YCC Leadership
The YCC leadership team is composed of two co-presidents and the committee chairs for the Leadership Training Committee and Outreach Committee.
YCC Committees
Each YCC committee has an influential and critical purpose in the advancement of the program. Below are the role descriptions of each committee:
LEADERSHIP TRAINING COMMITTEE
Builds a unique YCC Training Schedule each year to most effectively deliver programming
Develops training materials for YCC to make sessions even more engaging
Organizes the YCC Social Change Conference each spring to showcase student projects
Collects feedback from YCC fellows to improve the fellowship program year after year
OUTREACH COMMITTEE
Recruits YCC Outreach Coordinators in each D.C. school and across the country
Recruits student activists and adult mentors to form a diverse YCC community
Utilizes social media to build visibility for YCC initiatives
Recruits members from community organizations to participate in YCC
2024-25 Leadership Team
Elani Bui
Elani Bui is a senior at Richard Montgomery High School and Co-President of Youth Creating Change. Apart from social activism, she is interested in reading, baking, and trying different restaurants with friends. She looks forward to strengthening the fellowship’s national presence and expanding YCC’s impact in the DC area any beyond.
Mabel Cotter
Mabel Cotter is a Senior at McKinney High School north of Dallas, Texas and is a Co-president of Youth Creating Change. She’s led student political and service groups in her school and community and hopes to inspire more young people to create change and impact their communities through her Debate team, LEOS club, and YCC.
Naomi Demessie
Naomi Demessie is a junior at Wheaton High School, where she is enrolled in the Bioscience Academy. She currently serves as the Co-Chair of Outreach for YCC and is passionate about education and youth equity. Naomi aims to make a meaningful difference through her involvement with YCC, UNICEF, and the STEMpedic Foundation. With a strong focus on promoting educational equity, she strives to make meaningful contributions to her community through all her endeavors and efforts.
Quinn Haney
Quinn Haney is currently a junior at McKinney High School just North of Dallas, Texas. She serves as the Co-Chair of Outreach for YCC. Additionally, she is an avid member of the McKinney theatre department, MHS academic competition teams, and McKinney High Choir program. Quinn aims to make a difference in her community through the founding of MHS-STEP (Students To End Poverty) which has already made donations to local homeless relief organizations, and with the support of YCC she plans to continue her goal of creating and inspiring change in North Texas.
Mooti Chimdi
Mooti Chimdi is a junior attending Montgomery Blair High School and the Leadership Training Chair for Youth Creating Change. He is passionate about advocating for equitable policy changes on all levels and learning more about the intersection between law and business.
2023-24 Leadership Team
Ach’sah Gubena
Ach’sah Gubena is a senior attending Montgomery Blair High School and a Co-President of Youth Creating Change. Ach’sah is heavily involved in advocacy on the local, state, and nation-wide level. With a strong focus on promoting educational equity, she strives to constantly make meaningful contributions in her community through all her endeavors and efforts.
Zain Blair
Zain Blair is a senior at McKinney High School in the Dallas, Texas area and currently serves as a Co-President of Youth Creating Change. He is passionate about advocating for social change through transformation in policy on all levels — local, state, and national. Through working with YCC, Youth4Beto, and Rideshare2Vote Aware, he hopes to be able to create the change he envisions.
Kevyn Orr
Kevyn Orr is a senior at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. and a chair of the Outreach Committee for Youth Creating Change. He is passionate about issues regarding equality of opportunity and believes that working with youth is the preeminent step in the fight against poverty.
Andres Guerra
Andres Guerra is a senior at John F. Kennedy High School and a chair of the Outreach Committee for Youth Creating Change. He is President of Kennedy’s Students To End Poverty chapter and Secretary of his SGA. Through his advocacy and service work, he has found a passion in inspiring and supporting leaders in his local community and he is very excited to pursue similar efforts with YCC this year.
Devin Lee
Devin Lee is a senior at Quince Orchard High School and the chair of the Leadership Training Committee for Youth Creating Change. He is passionate about giving students a fair education, and believes that youth activism is a great way for a student to make change happen in their community.
2022-23 Leadership Team
Valerie Hoang
Valerie Hoang is a senior at Northwest High School and a Co-President of Youth Creating Change. Her involvement in advocacy was kickstarted after she recognized disparities in education from zip code to zip code in Montgomery County. She is now passionate about teaching and inspiring others to use their voice to take charge in combatting these inequities.
Clay Walsh
Clay Walsh is a senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Montgomery County, MD and a Co-President of Youth Creating Change. Clay has worked to mitigate disparities in his local community with Students to End Poverty, which combated poverty in the local community with legislative activism, volunteer work, and fundraising.
Ashley Huynh
Ashley Huynh is a senior at Watkins Mill High School and serves as the Chair of the Outreach Committee for Youth Creating Change. Ashley loves amplifying student of color experiences by facilitating equity workshops to educators across the nation.
Ach’sah Gubena
Ach’sah Gubena is a junior attending Montgomery Blair High School and the chair of the Leadership Training Committee for Youth Creating Change. Ach’sah is heavily involved in advocacy on the local, state, and nation-wide level. With a strong focus on promoting educational equity, she strives to constantly make meaningful contributions in her community through all her endeavors and efforts.
