Yes She Can Issue #39

By Christine Bejasa
Published: March 1st, 2009 | 10:11am

Be inspired by these three incredible ladies that work tirelessly to right wrongs, break down barriers, and find cures for viral injustice. By creating dialogue with local governments, working on grassroots humanitarian efforts, and raising money and awareness for issues near to their hearts, they each prove that young people really can make a difference.

Paige Fern
22, New York, NY
Fern founded a student-led nonprofit organization, Education Without Boundaries, which strives to provide educational access to at-risk youth in developing countries such as Vietnam, Kenya, Thailand, and Cambodia.

Mission: “What I hope for most is that our students and others like them will be able to pursue whatever educational endeavors they choose without discrimination.”

What has been the biggest struggle for your organization? “A big issue has always been fundraising. As a student-led organization we’ve struggled to secure large grants since we are also competing with much larger, well-established organizations applying for the same funds. In addition, we also tend to operate in areas where other NGOs rarely go … it seems to be easier to secure funds when you are operating in “hot spots” where most NGOs set up operations.”

Marina Gatto
20, Berkeley, CA
Raised by a lesbian mom who taught her the values necessary to be an advocate for positive change, Gatto’s has been a public voice for same-sex rights advocacy — having started her mission at only 8-years-old.

Mission: “Through my education, I wish to be a bigger asset to all the communities I belong to — the Latino Community, the LGBT community — and be a presence in law, an area in which these communities are underrepresented.

What’s your response to the passing of Proposition 8? “It was a step back. Having lobbied and passed many bills, only for them to be vetoed by the governor, I know all too well the feeling of disappointment that was felt. As we have done in the past, we need to stand together as a community and continue to fight, especially on the grass-roots, person-to-person level.”

Salmah Y. Rizvi
23, Bowie, MD
Rizvi works as a language analyst for the Department of Defense and was a blogger for the United States Office of Counterterrorism. She also founded Vision XChange, an apolitical student humanitarian organization at Johns Hopkins University.

Mission: “My goal is to find a mechanism or to create an institution that lets the American people know more about what’s going on internationally, and how they can impact the world. There are universal notions of human rights and we are all so much more similar than you’d think.”
What is important about diminishing language barriers? “The language barrier issue is one that the media is somewhat responsible for when they use certain phrases relating to international issues. The State Department does a good job of training their diplomats ... it makes for a more candid conversation between grassroots organizations and nation states.”