Rhea Maniar has been “hooked” on politics since she was 9, when, donning a shirt that said “Future President,” she attended a 2016 Hillary Clinton rally with her parents. Now, the 18-year-old is one of the leading forces in youth organizing, politics and mobilizing young voters in Florida. She revamped and chaired the Florida High School Democrats, interned for state Rep. Anna Eskamani and organized rallies after the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

This week, Maniar saw Clinton speak again, this time at the Democratic National Convention, the first since Roe was overturned, where she’s volunteering and attending as a guest of South Asians for Harris.

She’ll be flying straight from Chicago to Boston on Thursday and then moving into her freshman dorm at Harvard University Friday. She plans on studying  government, education and Spanish and continuing her work as a youth organizer.  She’ll also be spending time in Boston Public Schools helping teach civics education and curriculum through Harvard Civics.

This election cycle, Maniar has been particularly motivated to collect signatures for an abortion amendment that will appear on the November ballot in her home state. If passed, Amendment 4 would establish a statewide constitutional right to abortion up until fetal viability, a major shift from Florida’s current law, which bans abortion after six weeks except in rare cases.

Currently, eight statewide ballot measures related to abortion are certified for the 2024 general election, the most on record in a single year. Vice President Kamala Harris, now leading the Democratic ticket, is seen as a particularly effective voice on reproductive rights and has already done much to win over Gen Z.

In an interview with The 74, Maniar said she thinks these ballot measures can mobilize youth voters, who are feeling particularly energized both by the abortion issue and Harris’s campaign more broadly.

“I think autonomy right now to young people means a lot, because — especially in this state — we know what it feels like to feel like you have none,” she said.

Read the full article about mobilizing young voters by Amanda Geduld at The 74.