By: Amy Agarwal, Jocelyn Yow, and Desiree Martinez
At IGNITE, we know that young women aren’t just the leaders of tomorrow—they are the passionate advocates and community changemakers of today. Moreover, we believe that those closest to our society's most pressing social problems should be the ones with the power to solve them, and we’ve seen how these Gen Z leaders are eager to transform the policies that affect their daily lives, from reproductive rights to economic justice and education equity. They’re the reason we created our advisory groups.
What started as a pilot program in California and Texas during the 2024–25 school year has become a critical component of our youth advocacy portfolio. This past year, we expanded the program—adding a new advisory group in Ohio while continuing with continued cohorts in California and Texas. Our advisory members are responsible for ensuring that our state policy agendas and civic engagement efforts are responsive to the lived experiences and realities of our community.
Our advisory groups are composed of committed high school and college students who serve as critical thought partners for our state-level advocacy and community mobilization initiatives. Their work comprises two core components:
Legislative advocacy: Advisory group members identify and advocate state legislation that matters most to their communities. They select the specific bills we champion at our IGNITE the Capitol advocacy days in their respective state capitals, where they also co-facilitate advocacy training sessions for their peers.
Voter mobilization: Advisory members serve as IGNITE the Vote (ITV) ambassadors. They facilitate nonpartisan voter education, lead registration drives, and host high-energy weeks of Gen Z political engagement to increase youth voter turnout.
Our advisory groups have demonstrated the success student advocates can achieve in their communities and across their states. For instance, our 2025–26 cohort have:
Hosted 22 spring ITV activation events to help prepare peers to get to the polls for the primaries and upcoming midterm elections
Co-facilitated 3 major IGNITE events, including ITCs in Sacramento, California and Columbus, Ohio as well as a major ITV event in Dallas, Texas.
We are incredibly grateful to the trailblazing students who served on our advisory groups this past year. Their leadership has laid a strong foundation for our future cohorts and for their communities.
Anika Khanna, Nico Less, Khloe Ollison, Mariah Strawder, Fiona Wu, and Amaris Yang
Anushka Das, Elena Klingler, Au’Lauren Million, Simara Vines, and Cameron Tiefenthaler
Amanda R. Chapa, Isabella Fuentes, Romina Garcia, Giselle Garza, Alejandra Guerra, Arya Gurumukhi, Sualeha Irshad, Carolyn Kedslie, Dulce María Otero, and Destiny Sumani
IGNITE’s advisory groups are made possible through the generous funding from various donors, including the Texas Women’s Foundation, which funds our Texas cohort.
As we prepare for the next school year, we are excited to continue this momentum. For the upcoming cycle, we are excited to be recruiting for 20 advisory group members (5 each in California and Ohio, and 10 in Texas). We are looking for a diverse geographic spread of students across these states who are interested in strengthening their civic engagement skills and leveraging their leadership powers. is a unique opportunity for young women looking to build a foundation for careers in advocacy or public service. Our new cohort will begin serving in September 2026 and continue through May 2027. Interested in joining our upcoming cohort? Submit an application by August 7, 2026.
In addition to paying advisory group members monthly stipends for their time and effort, we also provide funds to enable them to join us at our annual in-person state-based events. Providing this financial support is critical for ensuring our advisory groups represent a diversity of voices, rather than only those wealthy enough to participate. If you believe in the potential of young women to lead policy change the way we do, we encourage you to make a donation today.