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Youth Profiles
Raina Williams
Raina Williams is a sixteen-year old from Marin County. Her work with Be the Influence (BTI), a program that fights high rates of underage drinking in Marin, brings her a lot of pride in the work that they do. “I joined BTI because I wanted to become a part of the solution. It’s challenging for me to sit back and let these events take place. I wanted that self-satisfaction of being able to accomplish a goal that could one day transform our community immensely.” BTI’s team structure is very important to her. She works on the board and feels that they are able to achieve productive actions together. “BTI has allowed me to stop ‘sitting down’ and ignoring the staggering binge drinking rates. BTI has also allowed me the ability to make a difference and a change in our community.” To learn more about the BTI’s Committed Campaign, click here.
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Mikki Silva
Mikki Silva works with both Be the Influence and the Marin County Youth Commission and lives in Marin County’s Tiburon. She is eighteen years old and works to bring awareness to the community about Marin’s serious binge drinking problem and educational equity issues. “I work on Educational Equity issues in hope of giving everyone equal opportunity to succeed in school and continue their education to a higher facility of learning. Being a part of both of these programs has helped me become more aware of the issues in my community and help me figure out that I can do more.” She feels very proud of her work on the Committed Campaign, where she was vital in producing their video about underage drinking in Marin. For more, click here.
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Genevieve Malkin
Genevieve Malkin is seventeen years old and comes from Fairfax, CA in Marin County and is working to prevent underage drinking with Be the Influence. She really values the connections she has made with people in the program. She developed the Prom Resource card that gives emergency, taxi, and other helpful information to prom-goers this year. She has learned a lot about being a leader. “I believe that acting as an example for your peers is a cliché in many ways. What is harder, more demanding and more rewarding is actually BEING an example for your peers. Acting one way and being the same way are two very different things.” For more information about BTI, click here.
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Kaya Rader
Kaya Rader works with Be the Influence to reduce teen binge drinking. She lives in Forest Knolls and is eighteen years old. She loves working for change in Marin, and juggles many different activities but highly values her experiences with YLI. “Being a part of BTI has made me really realize the values of my life. I have been able to see what can make a little dent in the heads of my friends and what can make a very big impact.” For more information about BTI, click here.
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Danielle Reyes
Danielle Reyes works with the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (CCROPP) youth council and is fifteen years old. From Fresno, CA, she has learned about dedication and responsibility from her community work. “I like working with YLI because it's a chance to meet people your age and come together to do something big for the community that we live in and not just complain about it.” She has big dreams and is very action-oriented; the youth-led action research she does with CCROPP has given her a way to change her community. “I didn't want to be someone who waits for someone else to do what I can do.” For more information about CCROPP, click here.
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Emily Blackhurst
Emily Blackhurst lives in Clovis, CA in the Central Valley and is sixteen years old. Her work with the Clovis Youth Council has given her skills in research, project planning, public speaking, and civic engagement. She has learned many lessons. “I have learned that a group of youth who are determined to make change can and will. I have learned that there is opposition to all things and that not everyone will agree or support your cause, but if you are persistent anything can and will be achieved.” She brings passion to the work and a keen insight into dealing with under-age drinking. “My favorite thing about working with YLI is the experiences I have had. Not many of my peers can say that they helped pass an ordinance or have testified at city council, but thanks to YLI I can.” To learn more about Clovis Youth Council, click here.
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Lupita De Loa
Lupita De Loa is seventeen years old and works with Salud Youth Council in Kerman. She represented Salud at a workshop at the Voices for Change conference hosted by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, and found it to be the hardest but most rewarding work she has ever done. “My biggest challenge as a youth leader was having to speak in front of all those adults who were there to learn from me. I did it, and in the end it was so much fun!” Salud’s fight to bring healthy foods and more safe places to be physically active have inspired her. “It has really opened my eyes to environmental prevention and to the issues my community has.” To learn more about Salud, click here.
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Aaron Vasquez
Aaron Vasquez is eighteen years old and works with the Salud Youth Council in Selma, where he lives. Aaron hopes to be recognized as a youth leader for the work he’s doing with Salud to bring healthy foods and more safe places to be physically. “My favorite thing about working with YLI is the way it prepares me for future tasks as well helping me help the community.” Salud’s work brings him pride. “I feel proud about the good changes that are being made in my surroundings for the greater good of my community.” For more information about Salud, click here.
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Kharittas Araujo
18-year old Kharittas Araujo has been working with Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA) and recently won a college scholarship from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (a YLI partner)! “I never imagined I would get a scholarship because a lot of people apply. I'm just so proud and so thankful that I got it. I definitely worked hard for it and it shows.” Kharritas want to study neuropsychology and become a neuroscientist. Her passion for helping people has been a valuable asset at CMCA, where youth work to change their community to help fight underage drinking. For more information about CMCA, click here.
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Jose Ceja
Jose Ceja is a member of Youth Organizing San Mateo County (YO! Mateo). He is 17 years old and his hometown in Redwood City, CA. His work with YO! Mateo has been vital in YLI’s work to build a youth movement for change in San Mateo county. He was recently featured as a panelist for his instrumental work with the Peninsula Partnership Leadership Council in writing the Bill of Rights for Children and Youth, now recognized California-wide. "I like working with YLI because I get to work with other youth that are interested in helping out the community and meet with very important people around the county, and we get to hang out with very cool adult colleagues.” He’s overcome being shy and is passionate about YO! Mateo’s Tobacco Retail Licensing campaign in Burlingame. For more information about YO! Mateo, click here.
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Kate Lin
Kate Lin works with YO! Mateo in San Mateo County. She is seventeen years old and works to build a youth movement for change in San Mateo County by utilizing community coalitions and campaigns. Her favorite thing about working with YLI is creating positive change and healthier lives for community members, but has struggled with convincing elected officials to take her seriously as a youth. She has plenty to be proud of, but what she is most proud of “[is] overcoming personal challenges by publicly speaking and presenting. Also, I’m proud of the Foster City passage of the Smoke-Free Events Resolution.” The Smoke-Free Events Resolution rid at least fourteen events and programs of smoke, cigarette butts, and underage smoking, and generated research for the Parks and Recreation report. For more about YO! Mateo click here.
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Lina Tam Li
19-year old Lina Tam Li, has been working with TURF (Tobacco Use Reduction Force) to fight the high density of tobacco outlets in their neighborhoods. Their research and policy work has put them in the spotlight in their communities and at City Hall. She is proud of her work. “Being a leader in such a young age is a thing that I am really proud of, because not many youth get to work with policy, talk to a Supervisor and make big changes when our policy passes. Like our president Obama said, we need change in this world, because youth are the future.” For more information about TURF, click here.
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Cassandra Kaufman
Cassandra Kaufman is 20 years old and is from the Tenderloin district in San Francisco. She participates in San Francisco Community Action Live to create healthier communities and reduce underage drinking. She joined so she could empower the youth of San Francisco. She enjoys her work at YLI and has gained skills in research, campaigning, and policy work. "I love that everyone is very passionate about their work [at YLI]. I feel proud to have had the opportunity to become a real researcher, evaluator and trainer to both youth and adults as well as to the stakeholders in our community of San Francisco.” Employing environmental prevention has been an effective strategy for her. “I've learned that you can't just say no; you have to empower people through knowledge and once they are aware of the goods and bad's of alcohol they can then make an informed decision. I also feel that bringing general community awareness through our environmental prevention model has been a great way of empowering the community of San Francisco.” For more information about SFCAL, click here.
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Joelle Appenrodt
Joelle Appenrodt is a sixteen year-old member of the Marin County Youth Commission (MCYC), one of the oldest and well-regarded commissions of its kid. It works to advise the Marin County Board of Supervisors and other policy makers on youth-related issues. Joelle is proud of leading the largest youth led survey in the history of Marin County, but finds that the community’s lack o cooperation is the biggest challenge she has met as a youth leader. Joelle thinks that the most important issue she has dealt with at the MCYC is the education equity gap in Marin. “By working on the Commission, I have learned that an opinion is only the beginning of a step towards change--one that then has to be converted to a plan of action. With a keen interest in politics, I joined the Marin County Youth Commission to have the opportunity to constructively voice my opinion, in a way that it would result in change within the county.” She hopes to follow a career in politics. To learn more about MCYC, click here.
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Roberto Perez
Roberto Perez is eighteen years old and counts Patzimaro De Avina, Michoacan, Mexico and Fresno, CA is his hometowns. He works with Urban Fresno’s Leading Youth (UFLY) to apply environmental prevention strategies to reduce alcohol access, consumption and promotion amongst young people. His favorite thing about YLI is his coworkers and meeting new people, but his biggest challenge is being taken seriously by adults. “My program has taught me to stay on the positive side of life. What I feel most proud about is representing YLI at the capitol!” For more information about UFLY, click here.
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Julia Kuchman
Julia Kuchman works with the Marin County Youth Commission (MCYC) to represent youth needs and act as a political voice for the youth of Marin. She is seventeen years old and loves working with the inspiring youth and staff members. She hopes to study medicine and has learned a lot from YLI. “Outside of the MCYC, I always try to motivate people to see the power within them to make a difference. After meeting dozens of youth from the five years I've worked with YLI, I've seen how young people can accomplish great things.” She is proud of MCYC’s work to ban Styrofoam in towns around the county for its negative effect on the environment and her community’s health. Her interests go beyond the environment, however. “I enjoy dealing with the issue of education equity, because it is important to acknowledge that many students do not necessarily have a fair chance at succeeding academically in Marin County. Additionally, I have become aware of the prevalence of youth homelessness in Marin.” For more information about the MCYC, click here.
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Ron "Big Chili" Marelli
Ron "Big Chili" Marelli works with Marin’s Friday Night Live Program. He’s “sixteen years young” and hails from Santa Rosa. His biggest challenge as a youth leader is “Making sure I do the right things when I'm around my young peers, so I don't set a bad example.” Big Chili is sober and has his own business and is proud of his supportive friends. He helped plan Peer Summit 2009 in Marin, which brought together 425 students from eighteen schools in Marin. “I believe this program has helped my public speaking skills, it has also helped me with my people skills.” To learn more about Marin’s FNL program, click here.
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Sarena Smith
Sarena Smith is a seventeen-year old activist from Redwood City. She works with YO! Mateo representing the Redwood Environmental Academy of Leadership Program (REAL), an FNL Chapter, “being the change [she] wants to see in the world”. Since joining YO! Mateo, she has been elected president of the School Site Council, the decision-making body of Redwood high school – as the only youth on the adult council. She is currently working on the Healthy Neighborhood Stores Campaign to makeover a store so that it serves the community healthy, affordable options. “It has changed me because I know that my community is a part of who I am and I take pride in that. I see students at my school have no access to fresh produce or any other healthier choices. What’s provided and affordable at the local stores is greasy and has lots of packaging that’s bad for the environment. I joined to change this and hopefully, make it easier for people to make healthy choices.” Sarena dreams to make a difference in her community and keep doing her excellent work with YO! Mateo while attending college after she graduates.
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Emiliano Bautista
Emiliano Bautista is an eighteen-year old youth leader from San Francisco. His work at San Francisco Community Action Live helps reduce underage drinking through youth action research and reducing youth access to alcohol through licensing and education. “[SFCAL] taught me to know the importance of showing youth that it’s right to stay above the influence.” He joined because he knew his work could help the community, and met his biggest challenge as a youth leader by mapping liquor stores, surveying how much youth drink, and analyzing the data SFCAL gathered; he is proud because he’s changed his life around in a positive way. Emiliano wants to become an EMT and help people. After SFCAL, he says, “I wish to make a good life for myself after this experience.”