With just over a week to go before the U.S. presidential election and elections across Germany quickly approaching, we will take a step back from a frantic race and look at the bigger picture: What can any citizen do for their democracy besides casting a vote every couple of years? What does it mean to participate in the community around us, and to help shape society as “active designers” instead of “passive consumers”? What are strategies to reach out to our fellow citizens, and who will listen? We will reflect on the seemingly waning importance of political institutions, and the lack of trust and authority office holders and experts alike experience these days. There are many bold ideas out there, on both sides of the Atlantic: What works, and what doesn’t?
We debated these questions with education and anti-trafficking advocate Rachel Labi, and Founder and Project Manager at Youth Lead the Change Germany Clara Kallich. This talk is part of our trans-Atlantic series “Across the Pond” in collaboration with Open Embassy for Democracy (OPEM) and University of Cologne New York Office. Curated and moderated by Tobias Endler.
Biographies
Rachel Labi is an education and anti-trafficking advocate. She is currently a finance student at Purdue University and a member of the Dr. Cornell A. Bell Business Opportunity Program. Her accomplishments include placing 2nd in the 2022 National Black MBA Association Undergraduate Case Competition and receiving both the PIMCO Future Leaders Scholarship and the $25,000 Taco Bell Live Más Scholarship twice. At age 12, Rachel began anti-trafficking advocacy and has supported global organizations that fight modern-day slavery, with a core focus in labor exploitation. At 17, she co-founded Building Financial Freedom, her financial education organization that has educated audiences globally. In 2023, Rachel launched Labi Consulting to support students and professionals in writing-based applications and professional development tasks. Currently, Rachel is a finance intern at Google and former participant in the Harvard Summer Venture into Management Program.
Rachel is a board representative for Lafayette Urban Ministry, as well as a member of the Indiana Youth Advisory Board. In 2023, she served as an Institute for Youth in Policy Fellow and a YOUNGA Youth Delegate. She is an ambassador for the World Summit Awards, Theirworld, remake.world, and Higher Education for Good. Rachel has been featured on AccessWire, the Purdue Business Journal, the Next Gen Personal Finance Speaker Series, and the National Youth Leadership Council's podcast. In 2024, Rachel was honored as a Her Campus e.l.f.ing Amazing 22 Under 22 Winner and served as a speaker for the UNA-USA OHCHR Youth Consultation on the International Day of Education.
Clara Kallich is the founder of Youth Lead the Change Germany e.V., an award-winning, non-profit association that wants to inspire young people for democracy by giving them a way to actively help shape their city according to their needs and wishes and experience democracy first-hand.
This event is part of a series of online talks with young voters from both sides of the Atlantic:
Across the Pond – Politics, Power, Participation
Young Voters Talk
Politicians are being attacked, elections are deemed “rigged”, democratic institutions are called into question, checks and balances seem to cause constant gridlock, and extremists are gaining ground… 2024 looks like an election year that seemingly doesn’t offer much hope for the future - neither in Europe, nor the United States. In this series, we will hear from young voters from both sides of the Atlantic who share their ideas about how to move forward. More…