Cleveland Teen Tess Kelly Thrives as International Student Delegate
Cleveland teen writer Tess Kelly traveled to San Francisco as a student delegate at the International Congress of Youth Voices. During the weekend of Aug 3-5, students from around the world, ages 16-20, gathered to learn with and from accomplished writers, activists, entrepreneurs, and elected officials.
The International Congress of Youth Voices is an initiative founded by author Dave Eggers and nonprofit leader Amanda Uhle to amplify the ideas and energy of our youth and to unite young people for a weekend of collaboration. On the final day, the students declared their intention for illuminating pressing issues and promoting sustainable solutions in a manifesto, which can be read in its entirety in The Guardian in an article titled “By the Youth, For the Youth: a Manifesto for Tomorrow’s Activists.”
Kelly details her importance as a “much needed Jewish voice in a group with a lot of conflicting views on the Middle East and Israel.” “It was a privilege and an honor,” she continues, “to be in the presence of so many outspoken and strong-willed people.” Kelly shared her own passions and opinions throughout the conference and in the culminating manifesto. “We are the platform,” she writes. “We are the children who will become the protestors, who will become the organizers and the senators, who will become the conductors of change. We are simultaneously optimistic and terrified. We are the youth. We are the platform.”