Local Civics

Celebrating our founder .d.leon today for being named to

Aryaana is a passionate climate justice activist. After Hurricane Sandy, she helped work on a bill that would mandate climate change education in NYC. She hopes to elevate the voices of the marginalized and less fortunate and believes that “youth of color and people living in front-line communities are being left out of the climate narrative.” Aryaana aims to give those people a seat at the table for making climate policy decisions and to raise awareness about the climate-related injustices faced by front-line communities.

Excited to be named the 2021 Champion of the Columbia Venture Competition! More than ever, we need tools to help our communities thrive and democracy to flourish. Our team will continue building the best tools to support our young people to lead in our civic life and beyond.

Quannah is an advocate for the protection of Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuge. She’s helping to lead the movement to defend the refuge from oil rigs and wells. Quannah is also an Indigenous rights activist and raises awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Nialah is an activist and organizer who co-founded Freedom March NYC, a youth protest and policy group on the frontlines, pushing for reform in New York City and nationally. She was also the Midwest Youth Director for the national civil rights organization, The National Action Network, and has been involved in gun violence prevention work in New York City. Nialah has also worked for U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn and spoken at events and conferences such as the National Action Network's Annual Conference, Yale's Black Solidarity Conference, and the Black Women's Roundtable.

Emma is an activist and gun control advocate. After surviving a school shooting as a senior in high school, they co-founded the gun-control advocacy group Never Again MSD. They also helped to organize the famous March for Our Lives, a student-led demonstration in support of gun-control legislation. Emma was listed as one Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2018.

Women’s History Month may be coming to an end, but just as inspiring women fight for what they believe in and make a difference in their communities every month, we aim to recognize, uplift, and celebrate women all year long.

Edie Windsor was a LGBTQ rights activist. Throughout the 1970s she participated in many LGBTQ marches and volunteered at organizations such as Le***an Advocates and Defenders, the East End Gay Organization, and the LGBT Community Center. She was the lead plaintiff in the 2013 Supreme Court case United States v. Widnsor which overturned a key section of the anti-LGBTQ Defense of Marriage Act. Windsor also helped to found Old Qu**rs Acting Up, an improv group utilizing skits to address social justice issues.

Chelsea is the co-founder of --a New York City protest movement and larger youth-led civil rights organization dedicated to training organizers in nonviolent mobilization. She and other young women led protests around New York City in the summer of 2020 in response to the police killing of George Floyd. Chelsea also helped to develop a policy platform that urges New York City government to reallocate NYPD resources into education and to remove police from schools, among other demands.

Janet Mock is a writer, television host, director, and transgender rights activist. Mock was a staff editor and has written a New York Time best selling memoir about her experience as a trans woman of color. She also created the Twitter hashtag to empower transgender women. Currently, Mock is a writer, director, and producer on the FX series, , and sits on the board of directors of the Arcus Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to conservation and LGBTQ+ rights.