In May 2021, "Shaping Our Future" brought more than 600 young people together from across the country to discuss their insights on major societal issues our country is facing today. They discussed these issues in small groups, listened to panel experts offer their thoughts, and interacted with each other regardless of whether or not they agreed on the subject matter.

From the team that brought you Voices of America In One Room, this is Voices of Shaping Our Future.

Throughout this season, you’re going to hear from some of our “Shaping Our Future” online participants. In this episode, we meet Kareem and Sierra.

Kareem earned his bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity Analytics and Operations with a focus in Health Care. He is currently serving in the military, having recently been shipped out for training. As a registered Independent, he felt it was important to participate in our event to share his perspective and interact with viewpoints other than his own.

Originally from Galeton, PA, Sierra is a 21-year-old Creative Writing major at Southern New Hampshire University. She currently works as a writing tutor at Finger Lakes Community College in New York, and hopes to one day be a professor of English at a community college. She participated in our event because she thought it would be interesting to be able to discuss current political issues with her peers.

The Voices of Shaping Our Future podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts, and is hosted by Alice Siu. This series is executive produced by the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University, the Berggruen Institute, the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University, and Tobe Agency.

For more information about our sponsors, please visit their websites:

The Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford UniversityThe Berggruen InstituteThe Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University