Giving Compass' Take:

• United Nations Foundation Protectors of Progress series interviews 16-year-old Eva Jones as she strongly advocates for access to girls' education and an end to school violence. 

• How can other young people utilize their local government to discuss both local and global issues?

• Learn more about the Protectors of Progress series. 

16-year-old Eva Jones didn’t consider herself an “advocate.”

But this high school student and self-proclaimed “huge nerd,” from Hood River, Oregon, is by all accounts a rockstar advocate for gender equality and education. After founding a Girl Up Club at her school in 2017, Eva and her club have gone on to raise over $13,000 to support girls’ education in Malawi and Guatemala, worked with hundreds of girls to turn a refugee education bill into law, and even testified before Congress about school safety.

We interviewed Eva as part of our Protectors of Progress series, which highlights the stories of everyday individuals across the globe who are stepping up in their communities to help realize the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals.

HOW DID YOU END UP TESTIFYING BEFORE CONGRESS?
Eva Jones: I was at a town hall with Senator Ron Wyden directly after the Parkland shooting. I told him, “I want to talk to you about Girl Up’s bill on education for refugees, but honestly all that’s on my mind is that we are really scared. I haven’t had class because all my teachers have just been talking about school shootings, what we’re going to do, and how scared they all are for us.”

He then ended up inviting me to testify in Washington, D.C. the following week on gun violence.

Read the full article about Protectors of Progress by Chandler Green and MJ Altman at United Nations Foundation