Generacion Cambio
About us
OUR ORIGIN
Impacto Juventud began as a project in the course Psychology of Adolescence (PSIC 3039) offered by Dr. Eduardo A. Lugo Hernández at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus. The initiative began in 2017 as a collaboration between Dr. Lugo and his students, with the aim of raising social awareness and promoting citizen and political participation in youth. To achieve this, a video was developed with the goal of addressing the issue of poverty and its effects on the country’s youth. The video was screened at El Cine del Mayagüez Town Center and also disseminated across social media networks like Facebook and YouTube. After the semester ended, a group of students from the course and Dr. Lugo decided to continue with the project and expand its scope. To this end, the members outlined its structure, mission, and vision. In addition, they created mechanisms to reach out to the youth of the country and promote an agenda of citizen and political participation. Today, Impacto Juventud’s team, consisting of a Youth Board and dozens of volunteers of all ages, leverages social networks, the arts, public activities, and participation in public policy to promote its message and mission.
MILESTONES
Participation in social networks increases by 87.7%
We take advantage of SEO to improve participation in social networks
30 undergraduate students enrolled
The project has 30 undergraduate students who are provided with multiple experiences of civic and political engagement.
15 VolunteerS and counting
The project currently has 15 registered volunteers and is going strong.
OUR TEAM
Eduardo A. Lugo-Hernández, PhD
Founder
Eduardo A. Lugo-Hernández, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus. He has a Ph.D. in clinical-community psychology from DePaul University in Chicago. He is the director of the Impacto Juventud Project, which aims to promote child and youth civic and political participation. Lugo has ample experience in Youth Participatory Research (yPAR) and advocates for child and youth rights. In the past, he was an assistant professor at Universidad del Este and associate director of Project VIAS, which had the goal of implementing violence prevention interventions through a community-based participatory research approach. For more than 10 years, he has worked with mentoring programs for undergraduate students. He was the associate director of the NIH-funded career opportunities in research education and training program at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus. He is a firm believer in the use of media for education and advocacy efforts and in the role of psychology in public policy.
Alysa Alejandro Soto,
Director, Impacto Juventud Youth Board
Daijanise Ortiz Malpica,
Secretary, Impacto Juventud Youth Board
Karla Rodriguez Belen,
Treasurer, Impacto Juventud Youth Board
Jorge Villares,
Communications, Impacto Juventud Youth Board
Priscilla Perez,
Director, Chiqui Impacto
OUR project pillars
Impacto Juventud
Impacto Juventud mobilizes youth to engage in political advocacy work, such as the time we traveled to San Juan to lobby Senators to pass legislation aimed at reducing child poverty in Puerto Rico.
Aula sin Paredes
Aula sin Paredes is an educational tutoring project that aims to fill the resource gaps experienced by children living in rural and underserved communities in Puerto Rico.
Chiqui Impacto
Chiqui Impacto is a project dedicated to providing tools to parents, teachers, and other caregivers who promote the well-being of children from 0-to 10 years old.
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