Spotlight on Belen: A Young Voices Council Member Making an Impact
- Lisa Giuliani
- Jun 15
- 2 min read
In a time when decisions about the future are more important than ever, it’s essential to hear directly from the people who will live with those outcomes. We're proud to recognize Belen, a member of our Young Voices Council (YVC), for her recent role in the international "Women Who Future(s)" event, organized by our friends Abril Chimal & Thays Prado.
Youth Voices at the Center: On March 19–20, 2025, Belen joined six other young women, Belen Montesinos, Sofia Londoño, Adediji Taiwo Rebecca, Oluwanifemi Adeyemi, Maria Antonia Cardeal Ascenção, and Beatriz Alcântara, for a session titled "Youth Future(s) Voices: Youth-Led Visions for Tomorrow." Their discussion underscored something we often overlook: young people, especially young women, are already shaping the future through the questions they raise and the choices they make.
What Belen Brought to the Conversation
Belen’s contribution to the panel helped focus attention on several important questions:
When do young people first realize they can influence the future?
Why is it important to bring women and girls into conversations about long-term change?
What barriers still prevent youth from being taken seriously in this space?
As part of the Young Voices Council (YVC), Belen represents a global group of students from over two dozen countries who are working to integrate futures thinking into schools. Her work is a clear example of how youth are stepping up not waiting for permission to take on meaningful roles in shaping the systems around them.
Showing What Youth Leadership Looks Like
Through the "Women Who Future(s)" event, Belen joined a 24-hour international dialogue featuring women from around the world. By sharing her experience, she helped move the conversation forward not in theory, but in practice. She showed that young people have something valuable to say and that their input is relevant now, not just later.
Why It Matters
When students like Belen speak out, they help make space for others to do the same. They show that thoughtful, meaningful youth engagement isn’t limited by age or background. It simply requires a chance to be heard and a willingness to contribute.
What’s Next
Belen’s involvement in this global event is just one way the Young Voices Council is pushing forward its mission: to help prepare students everywhere with futures literacy, to think critically and systematically about what’s coming, and to shape what’s possible. Her example is a reminder that meaningful change can begin at any age and often, it begins when someone decides to move in the direction they called to.
Learn more about Teach the Future's Young Voices Council here.
