YLC Presents On Youth-Centric Issues
Newest Members Get Chance to Shine
January 11, 2025 – OSWEGO HERITAGE HOUSE & MUSEUM
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) is a philanthropic organization dedicated toward “advancing equity for women and girls”. The AAUW frequently hosts guest speakers, and during their January 2025 meeting, they hosted four: Addie van Asselt ‘27, Anna Ketrenos ‘25, Lexi Ye ‘26, and Maya Naik ‘26, all first-year members of YLC. Van Asselt, Ketrenos, Ye, and Naik had prepared for months to present on the topic of “challenges the youth face today,” both in terms of broad-scale issues like social media and community-level issues like a lack of non-automotive transportation options.
After tea, snacks, and an introduction by chapter Co-Vice President Catharine Hojem, Ketrenos began by detailing what YLC was, what it does, and what it had recently accomplished, including supporting a ban on flavored tobacco and backing efforts to ban gun ownership for perpetrators of hate crimes. The YLC members then introduced themselves and what they liked best about the organization, before YLC Advisor Quin Brunner led the audience in an exercise: imagining themselves back in high school. This discussion was Naik’s favorite section of the presentation: she greatly enjoyed “hearing about the high school experiences of all of the members. They shared about participating in similar roles to us like youth government and policy projects.” Ye concurred, stating that “I initially thought of the youths as a generation of pioneers and game changers: organizations like the YLC allow us to represent ourselves in government like never before. However, after speaking to the AAUW, it seems to me that they were involved in similar advocacy efforts back when they were teenagers, too. It was truly intriguing to see the parallel between two very different generations.”
Indeed, the YLC presenters were able to compare and contrast the experiences of the audience with their own present-day experiences, both in terms of challenges—struggles with mental health, college admissions stress, fears of climate change, and more—and what they have done to address them. Naik introduced the Preferred Future Statement, describing the work YLC had put into making it and reading it aloud to the audience, and the presenters went on to describe each of its strategic goals in more detail: Ye covering “implementing accommodations,” “”improving non-automotive transportations options,” and “strengthening emergency preparedness”; van Asselt taking on “nurturing a kaleidoscoping community identity” and “incentivising inclusive development”; Ketrenos tackling “investing in systems that support foundational well-being”; and Naik concluding the presentation, with much applause, to “cultivating a sense of agency.”
After Naik finished, the presenters allowed the audience to ask questions, something which benefited both sides of the room: as Ye put it, “their insightful questions often revealed our aligning interests of improving our community.” Overall, the presenters agreed that the experience improved their presenting and public speaking skills, and they were heartened by AAUW’s warm reception: through the presentation, van Assault learned that there “are communities that value our opinions on topics and how we are working to address these issues.” Thank you to Catharine Hojem for organizing the presentation, and the AAUW for hosting the Youth Leadership Council!
The next Youth Leadership Council meeting will take place on February 3rd, 2025, while the next AAUW meeting will take place February 1st. For more about the Lake Oswego chapter of the AAUW, see here. Applications for the 2025-26 Youth Leadership Council open April 2025; for more information, consult the YLC webpage or follow the YLC Instagram at @loteenlounge.