KAVITA RAI

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UNITED STATES, 19

Project: Justice in the Classroom
Focus Area: Anti-Racism in Schools/Curriculum

Kavita is a purpose-driven activist, journalist and cancer survivor. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Justice in the Classroom – a student-powered organization that mobilizes all education stakeholders to prioritize racial equity in public schools across Southern California. Justice in the Classroom has introduced significant policy in school districts, while doing grassroots work to provide mutual aid and education awareness in communities. Kavita is focused on bringing structural change rather than symbolic change.

Kavita was formerly a Teen Advisor for the United Nations initiative Girl Up, working on communication and advocacy strategies. She remains a fierce advocate for global gender equality, now serving on The Female Quotient’s inaugural NextGen Board of Advisors. As a Brown Girl Magazine contributor, Kavita uses journalism as a platform for her activism. She has lobbied on Capitol Hill with the ACLU and Girl Up for bills ranging from immigration reform to protecting girls abroad, and is the youngest person to develop policy for L.A. City Council Candidate Nithya Raman. 

Kavita has been invited to speak on behalf of organizations including Los Angeles City Hall for the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Day, and Girl Up to host their Annual Global Leadership Summit in Washington D.C.. Her advocacy has been featured in publications like Vox News, Business Insider, Teen Vogue, Elite Daily and HollisterCo. Kavita was recently nominated for 2021 Woman of the Year by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She is currently at University of Southern California studying Public Policy, Law & Film, with aspirations to attend law school and continue her activism.

More: www.justiceintheclassroom.org
Press Link (Vox.com)

“We really weren’t taught the full side of history in classrooms...there are a lot of curriculum gaps in our high school that really only told the Eurocentric narrative.”