Thrill-Seeking for Nerds (who want to change the world)

Hey, I'm back! How's phonebanking going? It's a real force for change, I'm telling ya (and Teen Vogue agrees ).  Let's start with the most exciting news... JAMAAL BOWMAN WON !!! Wow, I am just so, so happy for NY-16 and that I got to play a small role in helping to make that happen. Everyone who made even a few calls to voters, donated a few dollars, cast their votes for Jamaal, and more really made a difference. June 22 and 23, the day before and the day of Jamaal and Charles' primaries, were full of phonebanking for us at the Sunrise Movement. It was busy, exhausting, and rewarding-- all part of what we call "GOTV mode": Get Out the Vote. I must have done something like six or seven phonebank shifts in two days. (Phonebanking: make calls to voters and convince them to vote for a candidate you like) Sunrise is part of the movement for climate justice , which means we fight for candidates who tackle climate change as a priority issue, and we stand with...

We just had our first weekend of virtual student presentations from the Global Health Leaders Conference at Johns Hopkins University. We've heard about Polio, Alzheimer's, period poverty, and yes, I spoke about global health advocacy with phone calls to Senators. What did you expect? One of the speakers on Sunday spoke about philanthropy Credit: @ourworldsanimals on Instagram This online conference has been a great experience, and I got to meet other students interested in global health. In fact, you already met Janvi Huria through her guest post on this blog, and I connected with her through this program! At conferences like the GHLC, I love to learn from my peers and just be in awe of the amazing work they do in business, research, philanthropy, and advocacy. I also try to extend an invitation to take their work to the stage of federal-level advocacy. That's pretty much what I talk about every time I'm a presenter: how do we take the knowledge from this conference...