Activism, Politics, Advocacy

Activism, Politics, Advocacy

  • (IN)Visible Women NYC
  • Equity & Inclusion Board (EIB)
  • Funding Bright Futures (FBF)
  • GIRL POWER
  • Girls in Tech (GIT)
  • School the World Club (STW Club)
  • Sexuality and Gender Awareness (SAGA)
  • Solidarity at Work (SAW)
  • Stuyvesant Cove Stewards (SCS)
  • TH Environment Club
  • The STAR Project (Serving, Teaching, and Assisting Refugees Project)
  • Women in STEM (WiSTEM)
  • Women in Business
  • World Language Advocates (WLA)

Equity & Inclusion Board (EIB)

There are no resources or collections to display

Advisor:  Alcy Leyva (aleyva@unis.org) & Judith King-Calnek (jcalnek@unis.org)

Mission Statement: The Equity and Inclusion Board is a student-led initiative that strives to uphold United Nations values by increasing the representation of racially marginalized groups within the UNIS community and its culture. Through collaborations with various school constituents, we hope to fulfill UNIS’s mission to create an "inclusive and diverse learning environment" for all students.

Funding Bright Futures (FBF)

Advisor: Michael Vetrano (mvetrano@unis.org)

Mission Statement: Funding Bright Futures is a nonprofit organization based in New York City working to raise funds for scholarships for underprivileged children around the globe. We raise money through student-led classes such as soccer, LEGO, art, and tutoring in all subjects and languages for kids between the ages of 8-12.

GIRL POWER

Advisor: Matthew Herman (mherman@unis.org)

Mission Statement: GIRL POWER is an all inclusive club dedicated to facilitating discussion and discourse on social and political issues relevant to both the UNIS community and the global order. The intention is to educate and be educated through the sharing of opinions and stories, as well as creating a community that anyone can rely on for help. Conversations can span from those pertaining to bigger topics (sexism, racism, dealing with prejudice) to those more involved in the life of highschool students (support, sports, social activities), but ultimately intending to inspire each other to act out! As a team, we hope to have theoretical discussions weekly, but also focus on larger projects throughout the school year. These could include attending marches together, fundraising for a pertinent cause, and leading workshops outside of the club to involve more the school community.

Girls in Tech (GIT)

Advisor:   TBD

Mission Statement: Girls in Tech is a gender inclusive club, where we aim to accelerate the growth of innovative women entering into the high-tech industry by promoting gender equality in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields. We achieve this through the creation of proprietary, innovative programming and strategic global partnerships.

(In)visible Women NYC

Advisor:  Gina Voskov (gvoskov@unis.org)

Mission Statement:  (In)visible Women NYC's supports homeless women in the New York community by educating our peers, clearing stigma through the art of storytelling, and fundraising for mental health services and utilities at The Dwelling Place of NY women's transitional shelter. In New York City, thousands of women suffer from homelessness. From job discrimination to lack of affordable housing to child care, women in unstable living conditions face so many challenges. These issues make the everyday life of homeless women immensely difficult and we are committed to providing them with the necessities to help them adjust to shelter life and look to a brighter, safer, independent future. In addition, we strive to prevent readmission into the New York shelter system, as this is a cause for overcrowding among other issues. We host fundraisers including public storytelling events, bake sales, and raffles, as well as workshops, seminars, and conferences all the way from UNIS to the UN.

School the World Club (STW Club)

There are no resources or collections to display

Advisor: TBD

Mission Statement:  The mission of the club will be to support and raise money for the kids specifically in Guatemala and work with "School the World" to help build more schools to transform lives. The best way to help support right now is by fund raising but hopefully after COVID we could do a service trip. (Some statistics) This is important because right now 617 million children and adolescents are not proficient in either reading or math, 262 million youth are out of school and 274 million primary school children worldwide are not learning basic foundational skills necessary to lead a productive and healthy life. The GPE says that 420 million people would be lifted out of poverty with a second education, thus reducing the number of poor persons worldwide by more than half.

TH Environment Club

Advisor: Michael Vetrano (mvetrano@unis.org) and  Elke Bergholz (ebergholz@unis.org)

Mission Statement: To create awareness about global environmental challenges like climate change, pollution, extinction of species. But at the same time, our club builds on the idea that local action is really important: “Everything matters, Everyone can”.

Sexuality and Gender Awareness (SAGA)

Advisor:  Dennis Lacey (dlacey@unis.org)

Mission Statement: SAGA aims to provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ students to talk about their experiences, share empathy, connect to other students, and to educate and conduct discourse with allies.

Solidarity at Work (SAW)

There are no resources or collections to display

Advisor:  TBD

Mission Statement:  Our mission is to help combat food and housing insecurity in NYC, by linking with a food bank in our community and through hands-on volunteering, helping fundraise and distribute food and resources. We also aim to educate UNIS students through a series of discussions and lessons about the class struggle, both historical and present-day, and raise awareness about the many socioeconomic injustices in our city that often go unnoticed.

Stuyvesant Cove Stewards (SCS)

Advisor:  Michael Vetrano (mvetrano@unis.org

Mission Statement:  The goal of this club is to use hands-on volunteering, fundraising, and student teamwork to incorporate green ideals and sustainability into our local community, specifically at Stuyvesant Cove Park, in partnership with The Stuyvesant Cove Park Association and the green energy organization, Solar One. We value giving back to our NYC community through education, park restoration, and the promotion of sustainable practices and improvements that we will be able to see for years to come.

World Language Advocates (WLA)

Advisor:  Mónica Torres

Mission Statement:  WLA's mission statement is as follows: WLA is a unique club in which we learn and raise awareness about endangered languages and their importance and organize fundraisers to help revitalize them. Additionally, we examine language-related phenomena, giving presentations and holding workshops on how to respect language-related differences and how to use language to create a more equitable community (eg. research personal pronouns across languages, examine societal discrimination against different dialects in movies, etc).

The STAR Project (Serving, Teaching, and Assisting Refugees Project)

Advisor:  Burcu Polatbora (bpolatbora@unis.org)

Mission Statement: The mission of the STAR project is to create a direct connection between UNIS students and refugees with a view to help them integrate and feel at home in their new country. Members will plan and execute community-building activities like collection drives and tutoring projects. These efforts will help refugees improve their linguistic and other pertinent skills. It also allows club members to gain real work experience.

Women in Business

Mission Statement: To destigmatize the idea of women in business and foster a space where all genders can learn about business knowing that they are supported by others. WIB will also work on raising awareness about the gender gaps in corporate America and work on eliminating it while being a business leader. Through guest speakers coming in, simulations and engaging group discussions we hope that everyone will have a chance to become the best business leader possible! 

Women in STEM (WiSTEM)

Advisor: Amy Flindt (aflindt@unis.org)

Mission Statement: The mission of Women in STEM is to raise awareness for the gender gap in STEM fields and inspire younger students, specifically girls, to enter these fields. We help achieve this goal by organizing educational and service-based student events, such as hosting an annual Junior School Science Expo, fundraising for women's research, and inviting guest scientists and other women in STEM to educate and inspire students on their areas of study.