My name is Miura Rempis, and I'm the 2022-2023 Nashville Fellow. I am a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with degrees in Political Science and History. I'm currently a Master of Public Policy student at American University and a Master of American History student at the University of Memphis. I'm a legal secretary and paralegal in a state agency and a published civic-based children’s series author.
I was initially interested in becoming involved with IGNITE because of the organization's commitment to civic engagement and inclusion. In this past year as a Fellow, I have not only been able to see these values in action but have also had the privilege to work and partner with other organizations that gave me this drive as a young adult!
My time with IGNITE has been spent connecting with youth organizations that promote citizenship and government interaction while instilling the values of life-long civic engagement and participation in democratic and advocacy spaces. Youth in Government and Model United Nations conferences hosted by the YMCA of Tennessee’s Center for Civic Engagement, the Miss Volunteer America organization, the Miss America organization, and the regional League of Women Voters organization have all led me to become the lifelong advocate and leader that I am today.
To really understand my desire to partner with IGNITE and these other organizations, I need to also introduce myself as Miss Rutherford County Volunteer, a local preliminary title to the Miss Tennessee Volunteer Scholarship Pageant and the overarching Miss Volunteer America Organization. All local titleholders have a platform that we work with, fundraise on behalf of, volunteer time for, and promote as part of our year of service. My platform is called “The Power of Civic Engagement,” which exists because of my childhood involvement in the programs run by the Center for Civic Engagement at the YMCA of Tennessee.
Youth in Government was a four-night sleepaway conference with multiple roles: student delegates, who wrote mock legislation, performed Parliamentary Debate, and voted on legislative topics; attorneys for the Youth in Government Supreme Court who argued mock cases following legal procedure; lobbyists, who represent specific organizations and do research on their organizations’ policies and beliefs in hopes to sway the delegate votes in favor of dynamic mock legislation; and Governor’s Cabinet members, who ran for office and were voted upon to serve alongside the Governor and pass the final budget — the required task in order to adjourn the conference on Sunday afternoon. My time with the Youth in Government program not only shaped my path toward higher education but has ultimately led me to become a political scientist with aspirations to one day run for office — the very same goals that IGNITE works to instill into young women across the nation! It only made sense to partner with the Center for Civic Engagement upon becoming a Dr. Anne Moses IGNITE Fellow, because, to me, the two organizations shared so many of the same values of inspiring upcoming leaders to take civic and political action.
Since becoming a Fellow, I've been able to combine my three favorite things: the YMCA, my newfound love for IGNITE, and my pageant platform. I've been able to include the work and advocacy I’ve completed with IGNITE as part of my pageant platform initiative and outreach programming. IGNITE is the perfect place for these worlds to have collided, and I’m thankful to have the opportunity to bridge those communities together. I will have IGNITE (as well as these organizations previously mentioned) to thank the day I announce my intent to run for office (in 2036, y’all)! I am thankful for everything these organizations have instilled in me. Still, more importantly, I’m thankful that these organizations introduced me to the woman I would someday become and currently am. Without these organizations, Miura Rempis may not have existed in the way she does today!
I am eternally grateful to have IGNITE in my corner, and cannot wait to see what aspiring young women will join our ranks in the future. I cannot wait to vote for them!
