2014 STUDENT STOWE PRIZE
Inspiring Action: Real Stories of Social Change
Interactive panel discussion and Inspiration to Action Fair
Student groups and organizations that support students working for social justice to eliminate inequities around issues of race, class and gender; promote civic engagement; end human trafficking and modern day slavery; and end racism.
PUBLIC PROGRAM SCHEDULE:
3:00 – 4:00 Inspiration to Action Fair
4:00 – 5:30 Real Stories of Social Change
Open to the public. Free admission.
Immanuel Congregational Church
Farmington Ave & Woodland St, Hartford
2014 Winners
High School: Madeline Sachs
Madeline Sachs, junior at University of Chicago Laboratory High School in Chicago, IL for her work, Juvenile Life Without Parole.
Madeline has been working to build awareness about unjust and extreme juvenile sentencing. At the beginning of her sophomore year, Madeline attended a panel discussion hosted by lawyers from Northwestern’s Bluhm Legal Clinic on the subject of Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP). She found herself able to relate to these kids and was struck by the injustice of locking children away for life. Since then, she has been advocating for the men and women serving JLWOP in Illinois, and their families. From leading classes to workshops to sermons at her family’s synagogue, Madeline has reached a broad audience of adults and kids who want to help. She has started a petition on change.org to end JLWOP in Illinois. Most recently, Illinois banned mandatory JLWOP and determined that this decision was retroactive - it’s a big step in the right direction, and Madeline intends to keep spreading the word to pressure legislators end extreme sentencing for children.
College: Donya Nasser
Donya Nasser, junior at St. John’s University, from Orlando, Florida, for her winning entry, Women in Leadership for Today and Tomorrow.
Donya speaks and acts with the certainty of one who discovered her purpose in life early. The government and politics major was recently named to the National Student Advisory Council of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), which promotes equity for women through education and advocacy, and was named one of AAUW’s first U.N. Youth Representatives. She traces her interest in politics and social justice to a YMCA-sponsored Youth in Government program that allowed high school students to participate in mock legislative sessions. The experience cultivated her interest in political activism. “Donya’s ‘hammer-to-rock’ approach has meant rigorous courses in the Honors Program, high-caliber research, challenging internships and service activities, and establishing her own not-for-profit organization,” said Konrad T. Tuchscherer, Ph.D., associate professor of history.
A first-generation college student, Nasser was named a McNair Scholar this fall and delivered the 2013 inaugural speech that addressed the program’s goal of helping underserved students pursue a graduate education. She also launched the St. John’s chapter of the student-run Roosevelt Institute, which develops initiatives that bring America’s promise of opportunity within reach for all. ”I grew up in a low-income, single-parent household,” said Nasser, “so I’m very aware of the challenges facing those who are less fortunate.”
Her efforts are starting to garner accolades. Watch. Her. Lead., the not-for-profit initiative Nasser founded to encourage women of color to run for office, received national recognition in November, when the New York State chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW-NYS) presented her with its first Rosalba Polanco Leadership Award. Cosmopolitan magazine plans to feature Nasser in its March 2014 issue.
Nasser, who is vice president of the College Democrats of New York, attended the Harvard Kennedy School 2013 Public Policy and Leadership Conference, which provides opportunities for graduate study, fellowships, and careers for underserved students who are interested in the public sector. In the future, she intends to return to her home state of Florida, where she hopes to do public policy work before running for state office. “Down the road,” she said, “I’d like to become US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.”
“Donya is one of the most ambitious students - academically, intellectually, and politically - that I have ever worked with,” said Jennifer Travis, Ph.D., associate professor of English and director of the women’s and gender studies program. “In the future, we will all watch her lead.”
Sonya Green
Program Coordinator
Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
860.522.9258 x302