Our Youngest Member of Youth Voices Is Going To Harvard!

In 2021, a 13-year-old queer girl from New Jersey, with a heart of gold and a story to tell, came to It Gets Better with a dream of being a role model for LGBTQ+ POC kids like her. In her application, she wrote:

“‘Uplift, empower, and connect LGBTQ+ youth around the globe’ to me means to give LGBTQIA+ youth a voice and the will and power to change their communities for the better. The second part to me means that we should strive to connect the LGBTQIA+ youth to create a strong global community to help each other make a better world for the LGBTQIA+ community and to ensure a great future for the LGBTQIA+ community.”

“We should strive to connect the LGBTQIA+ youth to create a strong global community.”

Kiki in 2021 vs 2026

Kiki was accepted as our youngest member of Youth Voices and was immediately thrust into the spotlight as a guest speaker at our 2022 Global Summit in Miami, Florida, speaking to representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Hungary, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and the United States. She made an incredible impact, representing the queer youth of today, in a room full of global professionals and activists. 

During her time in Youth Voices, she shared her story and experiences to our audience of 238.9K followers on social media for Hispanic Heritage Month, helped create our Trans Youth Deserve Better Campaign, spoke on our Digital Pride Vodcast on Twitch, and contributed to a youth-led digital zine for Pride. She also provided valuable feedback for our organization over the years, including a quote used in our LGBTQ+ Glossary, our most visited page on our website.

This past (school) year, Kiki became a pillar of our youth-informed and youth-led programming as our Youth Advisory Committee Representative. She worked hard to continue and deepen our connection with the alumni who have since left Youth Voices but want to stay engaged with our work. She attended current Youth Voices meetings, provided insight to the program and the potential the young leaders had in enacting real change, and became a true role model for our network of queer teens. She continued to share her story with our audience, as seen in her Mis15 Spotlight. 

In 2022, she said, “in five years I see myself getting into a good college after having made an impact at my high school.” 

And indeed, 5 years later, Kiki has now graduated from high school, made an incredible impact in her community and beyond, and is attending Harvard in the Fall. Kiki is an exceptional leader way beyond her years, and is the kind of young person we want leading the next generation. 

In her recent exit interview, she said: “I think my experience as a Youth Voice when I was in eighth and ninth grade was very formative to what I did in high school and what I want to do in college. I genuinely do believe that It Gets Better is the reason I am where I am. When it comes to everything that I was able to do, whether it be internships or college essays, I always have something to write about when it comes to It Gets Better. But also I think also just as a person too that experience of meeting youth from across the country and working with them was very formative. I’m forever grateful.”

“I genuinely do believe that It Gets Better is the reason I am where I am.“

Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication, Kiki! We’re so excited to see what you do next.