Welcome to YOUTH ACTION!
A weekly column by, for, and about young people and their active engagement with the issues shaping their future
Welcome to the inaugural column of CEBV’s YOUTH ACTION! Our two Youth Action Coordinators have already been making huge progress engaging young people in voter registration, school boards, and co-leading a new Fellowship program that helps participants identify the issues they’re most passionate about and move those issues forward in real life. Recognizing the hunger for youth voices and engagement in this contentious time, we’re incredibly proud to help elevate their voices with this platform. Buckle in, listen, and follow these young leaders! They will change the world.
Hi everyone! I’m Isabel Hiserodt, one of CEBV’s Youth Action Coordinators. I recently graduated from ASU with my degree in political science, and will continue my time as a Sun Devil next year pursuing a master's degree in public policy!
My journey in advocacy started six years ago, when I was just fourteen. Driven by the whirlwind of political energy during the Red for Ed, March for Our Lives, and 2018 election movements, I got involved in both organizational activism and campaign work. Since then, I’ve continued to be involved in electoral organizing and currently serve as the President for the Young Democrats at ASU and the VP for the Young Democrats of AZ. I was lucky to join the CEBV team this past January, where I’ve had a blast working on their youth outreach programs! I’m so excited to work with Sara on this column and incredibly grateful to CEBV for platforming youth voices!
I’m Sarakanti Iyer, a current (and almost-graduated!) high school senior. I’ve always been civically engaged–you can even see pictures of me carrying boxes of petitions into the Arizona Secretary of State’s office at 10 years old–but my junior year of high school marked a shift for me.
I went to the DMV to receive my driver’s license and saw the option to pre-register to vote in my paperwork. I had no idea that I could register to vote at 16, but upon realizing that it was possible, I immediately did. I was already volunteering with CEBV-Y, so with the group’s encouragement I planned a pilot drive at my school shortly thereafter, marking the launch of our high school voter registration drive program. My work with CEBV-Y has, so far, included:
The upkeep and expansion of our high school voter registration program in collaboration with The Civics Center;
Advocating, policy-writing, and working to create student seats on Arizona school boards;
Our social media;
And now, our Substack, with many more projects to come!
I’m thrilled to be launching our CEBV-Y Substack. Read more about it below!
With this column, our goal is to both engage Arizona youth and to provide a window into our generation’s perspective on politics and policy. Every week we will publish articles covering our different perspectives on important issues–but this column does not end with just us. We also look forward to featuring guest authors and interviewing various advocates whose opinions will enrich our understanding and diversify the perspectives included in the column.
While we both have strong opinions on a variety of issues, this column is nonpartisan and unaffiliated with the other organizations we belong to. Our aim is to amplify youth voices and educate young people on the issues and processes that determine policy outcomes. We are both so excited to share our perspectives and experiences with the CEBV community!
Stay tuned for next week’s article: “Animosity at the Capitol,” which covers both of our experiences with the palpable and frightening divisions between advocates on separate sides of issues at Arizona’s Capitol.