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Students Demand Action Announces 2020-2021 National Advisory Board

10.7.2020

New National Advisory Board Includes 16 Student Leaders, Helps to Lead More than 400 Students Demand Action Groups Across the Country

NEW YORK — Today, Students Demand Action, a grassroots network of Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, announced its 2020-2021 National Advisory Board, made up of 16 dedicated student leaders and gun violence survivors from across the country. Students Demand Action is a grassroots movement, created by and for teens and young adults, to channel the energy and passion of high school and college-aged students into the fight against gun violence. There are more than 400 groups across the country and active volunteers in every state and the District of Columbia. 

“Young people have grown up in the midst of the gun violence crisis in our country and we have not backed down,” said Peren Tiemann, a volunteer leader with Lakeridge High School Students Demand Action and a second term member of the Students Demand Action National Advisory Board. “With more than 400 student groups across the country, Students Demand Action is a demonstration of the power of young people in the fight against gun violence. I am ready to get to work with the new Advisory Board and see what we can do — starting with winning this November.”

The 2020-2021 National Advisory Board Members are:

  • Maddie Ahmadi, a high school sophomore at Essex High School in Essex Junction, Vermont, and founder of her school’s Students Demand Action group. 
  • LaTayla Billingslea, high school junior in Georgia and group lead of the Atlanta Community Students Demand Action, and a gun violence survivor whose cousin was shot and killed in 2016.
  • Anvitha Doddipalli, a high school senior at Corona Del Sol High School in Chandler, Arizona, and leader in her local group and the Arizona Virtual Field Office.
  • Megan Dombrowski, a second-year student at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan where she co-founded a group of Students Demand Action.
  • Laurence Fine, a senior at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and a leader of Students Demand Action Bergen County since 2018. 
  • Makayla Jordan, a senior in high school Birmingham, Alabama, and a leader in the Alabama Virtual Field Office.
  • Anna Logan, a high school senior at Leon High School in Tallahassee, Florida, and a leader of one of the first Students Demand Action groups nationwide.
  • Zack Maaieh, a high school senior in Toledo, Ohio, who co-founded a city-wide Students Demand Action group. 
  • Ade Osadolor, a first-year student at University of Chicago, and leader of the Texas Virtual Field Office in her hometown of Dallas. 
  • John Peterson, a second-year student at Georgia State University where he co-founded Students Demand Action group. He is entering his second term as a member of the National Advisory Board. 
  • Mitchell Pinsky, a third-year student at The Ohio State University, and the founder and group leader of Students Demand Action at The Ohio State University. He is entering his second term as a member of the National Advisory Board. 
  • Katherine Pisabaj, a leader of the Illinois Virtual Field Office from Chicago, Illinois and gun violence survivor who was shot and wounded while her boyfriend was driving her home in 2018.  
  • Celena Schmolzi, a high school senior at Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri, and founder of her school’s Students Demand Action group.
  • Jeannie She, a high school senior at Walt Whitman High in Bethesda, Maryland. She started her activism in the gun violence prevention movement when her hometown community in Virginia Beach suffered a mass shooting on May 31, 2019.
  • Peren Tiemann, a high school junior at Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and founder of her school’s group of Students Demand Action. She is entering her second term as a member of the National Advisory Board.
  • Seo Yoon Yang, a high school senior at Signal Mountain Middle High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and a leader with the Chattanooga group of Students Demand Action. She is entering her second term as a member of the National Advisory Board.

Students Demand Action National Advisory Board members grow and strengthen their leadership skills through training, mentorship and public speaking opportunities. National Advisory Board members lend their voices and passion to the gun violence prevention movement, shaping the strategy and direction of Students Demand Action. Members of the National Advisory Board train and mentor leaders of local Students Demand Action groups across the country, drawing on their own leadership experiences. 

Young people have grown up in the midst of a gun violence crisis, and they’re rising up and organizing in their schools, universities and communities. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and teens. Every day, 100 Americans are shot and killed and hundreds more are wounded. 

More information about Students Demand Action here. To speak with a Students Demand Action National Advisory Board Member, please do not hesitate to reach out.