Senior Hayden Stokley was recently offered a position in the Summer 2018 RESULTS for Advocacy Fellowship Program. RESULTS Advocacy Fellowship is a hands-on training opportunity for young people focused on developing the next generation of activists and leaders in the fight against poverty.
The program provides fellows with the opportunity to work with the media, their communities and policymakers to raise awareness about issues related to poverty. RESULTS encourages youth to use their voice to influence political change that will bring an end to poverty.
“I started working with RESULTS, which is the overarching group, last summer. It’s a grassroots advocacy coalition. Through some connections, I was looking for something to invest my time in and had a meaningful purpose to it. Their big motto is the power to end poverty, so we work through education issues and women health issues to do so both globally and nationally. That was important to me. Since I’m interested in working in maybe public policy or social work in the future, I think that this might be a good way for me to start working in that because it offers a lot of training and lots of connections. All the people are really enthusiastic about it, and there are full time careers in that aspect of advocacy and social justice work,” Stokley stated.
The year-long fellowship will begin in July for Stokley. The program will begin in Washington D.C. with a training and development session led by experts in political advocacy and lobbying. The next few weeks will be spent speaking directly with members of Congress and their staff on Capitol Hill. Throughout the rest of the year, Stokley and her peer fellows will receive ongoing training through bi-weekly calls to continue honing their advocacy and lobbying skills.
In the fall, once Stokley begins her freshman year at Cornell, she will be involved in coordinating activities for RESULTS, rising awareness in her school community and recruiting additional fellows for the RESULTS program.