Meet the members of the CEPPS Youth Advisory Group and learn more about their communities! Hear directly from each of the members and watch videos from their recent visit to DC below.
Rosemarie Ramitt: I am from Guyana and have been an educator and a disability rights advocate for more than seven years, I currently serve as the Coordinator of the Women with Disabilities Network for the Guyana Council of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities. Presently, I am working on the empowerment of women with disabilities who have experienced gender-based violence through education, skills training and capacity building. I am also a facilitator of the Youth Advocacy, Leadership, and Linkages in Elections and Society program with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems in Guyana. Additionally, I am leading research to map Indigenous youth with disabilities across the country to better assess their needs as young people living with disabilities.
David Aragort: I’m a digital rights advocate and researcher from Venezuela working at the intersection of technology, democracy, and human rights, with a focus on the internet, freedom of expression, and digital authoritarianism. I’ve been a Democracy Tech Fellow of the Alliance of Democracies, Early Career Fellow of the Internet Society, Open Internet Leader for Democracy with the Center for International Media Assistance, and part of the International Republican Institute Generation Democracy network. I got involved in my country’s public affairs at the age of 17, when I saw that the decline in democracy, human rights, and civil and political participation was deepening. I decided to contribute to transforming a reality where the participation of young people in politics is only symbolic, due to an “adult-centric” thinking of society, which keeps us away from spaces for deliberation and real decision-making.
Ruth Ngozire: I’m from Kenya where I am an environmental educator and youth mentor at Eden Thriving Environmental Organization, as well as a climate change expert and youth climate innovation advisor at Kenya Ecosystem Restoration Alliance, and I support research and communications for Regenerative Safari for Climate Change. I am a member of the African Youth Fellowship for Sustainable Energy program and African Fellowship for Sustainable Development. I work with young people across Africa to research green hydrogen as a form of energy and sustainable development goals for the African Union’s Agenda 2063. I am pursuing a Master’s in Climate Change and Sustainability at Kenyatta University. My core dream is to challenge and share my climate change insights and sustainable development governance goals embedded with cross-sectoral youth participation knowledge for the young generation to find opportunities amid the climate change crisis instead of demonstrating. I dream for a world where young people will be informed about environmental changes and make the right political decisions for Africa’s sustainable development, as climate change and political instability are Africa’s major problems that need diverse innovative solutions from young leaders.
Milagros Beltran: I am from Córdoba, Argentina where I am a political science student and an advocate for women’s and LGBTQI+ communities. I am also a member of “Nuestra Córdoba”, a network of organizations in my city that seeks to promote the participation of civil society and citizens in monitoring and advocating for public policies. The responsibility of states in the exercise of democratic, participatory, and representative governance has direct effects on our possibilities of development and the exercise of our human rights. As a young woman, feminist, and member of the LGBTIQI+ community, I believe that there can be no politics without a gender perspective. My driving force to continue working on analyzing policies aimed at gender diversity in my province is based on the belief and hope that we are working each day to promote a more inclusive and diverse environment to live in our communities.
Nayem Molla: I’m a disability rights advocate, peace activist, and young changemaker from Bangladesh. I worked as the diversity and inclusion officer at Microgovernance Research Initiative and served as a master trainer and facilitator for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems “SAVE Youth” program. I also contributed to the disability inclusion movement at the Physically Challenged Development Foundation (PDF) and was an elected member of the Kabi Jasimuddin Hall Union at the University of Dhaka. In 2019, I participated in the Global Challenges of Youth with Disabilities program organized by Rehabilitation International Korea. For my advocacy, I received the Amra Notun Young Changemakers’ Award 2023 from BRAC.
Rashyd Bilalov: I’m from Ukraine where I am a civic activist and a co-founder of the NGO Youth Democratic Association that unites young democratic champions throughout Ukraine to promote active citizenship and democratic values through education and public engagement. I am a member of the European Democracy Youth Network and a fellow with the “Community Engagement Exchange Fellowship” through the U.S. Department of State focusing on open and participatory government. I have been working with various international organizations to strengthen democratic institutions through initiatives which engage more youth in decision-making processes on the local and national levels.
