Yara Shahidi was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to an Iranian-American father and a Native and African American mother. She is an actress, model, Harvard student, and activist who has a strong following of young people. She gained recognition for her role on the sitcom Black-ish and has used her celebrity status to encourage young people to be civically engaged.

In 2015, she discussed her drive to make a difference. “I’m filming nine and a half hours a day, five days a week, but whenever I have a free moment, I’m talking to the U.N. or working on how to get Yara’s Club launched. Giving back is not just something you do as an adult.”

Shahidi founded Eighteen x 18, a creative platform to encourage youth to be civically engaged and vote. The platform is “designed to uplift our generation of voters to take action into our own hands and discover the issues that impact us through our own stories and experiences.”

Shahidi is an activist for feminism, STEM awareness, and self-empowerment. She has become the face for Science Sleuth Campaign, which has partnered with Dosomething.org to encourage youth to gain interest in STEM.

Her other organizations include Yara’s Club, a partnership with Young Women’s Leadership Network (YWLN) of New York, which provides online mentorship in hopes to end poverty through education. Yara’s Club brings high school students together to discuss social issues, empowerment, and education.

Shahidi enrolled in Harvard University in 2018, and plans to focus on social studies. One of her letters of recommendation came from Michelle Obama after she worked on Obama’s education initiative, Let Girls Learn.

Quotes:
“Being multicultural, you can’t help but be interested and connected to the world around you. My family is from all over the world, so how can you not care for people around the world too?”

“We have a long way to go in terms of diversity and seeing everyone represented. We’re getting there and we are seeing progress. It’s about globalism and expanding our view of what community is and realising how universal our experiences are and embracing those aspects of ourselves that help us realise how similar we are to people both in our city and an ocean away.”

“There’s been a lack of humanity, especially in the policies of these past two years, policies that alienate minorities, whether it be a person of color, an immigrant, or someone differently abled. The list goes on and on. Going into the midterms, it’s important to keep in mind that as much as you’re voting for yourself, you’re also voting for your community.”