A nonprofit organization co-founded by former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords announced the fellows Monday in its 2019 Courage Fellowship, including a student at San Diego’s Rancho Bernardo High School.
Yasmine Mabene, 17, is a political analyst for the San Diego chapter of March For Our Lives and one of 14 fellows in the Courage Fellowship. Mabene has also organized a town hall to discuss ways to prevent gun violence and been named a winner of the Americans Against Gun Violence 2019 national high school essay contest.
As part of the program, Mabene will travel to Washington, D.C., in August for a three-day workshop with the other fellows. They will also hold a lobbying day on Capitol Hill, meet with other gun control advocates and launch gun violence prevention projects in their own communities.
Giffords’ eponymous organization launched the fellowship program last year to tap into gun control and prevention advocacy efforts among youth across the country after the deadly shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“Young Americans aren’t sitting on the sidelines — they are standing up and declaring that gun safety is a fight their generation will win,” Giffords said. “From coast to coast, these leaders have made a difference in their communities and across the country.”
Giffords is a former Arizona congresswoman who was seriously wounded in a 2011 shooting attack.
—City News Service
