How I Found Hope in Advocacy by Speaking to Congress

By Lara Almeida, Girls Advisory Council member and President of STF Plano
Photos provided by Global Campaign for Education-United States

Often, I feel powerless and that those in power will rot this earth. When I think about my future, I fear I'll live in a greedy, overheated, and arbitrarily divided world. But on July 15, 2025, I talked to Congress on Capitol Hill— and ever since, part of me has changed my mind.

I never thought I would be “good enough” to speak to members of Congress at my nation’s capital. But when STF staff member Kate Lord encouraged me to apply to the Global Campaign for Education-United States’ (GCE-US) Youth Advocate program—and I got in—I started to realize that maybe I was.

My paternal grandfather grew up in a low-income family with a single mother in Brazil. He was the first in his family to earn a college degree—one in civil engineering that just so happened to break that cycle of intergenerational poverty. He married my grandmother, who was also the first in her family to graduate from college. Together, they raised a children’s psychologist, a lawyer, and my dad—a data scientist. Now, my brother and I will be the third generation to graduate from college.

Because of that one degree, we have warm beds and full plates. It was a no-brainer when my maternal grandfather moved from Nicaragua to Brazil for school,  or when my parents moved from Brazil to the U.S. so my dad could grow a career, or when we moved from Washington to Texas so my dyslexic brother could attend an accessible school. We know the value of an education.

That was the story I told to the offices of seven U.S. senators and representatives—Keith Self, Mike Simpson, Robert Garcia, Mike Crapo, Alex Padilla, and Adam Schiff—as I advocated for American support of international basic education.

GCE-US’s 2025 Youth Advocates program brings young people to Capitol Hill to lobby for global education. In groups of youth with an accompanying adult, we pitched three priorities to legislative assistants: 1) funding for international basic education, 2) foreign assistance for children, and 3) participation in the Basic Education Caucus.

I was in awe of my team. Alongside me was Disability Justice advocate Helena Donato Sapp, who has four non-apparent learning disabilities, grew up bullied, and, like my family, her family spent years trying to find an accessible school. Refugee rights advocate Divine Irakoze shared how she grew up in a refugee camp in Malawi after her parents fled the Burundi civil war in 1994. She talked about how she recalls school meant sitting on rocks under trees and having fellow refugees as their teachers. We were guided by GCE-US executive director Giulia McPherson—a total sweetheart and one sharp leader.

After advocacy day, GCE-US asked us advocates to fill out a simple, short reflection form. But one question struck me: “What did you learn during Advocacy Day that you wish more people knew?” For me, the answer was simple: you matter.

First, you matter because your voice is valuable. She's the First has said it, and I’ll say it again: we are experts of our own communities. You don’t need to be a UN ambassador or global revolutionary to deserve a seat at the table. Your lived experience, girl expertise, local advocacy, and rockstar feminine confidence are enough.

“You don’t need to be a UN ambassador or global revolutionary to deserve a seat at the table. Your lived experience, girl expertise, local advocacy, and rockstar feminine confidence are enough.”

And second—despite frequent legislation that implies otherwise—there are people who care that you matter. As a clinically anxious, depressed, and sometimes passively suicidal teenager, as a queer person, and as the daughter of Latinx immigrants—it is so easy to feel utterly hopeless about the future. To feel that the entire world wants your downfall. But that’s not the truth. Right now, there are vast swaths of people doing everything they can to protect you. We even met some staffers who explicitly said our stories affirmed the work they were doing for education in the first place. When we stopped by a House committee meeting on the 2026 Appropriations Bill, we saw powerful, fierce people—including women—defend foreign assistance and the power of the purse. Even when we feel small, I promise: we are bigger than you can imagine. And we will not stop until you are safe. Stay here. Keep on going.

“Even when we feel small, I promise: we are bigger than you can imagine. And we will not stop until you are safe. Stay here. Keep on going.”

I still believe the powerful hurt this world. They have done it before and they are doing it now. After all, they are why organizations like She's the First and Global Campaign for Education need to exist. But I also believe that I—and the Helenas, Divines, Giulas, fervor-filled congresspeople, and passionate legislative interns— refuse to go down without a fight. Together, our presence is prominent and our demands undeniable.

I Used to

By Desiree Okonkwo, 15, United States

I used to agree and accede,

As they laughed because the teacher turned off the lights,

Giggle and sniffle while tears formed in my eyes,

Embarrassment forever fortified in my mind,

I used to mumble and mutter,

Watching them rip my culture to shreds,

Mocking my family’s accents as they shook their heads,

Inescapable humiliation bound around me like thread,

I used to whisper and whither,

My hands reaching for a straightener at an awful attempt,

At the role of “white girl” that I only achieved when I dreamt,

Depravedly desperate for any skin whitening bleach,

My immense ignominy a life-sized leech,

I used to resent and recoil from my reflection,

Contempt created by my colored complexion,

Nails digging in as I hurriedly scrubbed at my skin,

As if I could scrape away the black to unlock the white within

Playing a game supplied by shame I could never win

I used to detest, but now I accept,

Bewitched by my brown color with a bit of remorse and regret

That I ever allowed myself to be so miserable misled,

That I ever viewed my home and heritage with horrid hatred,

That I ever believed racist rhetoric that was said and spread,

But worst of all, that I ever assumed that my blackness could make me less than.

---

I Use My Voice

Author: Camille S. Campbell, She’s the First Youth Ambassador

I use my voice to change the world
to help the silent to be heard.
For girls to choose their own path
to spread equality at last.
I use my voice for blocks to burst
for every girl to be the first.

---

A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and the Global Action Week for Education.

---

Camille S. Campbell, 18, is a She's the First Youth Ambassador (and co-creator of the Power of Poetry campaign!) She's also an award-winning author of four books, including Her Poems: Women Poets Who Changed the World. The #1 Amazon New Release is used in many classrooms. Camille’s writing has been recognized by The New York Times, Girls’ Life, Scholastic, Bow Seat, Penguin Random House, and various journals. She’s an education activist in her home state of Arizona, U.S. When she’s not writing, Camille enjoys silk painting, playing classical guitar, and reading mystery books. You can read more about her on camillescampbell.com.

You Are a Woman

Author: Melanie, aka MAL

To the little girl who likes toy cars and dinosaurs,
Who likes to get dirt under her fingernails.
You are not any less of a girl.
You feel it in your bones, you feel it when you kick a soccer ball across the field:
You are a woman.

To the little girl who likes dolls and tiaras,
Whose room is drenched in pink from her bed sheets to the wall,
You are not “too girly.”
You feel it in your heart, you feel it when you tie a bow around your hair:
You are a woman.

To the young lady whose head is in the books,
The lady who is sure of her goals, whose dream is her profession,
You are not any less of a woman.
You feel it in your mind, you feel it when you look at the diploma on your wall:
You are a woman.

To the young lady who dreams of a big family,
The lady whose one wish is to fall in love, to have children,
You are not a disappointment.
You can feel it in your blood, you feel it when you hold a sleeping child:
You are a woman.

---

A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.

---

Melanie, also known by the pen name MAL is a seventeen-year-old Cuban-American writer and winner of the Scholastic Arts and Writing Silver National Medal in 2022. While writing her novels, she enjoys writing and sharing poetry on social media.

Girls the World Over

Author: Nova Macknik-Conde

This is for the girls.
The girls who protested,
The girls who picked up a pen,
Moving hearts, changing minds, bringing together thousands,
Using their voices to shout louder than the dissenters ever could,
To show that education is a universal right,
And that they will not stand for anything less.

This is for the women.
The women who knew their worth,
That they were powerful and intelligent,
That they deserved better,
And that they will never be lesser.

This is for the ladies.
The ladies the world over, The ladies anywhere, anywhen, and anywho,
Who stood together and changed the future.

To be a young girl in this day and age,
To look up to these icons,
To have centuries of heroines behind me,
Revealing the path ahead,
Whispering in my ear the truths they upheld so proudly.

---

A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.

---

Nova Macknik-Conde is 11 years old and she lives in Brooklyn, NY, U.S., with her parents, her two older brothers, and her two guinea pigs: Cannoli and Snickerdoodle. Nova enjoys writing poetry and fantasy, in addition to being passionate about mythology, philosophy, history, and STEAM. She serves as a Young Reviewer for Frontiers for Young Minds and as a Blogger for Stone Soup magazine. Nova’s writing has been recognized by The Betty Award, the EngineerGirl Writing Contest, the Inklings Book Contest, and Writopia’s Worldwide Plays Festival. Her poetry has appeared in print in Stone Soup magazine, Skipping Stones magazine, and Cricket magazine.

the picture to address

Author: Ilana Drake

news of young women being
unable to attend school in
afghanistan because of the
taliban means the world
needs to fight,
the world needs to fight
for women

because 130 million girls
lack access to education,
too large a number for
us to sit back as we
focus on what we see
as “progress”

rural girls are 2 times
as likely as urban girls
to be out of school and
period poverty means
that girls miss school

and the social determinants
of health interact with
the ability to access

an education and knowledge is power.

---

A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and Global Action Week for Education.

---

Ilana Drake is a sophomore at Vanderbilt University in the U.S. and is studying Public Policy. She is twenty years old and serves as a United Nations UNA-USA Global Goals Ambassador for SDG 4 (Education).