Young Invincibles at Awty

The Awty International School encourages its students to engage in local community service opportunities and form bridges that connect volunteering to academic life. Many Awty students are frequently involved in such activities, and quite recently, one of our students has partnered with Young Invincibles (YI), an organization dedicated to advocating the rights of millennials.

Young Invincibles is a non-partisan organization that amplifies young people’s voice in the politics of healthcare, higher education, and employment. The founders of the organization, Ari Matusiak and Aaron Smith, created YI as a forum for millennials to engage in debate and grasp opportunities to bring about change. Their Southern Office, which is located in Houston, focuses on campaigns to promote a healthy insured Texas, along with advocating policy solutions to address issues in local health insurance marketplaces. Currently, some of YI’s efforts are committed to protecting the consumer rights protections and accessibility to healthcare outlined in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or ensuring that its replacement offers sustainable and affordable health coverage for millennials and their families.

The organization’s work in Texas branches into two strategies; grassroots and grasstops policy advocacy. Mrs. Marianela Acuña, who is the Southern Organizing Director, leads YI’s grassroots campaign efforts in the region. Through these campaigns, Young Invincibles aims to provide millennials with the resources, tools, and strategy to pressure members of their congressional districts into supporting the ACA. In the past, Young Invincibles organized programs to raise awareness for the ACA, coordinated political rallies to call for the expansion of Medicaid in Texas, and facilitated training workshops.

In December 2016, YI visited with members of the Friends of Houston Food Bank club at Awty, engaging them in a discussion about the fundamentals of social change.  The workshop also gave them an opportunity to examine the different levels at which individuals can affect change.

Ivan Mangal, a sophomore at Awty and an intern with YI, is currently working alongside Mrs. Acuña on the organization’s “Healthcare Defense” campaign. With YI, he will help co-facilitate training workshops and plans on working with a team from Houston’s 7th Congressional District to persuade Congressman John Culberson to support the ACA.

The ideas and policies, which YI advocates, are closely intertwined with the future of young people across the United States. Awty students recognize this correlation and through active community service, they want to be involved in the decision-making process.