, a national alliance of university students that worked in criminal justice reform. With SAPR and partner organizations, she has led nationwide campaigns against youth in solitary confinement that have garnered thousands of signatures. She was a student at Harvard University, where she directed a tutoring program in Massachusetts correctional facilities. With her younger sister Melissa, a disability advocate, she is the author of the middle grade novel, Wheeling Through Middle School.

Swathi was a representative of the school of Literature, Science, and the Arts on Central Student Government at the University of Michigan. She is dedicated to addressing issues such as police brutality, racial injustice, and climate change and continues to advocate for policy changes. She hopes to continue to work towards improving campus climate and address these issues on a larger scale in the future.

BLUEPRINT: Greening Ohio State University. YP4 Fellows wanted to see Ohio State University become an environmentally friendly, or green, campus. With 58,000 students, The Ohio State University is the largest University in the nation. YP4 Fellows worked with campus offices and several student groups to challenge the administration to go green. Fellows and their allies developed several commercials to be shown on the campus television station, stickers to place over light switches reminding students to turn off lights and buttons to wear in order to show support for a greener OSU. They also held a solar powered Green Fair featuring several environmental solutions. For example, Toyota brought hybrid vehicles the school could use in its fleet. To bring their message home to students, the Fellows and like minded students conducted a dorm raid in which they replaced all of the light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs. The students continued to push the administration to rely on green sources of power and to dedicate some of their energy savings to continued research on environmental sustainabilty.

Harrison Shelby is a community organizer and public speaker. Harrison is a driven leader and student advocate that has gone above and beyond the call of duty to make others around him excel socially and academically. Harrison’s leadership experience ranges from being a board member on the teen advisory board for the non-profit Common Ground to coordinating student leadership workshops to enhance fellow student’s ability to achieve at a high level in the classroom. Harrison impacted the lives of high school students in the city of Detroit as a Dream Pilot for The Future Project which was a national movement to assist high school students in discovering their passion and pursuing their dreams. Harrison is an exceptional young man that can connect and impact his peers in innovative and effective ways.

Kyla Shelby attended Texas Southern University. She was an Administration of Justice major with a minor in Public Affairs. Kyla has worked with numerous non-profit organizations, and mentored and tutored students. She has also participated in the National Honors Society, and Student Government Association. After graduation, Kyla plans to attend law school and pursue a career in Family Law.

BLUEPRINT: Greening Ohio State University. YP4 Fellows wanted to see Ohio State University become an environmentally friendly, or green, campus. With 58,000 students, The Ohio State University is the largest University in the nation. YP4 Fellows worked with campus offices and several student groups to challenge the administration to go green. Fellows and their allies developed several commercials to be shown on the campus television station, stickers to place over light switches reminding students to turn off lights and buttons to wear in order to show support for a greener OSU. They also held a solar powered Green Fair featuring several environmental solutions. For example, Toyota brought hybrid vehicles the school could use in its fleet. To bring their message home to students, the Fellows and like minded students conducted a dorm raid in which they replaced all of the light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs. The students continued to push the administration to rely on green sources of power and to dedicate some of their energy savings to continued research on environmental sustainabilty.

BLUEPRINT: Greening Ohio State University. YP4 Fellows wanted to see Ohio State University become an environmentally friendly, or green, campus. With 58,000 students, The Ohio State University is the largest University in the nation. YP4 Fellows worked with campus offices and several student groups to challenge the administration to go green. Fellows and their allies developed several commercials to be shown on the campus television station, stickers to place over light switches reminding students to turn off lights and buttons to wear in order to show support for a greener OSU. They also held a solar powered Green Fair featuring several environmental solutions. For example, Toyota brought hybrid vehicles the school could use in its fleet. To bring their message home to students, the Fellows and like minded students conducted a dorm raid in which they replaced all of the light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs. The students continued to push the administration to rely on green sources of power and to dedicate some of their energy savings to continued research on environmental sustainabilty.

“BLUEPRINT: Organizing to Save Affirmative Action in Michigan. In the November 2006 elections, a statewide ballot initiative called the “”Michigan Civil Rights Initiative”” aimed to ban affirmative action policies and outreach programs at all publicly funded state institutions including higher education institutions. The ballot initiative was sponsored by Ward Connerly

BLUEPRINT: Turning Voters Out at FAMU. Florida A&M University YP4 Fellows helped register hundreds of new students to vote on their campus of 11,000 students. After their voter registration efforts were complete, the Fellows worked together in conjunction with Working Assets, a socially responsible business, to help put together an event called Party at the Polls. The event was held at the polling place and was designed to encourage students to vote on Election Day. Students who voted were invited to attend a party that had a DJ with hip-hop and R&B music, food, and plenty of people to hang out with. During the course of the day approximately two hundred students participated in the party!

BLUEPRINT: Coming Clean: Sexcual Assault Prevention at Amherst College. Fellows at Amherst College formed Coming Clean, a student-run organization that worked toward sexual assault prevention from the student side of the issue. They surveyed their campus to asses feelings toward sexual assault and what students defined as sexual assault. They also collected survivor stories to create a publication that brought a more human face to the issue.

Gurwinder was an advocate for the Sikh Coalition, the largest Sikh civil rights non-profit in the United States, and a youth leader in their Coalition program. He worked towards educating students on their rights in the education system and providing them with tools necessary to confront adversity. He is a co-founder of the Richmond Hill Youth Empowerment Program, which focuses on providing mentorship for students in need of academic support. He hopes to continue working to create change and discover the talent that is trapped in the community.

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Kirty Singh has been an activist since her teenage years. She started her journey in social justice through a youth development program named Sikh Coalition which helped youth advocate for issues faced within the Sikh community. Once she entered college, she wanted to continue to be part of advocacy and became involved with a student-run non-profit called New York Public Interest Research Group. As a Board of Director, she overlooked the Hunter College chapter to make sure students were ready to mobilize around a variety of different issues that affected them. She also interned with a local group on her campus fighting for welfare reform called Welfare Rights Initiative. She hopes to able to continue to learn about different movements and do her part as an ally and activist in supporting and growing all spheres of social justice.

Thylan Singleton attended Howard University, studied human development and psychoeducational studies from Atlanta, GA. Thylan served in the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at The George Washington University. Upon his graduation from HU, he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy. As the oldest of two younger brothers, Thylan knows firsthand the importance of proper mentorship and guidance young black men need in order to thrive in America. As a YP4 Fellow, he planned to pioneer a mentorship program to help high school males in Southeast DC reach their full potential.

Anthony was a Posse and Fulbright scholar from Chicago, Illinois dedicated to enhancing the lives of others through various artistic expressions. Through teaching, advocacy, and social media he is able to merge his personal and professional interests to spread his message of inclusiveness across several platforms. His interests include, but are not limited to, LGBTAQI affairs, youth advocacy, public health, and immigration policy.

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Alyssa Smith was born in Pine Bluff, AR and has resided in Little Rock. Alyssa enjoys immersing herself in various cultures. For example, traveling is an important part of Alyssa’s life. Alyssa has taken opportunities to study abroad. At Alyssa’s high school, Alyssa was involved in Central’s International Acceptance Organization (CIAO), which was a club centered on bringing the experience of other cultures to my peers. Alyssa also enjoys learning about history, especially when it informs Alyssa of her heritage. Alyssa volunteered at Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site and was a member of the Historic Site’s Youth Leadership Academy (YLA). As a chairman of her school’s chapter of the NAACP, Alyssa has a passion for social justice. In addition to being in NAACP, Alyssa was a member of Project Town, a student-based social justice organization sponsored by Communities of Arkansas (JCA). After graduation, Alyssa plans on going to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Alyssa is not sure what she wants to major in yet, but she hopes it will align with her interests. In the future, Alyssa wants to start an organization that helps at-risk youth by giving them the opportunities that might not be afforded to them; whether it is going to a state park, a museum, or learning how to garden, the exposure will make a difference in their lives. Alyssa’s mother made it a priority that she knew the importance of history, geography, and culture. Alyssa wants to pass on the knowledge she has gained to the younger generation.

Brittany studied at Harold Washington College in Chicago, Illinois. She was born April 12, 1992, in Lima, Ohio. She grew up in Columbus, Ohio in a single-parent home with three siblings. Brittany attended Fort Hayes Art and Education High School. There, she discovered her true passion for music and poetry. She also found that she took a serious interest in social and political issues, and participated in many groups for social change. Brittany attended Columbia College Chicago for a semester but had to leave because of financial issues. She stayed in Chicago to work on her craft of music and poetry.

BLUEPRINT: Empowering Youth In Chicago through the Arts. Brittany’s Blueprint is an ongoing program of weekly sessions for black and brown youth in low-income communities. Through these sessions, youth participants are educated on social justice and race issues around the country and world, much of which is not taught in school nor talked about in their communities. During these sessions, youth are able to create their own piece of art (poetry, music, rap, drawing, acting skit, painting, dancing, etc.) to explain and showcase what they are learning. At the end of each month, the art generated by the youth is showcased in a community space, which gives students a sense of empowerment and ownership. These sessions also create a safe space for children to express themselves and have someone to talk to about issues they cant address at home. Through this program, Brittany is working to decrease the violence in her community and empower youth by giving them more opportunities to be successful.

Ashley Sobhani was a Global Studies major at Carnegie Mellon University. She was a member of the Survivor Support Network, which was her campus’ first response organization for sexual assault and relationship violence on CMU’s campus. Through the Survivor Support Network, she served as the secretary of Got Consent, a student organization that worked towards campus advocacy against sexual assault and rape culture awareness on CMU’s campus. She was also on the Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Prevention Committee and the University Student Affairs Council. Through her involvement in these organizations, she strove to help create a safer and more conscious campus regarding the discussion about sexual assault.

Ophi is a community organizer who has worked on campaigns that highlight immigrant rights, social justice, elections, and the restoration of rights for formerly incarcerated persons. After dedicating years of her effort to established social justice campaigns, Ophelia seeks to bring awareness and action to the improvement of the lives of inner city children in her own community through cross-cultural immersion. Ophelia was honored to be a YP4 Fellow and has been excited to mentor others on how to start a successful campaign that can change the lives of the children in her community for the better.

Carolina Sosa is originally from Centreville, Virginia. Carolina is proud of her Colombian and Ecuadorian heritage. Her commitment to social change started in high school, where she started her own mentoring program for low-income students. She is recognized as a Girl Scout Gold Award Winner, Youth Service America Everyday Young Hero, ANNpower Fellow, Centreville Citizen of the Year, and the 2015 PTA Youth Advocate. Attending the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, she was a tour guide, an elementary school tutor, and was involved with the school paper. Carolina enjoys mentoring youth, advocating for social justice, traveling, and learning languages.

Located in Raleigh, North Carolina, Jazmin was the President of Angels for Community and the Publicist of Angeles Latinas, organizations that have the goal to educate the community about social issues. At Meredith College, she was the only Latin@ senator representing the Latin@ students which made up 5% of the student body. Jazmin has also served as the President of Hispanic Liaison Youth group, which offers Latino youth positive alternatives to gang involvement, which also ensures that the gang problem is addressed by working with law enforcement, churches, schools and other youth-serving agencies in the Chatham County, in three different high schools.

Joelle Sostheim (she/her/hers) attended Oberlin College majoring in Economics while studied Theater. She participated in a bunch of clubs at Oberlin – the Responsible Investing Organization, Women’s Ultimate Frisbee, Economics Majors Committee, La Alianza Latinx (she was Puerto Rican), and she usually participated in as many theater productions as she could. She is passionate about economic justice and really enjoys teaching workshops to provide organizing tools/skills to her peers. She also loves dogs and turtles. Her sign is Cancer.

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Iris Stegman is a native of Oakland, California. Iris proudly wears the title “Social Justice Warrior”. Though initially a mechanical engineering major, her summers spent canvassing for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the ACLU-inspired her to pursue a career in the social sector. Iris was a student at Carnegie Mellon University double majoring in Decision Science and Policy and Management. Her top priorities included dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline and mitigating the negative effects urban revitalization has on poor communities of color. She has been highly involved in her school’s chapter of College Democrats and was determined to cure the political apathy that existed within Carnegie Mellon’s tech-focused student body. Upon graduation, Iris hopes to work at a non-profit or a political consulting firm. With her Decision Science degree, she hopes to prove that big data and data analytics can and will improve the judgment and decision making within the social sector.

BLUEPRINT: The Progressive Network at American University. The American University YP4 Fellows built upon work begun by the class of 2005 YP4 Fellows. They continued to develop and initiated a university wide progressive network, appropriately called The Progressive Network. The mission of the network was to increase the unity, size, and effectiveness of the AU progressive community. The Fellows wanted to encourage more students to be progressive and to motivate and empower those students already involved in progressive organizations.

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which would implement significant budget cuts and could force graduation from state universities to occur within four years

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BLUEPRINT: Sparking Civic Participation at University of Cincinnati. In order to increase civic participation, University of Cincinnati YP4 Fellows started an event called Northside Celebrates Voting. The event took place the weekend before Election Day. They sought out sponsors, invited bands to perform, and all candidates running for office were invited to speak. Over a dozen officials running for office came throughout the course of the event to speak to hundreds of voting community members.

Lauren Swain attended Hampton University where she began her journey as a social activist. She began to study African culture at this time. Lauren has participated in many social actions and volunteer programs throughout the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. She expresses great passion for social justice for individuals such as Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Gardner, and many others. Throughout her voyage, she realized how essential education was within low-income communities. Therefore, with her studies in Criminal Justice, interests, and expertise her goal is to continue to be a positive influence amongst youth across the country.

Rylie was a pre-nursing student who also pursued a French minor. She founded and ran her high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance her entire four years at the school. She was also a member of the GLSEN Washington Jump-Start Team. She would like to continue working on LGBTQ+ issues, as well as pursue other social justice campaigns.

Emily attended St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She was heavily involved in campus life, working with both the on-campus feminist coalition and GSA to achieve greater awareness and acceptance across campus. She participated in various theatrical events as well as helping to plan and organize on campus events promoting sex education, body positivity, and queer acceptance and visibility.

BLUEPRINT: Mental Health Center at St. Mary’s College in Maryland. Emily’s Blueprint addresses on-campus mental healthcare at St. Marys College of Maryland. More than 25% of college aged students struggle with mental illness, which can be socially and academically detrimental. Many students don’t know how to seek help or are unsatisfied with the current procedure for counseling and lack of support in the administration. Emilys Blueprint helps address this by creating an on campus space where mentally ill students can come together and create a community of support for each other. Peer mentorship and advocacy are crucial for students to feel supported and informed about their options and to create a community of care and compassion.

Gislene was the first to graduate from high school and the first to attend college in her family. As a resident of Maryland, she has used the convenience of DC’s proximity to her advantage. This has enabled her to dedicate her time and efforts towards immigrant rights, racial, gender equality, and ending animal cruelty. She is dedicated to educating the public and believes that an educated public is an outspoken one. Her commitment towards helping others achieve the American promise has led her to be a part of several different organizations and campaigns that foster dynamic changes in communities. She hopes to one day use her skills and experiences while serving as a Supreme Court Justice.

Robert Taylor attended Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. He is originally from Hot Springs, Arkansas. He enjoys politics, the outdoors, and spending time with his friends. He is an outgoing and energetic person and is open to new experiences!

BLUEPRINT: Sparking Civic Participation at University of Cincinnati. In order to increase civic participation, University of Cincinnati YP4 Fellows started an event called Northside Celebrates Voting. The event took place the weekend before Election Day. They sought out sponsors, invited bands to perform, and all candidates running for office were invited to speak. Over a dozen officials running for office came throughout the course of the event to speak to hundreds of voting community members.

Derek attended the University of Southern Florida, worked with UPS, and enjoys swimming as a hobby. He also plays the cello and loves the arts and theater. Derek believes that every day is a good day, but we can try and make tomorrow better. All we need are the right values and the right group of people. Let’s make tomorrow better.

Ezra Temko was a YP4 Fellow in 2006 while attending Oberlin College (Ohio). He has since participated with PFAW Foundation as a 2006 Front Lines Leaders Academy Fellow, 2007 Senior Fellow, 2007-2008 Leadership Academy Fellow, 2008-2012 Young Elected Officials Network member, and 2012-2014 Alumni Board Member. Ezra lives in New Hampshire with his husband Drew, where he pursued a Sociology PhD from the University of New Hampshire. Ezra has been a Teaching Assistant at UNH, where he instructed a course in Social Problems. He has also served as a sociology instructor at Great Bay Community College. Ezra has served the UNH community as a Social Justice Educator and as president of the Graduate Student Senate. He has served his local town as an elected member of the Newmarket Planning Board. Previously Ezra was the Delaware organizer for Americans for Democratic Action where he focused on grassroots advocacy around social and economic justice issues. Before that he worked for the Sierra Club of Delaware, attended graduate school in public administration, served on his local city council, and taught middle school math and Kindergarten. Ezra is passionate about community, social justice, family, and good food.

BLUEPRINT: Campus Climate Challenge at Temple University. YP4 Fellows at Temple University worked with the Sierra Club Student Coalition to engage in the Campus Climate challenge. They were able to sign up young Philadelphians to embrace the idea of wind power in their homes and pushed the University to adopt a variety of energy saving policies.

BLUEPRINT: Campus Climate Challenge at Temple University. YP4 Fellows at Temple University worked with the Sierra Club Student Coalition to engage in the Campus Climate challenge. They were able to sign up young Philadelphians to embrace the idea of wind power in their homes and pushed the University to adopt a variety of energy saving policies.

Anna Thomas received her Associates of Arts Degree in Business from Seminole State College and transferred to Florida International University to study Public Administration, with a minor in International Relations. She is passionate about teaching the significance of privilege, power, and esteem in the education system of the U.S. to young women who deserve to epitomize the essence of empowering one another. She is also passionate about providing essential educational resources and support to underprivileged schools to help bridge the dropout gap in high-poverty communities. Her involvement around campus ranged from being a leader for the only USNC United Nations Women club in the U.S. to advocate for reproductive justice, LGBTQIA rights, and sexual assault awareness. She aspires to be an AmeriCorps member for City Year Orlando to give back to her community by providing individualized support to at-risk students and establishing an overall positive learning environment in the school. She also aspires to one day develop an interactive and extensive curriculum that educates young women on the significance of their self-worth, intelligence, and voice. Overall, she seeks to engage her community by educating young people on the social justice issues that plague our country and empower them to take action against these issues. By empowering them to create change, they will, in turn, empower each other. Annie hopes to continue working for youth empowerment and potentially advocating for social policy issues. In her spare time, she likes to cook creative plant-based meals, travel, and do bikram yoga.

BLUEPRINT: Getting out Student Voters at Penn State. Seeking to increase civic participation on their campus, YP4 Fellows at Penn State put forth a full scale plan to register, educate, and get voters to the polls on Election Day.Working with a coalition of peers and other campus organizations, the YP4 Fellows created a website that provides students with the information they need to register and vote. The Fellows registered over 1,200 voters on their campus.Then, the Fellows mapped out all the different polling places on the Penn State campus and distributed maps and information to students.They also posted volunteers at polling sites and answered questions that student voters had such as where their polling place was and how to register to vote in the future. The Fellows also worked together in conjunction with Working Assets to help put together an event called Party at the Polls. The event was held at the polling place and was designed to encourage students to vote on Election Day and over 100 students showed up throughout the day. Their efforts help produce a 119% increase in voting at campus precincts, up from 2002.

Lisa Thong was a Senior Special Assistant to State Controller John Chiang, California’s chief fiscal officer. She was responsible for outreach to various communities statewide. Previously, Lisa worked as an editorial assistant for !t Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, in New York as well as on nonpartisan civic engagement issues affecting the Asian Pacific Islander American communities through her role at Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment (CAUSE). Additionally, Lisa has worked as a field representative for former California State Senator Jack Scott. Lisa graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and a sequence in Asian American Studies. She is committed to public service and has served as Board President of OCA-Greater Los Angeles, the local chapter of a national organization dedicated to the socio-economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans.

Aisling was a student at the University of Arkansas where they studied Psychology and Gender Studies. Aisling served as the president to the Student’s for Gender Equality on campus and is dedicated to advocating for social justice by combating forces of oppression such as transphobia, racism, homophobia, sexism, and ableism.

Christin Thorpe is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was a student and liberal studies major with a concentration in community and social services at Hampton University. Christin worked heavily with the Hampton University Sociology Department in research and development of needs assessments of the Hampton Roads area. She has a passion for educational enrichment for disadvantaged youth. Christin worked tirelessly in creating and implementing programs that promoted a college culture among first-generation college students and economically disadvantaged youth. Christin plans to pursue a postgraduate degree in urban education policy and, subsequently, hopes to open a community center geared toward the educational enrichment of opportunity youth.

As a student at Truckee Meadows Community College, Celeste Tinajero first became keyed into environmental action when she joined the Eco Warriors club in 2011, during her student years at Reed High School. The club wanted to make a lasting impact on the school so they competed a couple of times to win grant money to make Reed High School more sustainable. They won first place ($12,000) to renovate their outdated and wasteful bathrooms then won second place the next year ($3,500) to purchase a Brita Hydration Station.

Amber has spent her life fighting for reproductive justice and women’s rights and has gone from being carried down the halls of the Missouri Capitol Building by her mother to interning on political campaigns to founding the first GSA at her college. She hopes to use the resources YP4 offers to bring all of her ambitious ideas to fruition.

Nicole Angela Tinson majored in political science at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, from South Central Los Angeles. Nicole is dedicated to bettering her community and intends on one day on becoming the Speaker of the House in the United States Congress. Her areas of interests and advocacy include gun violence, the education system, homelessness, domestic and sexual violence, the school to prison pipeline and HIV/AIDS awareness. Nicole has been actively involved in organizations including the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100) and the NAACP and was named an HBCU All-Star by the White House Initiative on HBCUs. Nicole plans to attend Yale University for graduate school. Nicole lives by the quote, “Tell me I can’t, so I can show you I CAN.”

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Tamarre Torchon was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. There she grew up fully immersed in rich Haitian culture. Torchon was the South Eastern Regional Director for National Action Network’s Youth Move, one of the leading civil rights organizations in the Nation with chapters throughout the entire United States. She is dedicated to organizing youth in communities to advocate for social justice, education, and against youth violence. Tamarre was a student at Georgia State University and studied Public Policy and Urban Education. Torchon has plans to continue her efforts in and outside of the community through civil service and social justice work.

Devontae was the Executive Director of the Million Hoodies chapter at American University as well as the Vice President of the American University Black Student Alliance. He studied Law & Society and African American and African Diaspora Studies. He is passionate about racial equality, human rights, counter-terrorism, and criminal justice reform among other things. He was on the mock trial team and was a student leader on campus and within the residence halls. He’s an aspiring attorney with a love for justice, equality, and cheeseburgers.

Originally from California, Erida lives in New York City where she attended Columbia University. She was a Sustainable Development major with an emphasis on the intersection between social and environmental justice. She has been involved with the WomanHOOD project, the Blueprint for Social Justice of YP4 2011 Fellow Amanda Matos, which focuses on teaching young women leadership and self-empowerment skills. Erida’s hobbies include photography, reading, writing and martial arts.

Lorena studied social sciences at the University of Central Florida. She was a member of Public Allies, where she worked at Harbor House in the prevention department. In this role, she created curriculum and programs to prevent domestic violence in the community. Her passion for social change brought her to become the Florida Ambassador for the Happy Post Project, a social experiment to spread happiness. She hopes to continue developing the skills needed to create and inspire social change.

Tina was a student studying Political Science at New York University. She has worked with a variety of non-profit organizations over the years such as Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV and AIDS (APICHA), the Chinese-American Planning Council, the Summer Leadership Initiative through the Chinatown Youth Initiatives, and much more. Tina is dedicated to building community, providing service to the underprivileged, and creating a program of leadership amongst the youth. She is committed to civil service and aspires to be a pro-bono lawyer in the future.

A political and nonprofit consultant by profession and public servant by passion, Gigi Traore has fifteen plus years of political experience with a focus on young adult, collegiate and urban engagement. Traore’s activism began during her undergraduate tenure where she used hip-hop culture as a tool to engage the student body and administration on various issues as well as held a city-wide conference on the No Child Left Behind Act.

Justina has been a youth leader at an Atlanta non-profit organization named Project South. She has participated in various conferences and movements, such as the Southern Movement Assembly, which took place in Lowndes County, Alabama to fight against voter restrictions before the election, and Journey for Justice, a rally at Department of Education that discussed the closings of public schools across the country. She is passionate about education and hopes to motivate young students to be proactive about changing the curriculum in a way that benefits all students, without showing any particular bias to a certain culture or ethnicity.

Brandon Truong attended the University of California, Santa Cruz. As a youth leader for the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE), he worked to mobilize and educate students on climate change. Since participating in protests against tuition hikes in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, Brandon believes that the most pressing issue that needs to be addressed in his community is apathy. He believes that many people in his community are well versed in social justice issues such as human rights, climate change, and poverty. However, the majority chooses to remain complacent when they are called to action. As a YP4 Fellow, Brandon was determined to collaborate with other students across the country to expand his views on these issues, as well as understand and gain direction on how to combat the lack of civic engagement in his community.

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2015 Civic Engagement intern and a member of YP4’s 2015-2016 fellowship class Christina Tudor has attended Ithaca College double-majoring in Writing and Politics and minoring in Women’s and Gender Studies at Ithaca College. She is passionate about advocating for reproductive justice, gender equality, ending gender-based violence, and disability rights. Throughout college, she worked to implement a peer education based program called Bringing in the Bystander on her campus in order to address sexual violence and inform students of their rights and resources as well as intervention skills. Christina successfully trained six peer educators to help facilitate these programs in first-year residence halls. While working on this program, she created a guidebook for student activists organizing around college campus sexual violence that has now been used by her local sexual assault resource center. She also served as the President of Ithaca College’s Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter. Christina also advocates for social justice causes online through her blog called Activism 101 where she writes about issues and teaches others how to become activists.

Elizah Turner is a visual media artist based in Atlanta, GA. She was a graduate of the University of North Texas and has worked within the music/entertainment field. Her focus in the fields of photography, digital video, and graphic design seek to provide social commentary through the lens of identity, awareness, and humility. She has plans to expand her personal work to include social justice issues to help propel ideas forward and use media as a bridge for introspection. Other interests include fitness, nutrition, and a holistic approach to overall wellness.

Jaen was the regional representative and family coordinator of New Mexico Dreamers in Action (NMDIA), a state-wide organization dedicated to serving and educating the immigrant community in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is dedicated to developing relationships with immigrant families and working towards educational advancement within his community.

Anagha Uppal was one of fifteen students in the Haslam Scholars Program, a selective honors scholarship program at the University of Tennessee. She aims to use the knowledge she earned through her self-directed Computational Social Science major to adopt technology in the development of community-based solutions to local issues. She was the training director for the local non-profit organization East Tennessee Peace & Justice Center. She also led two campus food justice campaigns and has participated in Clinton Global Initiative University and the Public Policy Challenge at her university, for which her team wrote a policy to increase nonpartisan youth voter turnout. She worked at her university Geographic Information Systems (GIS) research lab and wrote for the Amplifier, Knoxville’s street paper. She believes her familiarity with five languages may aid her in her future goals.

Torii attended Southern Oregon University, studied business administration with a certificate in non-profits. She worked with the Oregon Student Association as an Oregon Students of Color Coalition Board Member; worked to ensure that education was accessible to all and has worked on passing legislation such as Tuition Equity in Oregon. She has a love for student advocacy work and was the Director of Multicultural Affairs in the Associated Students of Southern Oregon University. Her passion for people’s happiness and success are shown through all the work she does and she can’t wait to continue that work with YP4.

Jesús envisions a society rooted in “In Lak’ech,” a Mayan ethos affirming: “You were my other me. If I harm you, I harm myself. If I love and respect you, I love and respect myself.” He believes people who reach for this oneness are less likely to harm other people interpersonally and systematically, which reduces dominations such as sexism, racism, and heterosexism. Inspirited by In Lak’ech, Jesœs strives to help people who are isolated, persecuted and silenced by such dominations gain healing, power, and agency; he frames them as not”people who struggle” but as “people who overcome.” As an undocumented American, Zapotec and scholar-activist at UC Berkeley, he seeks to use his fellowship to expand developmental opportunities available to marginalized peoples of the Bay Area in California. Jesœs uses meditation, writing, running, hiking, dancing and soccer to help him spiritually navigate the storms involved for social justice.

Juan is a young professional who worked in an insurance agency founded on the principles of helping those who lived in inner-city areas that are usually rejected by insurance companies. In addition to his job, Juan is a passionate humanitarian who has spent his weekends volunteering in the city of Chicago to help communities in need. He has been a blogger for the Leila Grace Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to provide prevention programs and awareness on sexual assault to its online community and college campuses.

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Uma has attended Oberlin College where she worked at Oberlin’s Sexual Information Center (SIC). The SIC provides low-cost safer-sex supplies, workshops, sexual education classes, and confidential peer counseling to members of the Oberlin community. Uma taught Spanish to elementary school students and was focused on learning pedagogical techniques that promote student choice and output. She is interested in work to combine these two interests within a framework that acknowledges how dynamics of race, class, and gender can manifest within classroom spaces.

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Boomer Vicente attended UC Berkeley, where he studied Political Science and Public Policy. Born and raised in Santa Ana, his experiences in Santa Ana molded and influenced him to be a community organizer and activist. He saw the limited access to education, the mass incarceration of his community, and the constant barriers towards communities of color. During his time at UC Berkeley, he was involved on and off campus to empower communities of color. He interned in the Raza Recruitment and Retention Center on campus his first year, worked on projects and community events to build community and do external outreach for Latinx students. He was a Justice Corps intern at the San Francisco Superior Courthouse where he helped more than 80 self-represented litigants on court based issues such as family law, housing, civil harassment, restraining orders, gender changes and more. In addition, he was a Police Review Commissioner for the City of Berkeley where he helped conduct an investigation of the Berkeley Police Department to address concerns and policies during the December Black Lives Matter demonstration.

As a student and research assistant at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) from Compton, CA, Ernesto Villasenor is focused on issues of social and environmental injustice in inner city communities. He has worked to develop methods of intervention in the areas of public health, the environment, and education. He has completed extensive work on public health disparities in Los Angeles County, helping to develop a resolution in the field of public health that has been adopted by seven school districts in LA County and published with the Latino Medical Student Association. Ernesto hopes his work will help bring positive changes in inner city communities, throughout the country, and the world.

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While a student at Oberlin College, Jesse spent much of his college career organizing voter registration drives with really impressive people. In addition to his voter registration organizing, with an understanding that change doesn’t happen at the ballot box, he worked to connect students with their state representatives, through lobbying initiatives and information campaigns focused on wide-ranging legislation – from voting access to LGBT rights. He has experience doing communications work and has worked in finance and field organizing for congressional and state issue campaigns.

Ruben Vogt Ruben Vogt, 2005 YP4 and 2012 Fellow, is a native of El Paso, TX and holds bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and English/ American Literature from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), where he also earned a Master’s of Science in Intelligence and National Security Studies. Ruben is a recipient of the YP4 Norman Lear Alumni award and the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for leadership and public service. Through his Blueprint Ruben founded CYnergy (civic.youth.energy), a program whose goal was to develop disadvantage border youth into social entrepreneurs. Because of his work with CYnergy he has won multiple national awards and highlighted in “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Extraordinary Teen Soul.” Ruben has traveled extensively both in the Middle East and South America as an ambassador of civic engagement while immersing in other languages and cultures. Professionally, he has served as a Legislative Analyst for the Texas Senate focusing on healthcare and environmental issues. Ruben has also served as the Public Policy Director for El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar and now focuses on issues related to the U.S./Mexico border and national security.

Sienna’s path in activism began in a small pediatric clinic in rural Ecuador. Building on her knowledge of women’s issues she partnered with a local volunteer to distribute and implement prenatal care pamphlets. This education initiative led her to pursue a position with Recrear International, a Canadian non-profit which promoted the role of youth in community development. Sienna was an advocate for women’s issues at her university and an active member Women in Living and Learning Program (WILL). Using the WILL template, Sienna hosted a Consent is Sexy Campaign to highlight the unsettling prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses nationwide. She hopes to continue her involvement in advocacy, education, and outreach for women’s issues by collaborating closely with the Sexual Assault and Violence Education student organization and through her internship at Safe Harbor, a Richmond service provider for individuals affected by intimate partner violence.

Tiara was a student at Fayetteville State University double majoring in Criminal Justice and Psychology. She was the Chief Justice of the Student Government Association Judicial Board and a proud member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the oldest civil rights organization in America. She is dedicated to advocating for equal rights, civic engagement, health issues and education.

Olivia Wallace was the Education Coordinator for the Ohio University Sierra Student Coalition (OUSSC). OUSSC and other campaigns within the umbrella of OUSSC aimed to spread environmental activism through outdoor recreation and education. Within this organization, Wallace was responsible for leading and establishing events that help spread awareness about the importance of renewable energy and sustainable lifestyles. Wallace was also a Media Producer for Project C. Project C, Clicking Creates Change, created a collection of multimedia stories that informed, inspired and encouraged individuals to become involved in their own local community. Wallace is a documentary photojournalist and ethnographic storyteller whose main goal is to bridge the gap between culture and the ever-evolving world. Wallace graduated with a B.S.S. in visual anthropology, a Spanish Minor, a Latin American Studies Certificate and a Museum Studies Certificate.

Victoria is the founder and creator of Brazil365, a social media rich peer advocacy campaign for international exchange based on her personal experiences abroad. She was a flagship dedicated to youth development and education, increasing student exchange, and local grassroots cooperation to promote universal initiatives. Her multifaceted campaign stands by a commitment to expand language proficiency, create more cultural exchange, and identify available resources. She aspires to grow the pool of comprehensive global leaders.

Brianna was a devoted student and is a passionate social justice advocate. She served as the vice president for her campus branch of the National Organization for Women and as the student liaison for her local American Association for University Women branch. With NOW and AAUW, she worked to create solutions to issues such as the wage gap and rape culture. As a member of these and other organizations, she is dedicated to ending the oppression of all women, not some. She hopes to continue this work and learn to develop better strategies to affect social change.

Alexandria Washington is a Doctor of Public Health Student at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. She has a prevention-focused mindset and hopes to one day contribute to the elimination of diabetes and obesity through food literacy. Along with a passion for food literacy, she is passionate about volunteering and health education. Ms. Washington served as a Co-Chair for the Northwest Florida Cancer Control Collaborative and is an active member of the Florida A&M University Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Society, the National Association of Professional Women, and various other organizations. Recently, Ms. Washington was named as one of the Tallahassee Democrat’s 25 Women You Need to Know for her various efforts in the community and professional achievements. Upon completion of her schooling, Ms. Washington plans to relocate to New Orleans, Louisiana and start a non-profit centered on food literacy.

Jamal Washington can be described in one word, passionate. Just speak with him about something he is fervent about, and you will feel the excitement emanating from his personality. Poetry is his greatest love, and he truly believes that if he can cultivate his skills, he can use his poetry to change the masses. He was a student marketing major at Howard University and hopes to use DC to jump off his poetic and professional career.

Devont’e Kurt Watson is an agent for positive social change and nationally acclaimed orator. Devont’e has served as an advisor to the Honorable Mayor Richard Berry of Albuquerque, New Mexico and a member of the New Mexico Youth Alliance, an advisory council to the New Mexican Legislature and the Honorable Susana Martinez of New Mexico. He has also served on the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, served as the Executive Director for the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico Governmental Affairs, and is the project director for the New Mexico Forum for youth In Community’s Youth Economic Summer Institute Internship Program. In addition, he served as an advisor to U.S. Surgeon General Benjamin, the Health and Human Services Department, and the Legacy Foundation on Tobacco Policy. Watson is a political columnist featured in publications including the Perspective II Magazine, PBS News Hour Extra, and his blog. His highlighting work with News Hour includes coverage of the potential government shutdown of Summer 2011 and the 2012 elections.

Merriam was a transfer student at the University of Oregon. She previously attended Lane Community College where she first got involved in progressive issues. She held various positions in the student government there, eventually being elected the 2012-2013 student body President. She served on the Oregon Student Associations Board of Directors and was the 2012-2013 Board of Directors Chair. Merriam is passionate about electoral organizing, civic engagement, access to post-secondary education, and student rights.

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Gabrielle is passionate about ending systems of privilege and oppression and building an equitable society. She has previously organized on campaigns for environmental protection, healthcare reform, and employment non-discrimination for LGBTQ people. She seeks to transform spaces of privilege and exclusivity by educating others on privilege, allyship, and the necessity of an intersectional lens on social justice work.

Anthony Wells was a Business Marketing Major at Winston-Salem State University. Although he is a native to Charlotte, NC he considers himself a neighbor to many across the world due to his love for international travel. Anthony is geared and committed to the accountability and advancement of Persons of Color through the advocacy and development of Academic and Professional based initiatives through his University and surrounding community.

Karli Wells was an African American Studies major in the South Carolina Honors College at the University of South Carolina. She previously served on the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, a grant-funding organization that allocates $5 million every year for service-learning projects and community enrichment programs. Karli was a member of the Association of African-American Students and served on the executive board of the USC chapter of the NAACP. She has worked to establish a student organization called Students Invested in Change, which focused on affecting positive social justice change.

BLUEPRINT: Organizing for Fairness at University of Central Florida. In order to create a more tolerant and inherently equal environment at their university, the University of Central Florida YP4 Fellows and their gay-straight alliances organized a Same-Sex Hand Holding Day on their campus. The event was designed to encourage people of the same sex to hold hands as they marched across campus to the office of the president to demand that sexual orientation be included in the schools non discrimination policy and that the university offer domestic partnership benefits to gay employees. The YP4 Fellows efforts helped to turn out over two hundred students, faculty, staff and community members to the march. After the event, they organized a postcard campaign that led to hundreds of students mailing postcards to encourage the University President to support fairness. The event was a huge success and was covered in the campus paper, regional paper, and by the local news. In the face of media pressure, the president of the university endorsed adding sexual orientation to the schools non discrimination policy.

Georgia West is from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has worked with community organizing since the 8th grade (over 5 years!). Her main focus is in reproductive justice with Young Women United on which she was also a board member. She has also done work with Media Literacy Project and Strong Families of Mexico. She has created short films and worked on campaigns to promote healthy living for her community. Georgia has a strong foundation and is ready and excited to work with more social issues and make a positive change in her community.

Michel’le Wheatley was a Political Science major at Tougaloo College. She is from Leland, Mississippi and a 2012 graduate of Leland High School. Michel’le has participated in leadership programs such as Mississippi Student Justice Alliance, is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta, and Pre-Law Society. She also interned with AFL-CIO, which is a labor union out of Washington, DC. She has been a member of Pilgrim Home Missionary Baptist Church in Leland, Mississippi. Michel’le was a Tennis player for Tougaloo College. During her spare time, she enjoys educating, tennis, and family. Her future plans have been to attend Law School and fight for the justice of the voiceless.

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Bio unavailable.

Aj Williams was a student at Lawrence University class of 2017. She majored in Film Studies, minored in Environmental Studies & Studio Art, and is a social justice activist. Sitting on the Committee Of Diversity Affairs at her college, Aj was dedicated to creating spaces for dialogue on topics that represent and or affected the student body. Her focus was to improve race relations within the student body, facilitating conversations such as the plague of Anglo-centric culture and workshops on effective ally ship in a liberal arts setting. Aj plans on pursuing film production post-grad, focusing on a social documentary.

Ciera has pursued a degree in Sports Management at Georgia Southern University (GSU). She served as president of GSU’s Gay-Straight Alliance for the 2014-2015 term and founded an affinity group, QPOC-Together, in 2014. In the past, she was invited to share her views in the George-Anne, GSU’s award-winning campus periodical. Off campus, she was heavily involved in the worlds of racial justice, LGBTQ activism, women’s rights, sports, and the ways they intersect. In the future, she plans to use her intellect and compassion to increase college retention rates for all student athletes of color.

Desirae was a Cosmetology student at Nash Community College who is interested in helping others feel good about themselves and keeping a smile on people’s faces. She is also interested in cleaning up her community from all of the violence that is taking over the city of Rocky Mount North Carolina in hopes of teaching the youth that there was more to life than gangs and drug dealing. There is a brighter future ahead of them if they stay the course.

BLUEPRINT: The Queer Leadership Institute. YP4 Fellows at University of Texas-Austin created the Queer Leadership Institute (QLI). Through dialogue, interactive activities, training, and guest speakers, QLI poses critical questions relating to LGBTQ issues and rights to participants over the span of the institute and hopes to give participants the tools to explore questions and potential answers around transgender inclusion and safety on their campus.

BLUEPRINT: Turning Voters Out at Wilberforce. The Wilberforce Fellows wanted to increase civic participation on their campus. Concerned about low youth participation in voting, they worked as YP4 Fellows in conjunction with Working Assets, a socially responsible business, to help sponsor a Party at the Polls event on Election Day. The Wilberforce Party at the Polls event was designed to encourage students on campus to vote in the 2006 mid-term elections. On Election Day, the Fellows hired a DJ, ordered food, and secured space on campus to throw a party for students who voted. Only people who proved they had voted were allowed into the party. The event was a huge success. During the afternoon on Election Day almost fifty Wilberforce students who had voted came to the party to dance, eat, and talk about election returns.

Gerrod, referred to as G, is a native of Baltimore, MD, a 2011 YP4 Alumnus and a 2015 Alumnus of Winston-Salem State University, in Winston-Salem, NC; where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a minor in Music. Upon graduation he became a 2015-16 AmeriCorps member for City Year, Philadelphia where he continued his passion for and began his career in education. After City Year he joined the staff at the South Baltimore Learning Center (SBLC) as the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator. Recently, he received a promotion at SBLC, becoming the Career and Education Counselor. His ultimate career goal is to become a Chancellor of a Historically Black College or University; focusing on educational policy as well as minorities within higher education. Recently he became a member of the Advisory Board for Arts Education in Maryland schools in order to support the arts programs in the state of Maryland through teacher and student development and advocacy.

Danielle Willis has been a social media consultant and communications specialist. Danielle is originally from College Park, Georgia. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University. Through her love and passion for social media and branding, Danielle has had the opportunity to work with companies ranging from Emory University, Turner Sports PR and HBO to local non-profits and small businesses. She has used her love of social media to help advocate for social change and legislation. She worked with various organizations in the Atlanta area to promote their cause and provided her services to increase awareness of issues affecting the community.

Jordan Wilson was a political science major and economics minor from Howard University. A native of Gary, IN, Jordan is passionate in the areas of advocacy regarding economic development in underdeveloped cities such as her hometown as well as economic equality anti-violence advocacy. Jordan committed to her desire to serve through her campus involvement in Jewels Inc., a community big sister-little sister outreach organization and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Sydney was a student at Arizona State University. She was a Social Work major and is passionate about assisting those in poverty, improving self-esteem in the at-risk youth of Arizona, and helping defeat world hunger. Sydney was involved in Collegetown@ASU, a club dedicated to promoting social justice, cultural diversity and developing leaders.

Devin attended Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. He served as a leader of the chapter of Amnesty International at Millsaps, which is dedicated to raising awareness of human rights issues from a local to international level. He was also greatly involved in the underprivileged community surrounding Millsaps. He seeks to find more ways to be engaged with this community and to solve the problems of poverty, education, public health, and various social injustices that the community, as well as the greater state of Mississippi, faces.

BLUEPRINT: Mississippi Pride Run. Devin’s Blueprint supported the 2nd Annual Mississippi Pride Run, which took place in the spring of 2014 in Jackson, Mississippi. Devins goal for the run is to raise awareness about LGBTQ justice issues in Mississippi, create a unified, sustainable voice for LGBTQ people in the South, and advance legal equality. By creating an annual, sustainable event that unifies LGBTQ organizations and individuals, allies, and other supportive organizations, the Mississippi Pride Run will increase collaborative efforts, raise awareness, and contribute to the fight for LGBTQ justice on a local, state, and national scale.

Barbara Wolfin is Iss-Illmawi of the Pit River Tribe, located in CA. Barbara has attended Haskell Indian Nations University and was the president of the Indigenous American Indian Studies Club. Barbara’s goal, as the president, was to spread awareness to local native communities and non-native communities about Indigenous issues and solutions. Outside of the HINU campus, Barbara was one of the many co-chairs to the Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites, APOSS. APOSS aimed to provide rapid community support to traditional and spiritual leaders, as well as tribal governments, to protect sacred places, lands, & cultural resources.

Angela Wong is a first-generation college student who attended Georgetown University. Originally from York City, she was raised by parents who emigrated from Malaysia. She attended Kent School through the support of A Better Chance, which allows students of color access to private school education. There, Angela participated on its cross-country and swim teams. She worked as Features Editor for Kents and a Peer Writing Tutor. By graduation, Angela was inducted into the Cum Laude Honor Society and Tri-M Music Honor Society. A product of contrasting school landscapes, Angela has become passionate about promoting social justice and educational equity. The Center for Social Justice’s (CSJ) First Year Orientation to Community Involvement (FOCI) introduced her to the endless service opportunities on the Hilltop. Through the CSJ, she has tutored English language learners with the DC Schools Project. Angela also attended an Alternative Break Trip to learn about healthcare disparities in Mississippi’s Delta. She has also been involved with the Roosevelt Institute’s Education Policy Center. She has also been appointed to Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA)’s Socioeconomic and Cultural and Racial Inclusivity teams. Angela is incredibly grateful for all the opportunities she is offered and hopes to dedicate her life to serving the public good.

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Sebastian was a graduate student at the University of Florida pursuing a Master’s degree in Management. His program ended in May of 2016, at which point he hopes to enter the field of corporate business with a strong focus on diversity initiatives and the integration of social justice causes. The causes he finds himself most passionate about are racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights and the promotion of self-appreciation in every individual. Sebastian has hopes that eventually he will be able to tie his career path into that of the community to which he belongs so that the two environments can jointly foster a strong, healthy and socially conscious environment for everyone within them.

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Isaac Young was a Federal work study student in the Workforce, Career & Entrepreneurship Center at Kansas City Kansas Community College. His major was business administration with an emphasis on entrepreneurship. He plans to open up Kansas City’s only unrestricted homeless shelter. He’s also been an active member of various organizations; CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ International), FBOE (Fringe Benefits of Education) and affiliation’s with the NAACP. He holds strong to his faith and the involvement with the community and church where he volunteers a lot of his time; he also taught a high school Christian education class at his church.

“BLUEPRINT: Igniting Political Dialogue and Action at Howard University. Howard University YP4 Fellows created “”Project Voice

“BLUEPRINT: Igniting Political Dialogue and Action at Howard University. Howard University YP4 Fellows created “”Project Voice

Rene’ Spellman is a millennial media and political strategist with a passion for people-powered change. Most recently, Ms. Spellman was National Director of Surrogates and Traveling Press for Bernie 2016, traveling alongside presidential candidate Bernie Sanders while guiding national reporters and celebrity spokespersons through 42 states and over a thousand media moments. She started her political career organizing young people during the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns and now manages US Senate and Congressional races. Between cycles, Ms. Spellman unites community, cause, and celebrity as a social impact consultant, and previously, as Vice President for global public relations and entertainment firms. She also held government appointments in President Barack Obama’s administration at the White House Council for Community Solutions, US Department of Education, and Corporation for National and Community Service. As an undergraduate student, Ms. Spellman was an inaugural Young People For Fellow and later served as Senior Fellow and Vice Chair of its Steering Committee. Ms. Spellman studied political science at Stanford University and business through HBX at Harvard Business School

Claire has researched the possibility of using geoengineering as a response to anthropogenic climate change and attempting to optimize the world climate in the more distant future. She wants to better understand the role these strategies could play in efforts to achieve international environmental justice. She is also interested in ecological restoration, and humanity’€™s psychological relationship with nature. Claire has worked with the California Governor’€™s Office of Planning and Research, updating California’€™s long-term climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy, with a special focus on finding feasible and ethical solutions for California’€™s diverse communities. Claire is originally from Brooklyn and studied Earth Systems and Ethics in Society at Stanford.

BLUEPRINT: Effective Altruism. Claire’s Blueprint will teach and spark discussions amongst young people about effective altruism, the idea of maximizing positive impact per resource used. She will teach two classes, one for high school students and one for Stanford University students, about how to manage serious tradeoffs when trying to do the right thing. These classes will address questions like should we seek positions of wealth and power, then try to use it for good, or work directly to address the needs and problems different communities face?, Should I assist a cause that is personally meaningful to me, even if I believe there are more urgent or important problems facing my society?, and How can I know if my culture is causing me to do immoral things that just seem normal to me? She wants to support thoughtful debates that will challenge both students and the effective altruism movement and figure out how progressive values can best be used to reduce suffering around the world. Claire will also try to reach a wider audience through writing and storytelling in blogs and media outlets.

Mona is one of the founding student members of the steering committee for Wake Up. Going on three years, Wake Up is an education equity movement in Charlotte, North Carolina designed to empower and give a voice to students who are passionate about education reform. Mona has shared her personal story about her struggles to gain education equity to inspire others to join the cause and speak up for their rights. She believes that socioeconomics should not hinder a student from receiving a quality, sound, and equal education. Mona worked very closely with Teach for America and as a student of Winston-Salem State University, she hoped to encourage more African Americans to join the nonprofit to teach in low-income schools. Mona was also an undergraduate research assistant, a member of the Honors Program, and Vice-President of Black Women for Change.

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Eden has served as the Director of Social Justice for Eastern Michigan University’s Student Government. She was also heavily involved with Greek Life on her campus. She was the President of the College Panhellenic Council, the Greek Life Student Assistant, and a member of Sigma Kappa Sorority. She was a double-major in women’s and gender studies and literature and minored in communications. She is dedicated to educating others as well as learning from anyone she comes in contact with.