Alex is a member of the International Youth Leadership Council. 

I started advocating for health and reproductive rights when I was a sophomore in high school. For me, there was no life-changing event or motivating experience that inspired me to start fighting for what I believed in, but as I got older I became more socially conscious and began to recognize the monumental impact of limited reproductive rights on women and girls. As a member of a youth-based advocacy and community service organization, I began to lobby my representatives, both on a state and national level, for a federally funded comprehensive sexual education curriculum and the preservation of the reproductive rights of women and girls.

During my very first Congressional visit, my Representative said to me, “It is so wonderful to hear from young people, I don’t often have adolescents come in to meet with me.” That statement made me realize that empowering youth to speak out and act out for what they believe in truly does present a powerful and progressive force for social and political change. As a young activist, one person is able to serve as the voice of thousands. Senators and Representatives want to hear from the young people they represent. It was at this point that I understood that youth have the potential to promote big change. Encouraging young people to voice their opinions on whatever issue they are passionate about is absolutely crucial to the preservation of our rights.

As an international health major at Georgetown University and a new member of the International Youth Leadership Council, I am dedicated to the preservation and promotion of good health and reproductive rights for individuals outside the United States. I am committed to protecting the right of women and girls all over the world to access comprehensive family planning programs. I am passionate about ensuring that women have access to good reproductive health care to prevent unnecessary ill health and loss of life. I am dedicated to fighting for improved access to and promotion of comprehensive HIV prevention and treatment plans, including complete sexual education programs. Since high school I have continued to lobby for issues such as increased funding for international family planning and global HIV/AIDS prevention, and have begun to take interest in peer education.

As I learn more and more about the impact of youth activism I am compelled to help young people find their voices and speak out. So many socially and politically conscious young people are not being heard by their representatives because they are unaware of the opportunities that organizations like Advocates for Youth promote to help them get involved. For this reason I believe peer education and outreach is extremely important and thus I am also working to promote awareness on my campus and within my local community through active participation in student groups such as the GU AIDS Coalition. Through collaborative work with the members of the International Youth Leadership Council, I hope to raise awareness about the pressing issues of global HIV prevention and international family planning throughout the community and to help build a powerful coalition of engaged and active youth to positively affect change.