Ella's Excerpts

The world is hurting. Global trust in political and business institutions is waning, and let’s face it, the distrust is justified. As a college student, I am passionate about changing the status quo by changing my perspective. We must transform the world with positivity: self-empowerment, love, and impact. I think that genuine, sustainable change starts at home, one mind and

Environmental issues are close to my heart. I think sustainable development is instrumental to a prosperous, human-centered future and that we must use our means of mitigating harm to drive equity as well as perform damage control. Climate change is just one of many interrelated crises Gen Z is inheriting, including climate change, economic inequalities, and the human toll of

It is a difficult question with a simple answer. Just start. We are all afraid of being the lone changemaker. As much as the idea is romanticized, most of us are comfortable being angry at the institutions we are part of without taking meaningful steps to address the core issues. Part of why there is so much distrust in common

For me, it’s myself. In searching for transformative solutions, I constantly question myself. Do we mend the world by attempting to return to some past economic and political systems? Do we overthrow the status quo in its entirety? What of the status quo is even worth salvaging? What is my place in this process? Am I doing enough? The world

I think it starts with creating venues for collaboration. We need to lift up those who succeed and empathetically listen to the concerns of those who don’t; and, when people don’t succeed, we need to hear their grievances, understand why, and work to fix their circumstances. Everyone has a unique perspective with value to add to a conversation, but we

Restructuring is an imperative to achieving our shared goals. With the same societal framework, one devoid of opportunities for real collaboration, our actions will not generate the impact necessary to achieve sustainability and equity because our decisions won’t include input from all stakeholders. We need genuine collaboration through restructuring of our institutions and creation of interactive spaces where stakeholders can

It starts looking at our issues as opportunities for change rather than agents of destruction. Having a ‘change in mindset’ is more than just a change in outcome; it’s a transformation of the entire system of doing things, from design to implementation. However, this transformation is much simpler than we give it credit for: it’s simply living our values and