Alysa Monteagudo Co-Founded a Media Brand to Give Minority Girls and Women a Platform
Alysa Monteagudo, 17, hasn't even graduated high school, but she already developed a platform for minority women to amplify their voices. A summer spent in the Asian American Organizing Project's annual internship program inspired the St. Paul native to create social change. Equipped with the community organization and leadership skills she acquired, Alysa launched so she CAN with her co-founder Celine at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The student-led organization uplifts and affirms the voices of women of color throughout the world through Instagram posts, articles on its website, and podcasts. And this is only the beginning. "I saw a need and a lack of representation in stories about marginalized communities," she tells Seventeen. Alysa created a platform to enforce the changes she wanted to see in media, and she hasn't looked back since.
What inspired you to co-found so she CAN?
At the time, I was going through feelings of hopelessness and negativity with all the events happening in the world. Seeing other youth take action ignited something in me. I felt that I could be doing something beneficial, something more than just being in a gloomy state of mind. I saw that there was a need to highlight BIPOC women and their stories since many student organizations weren't focusing on related topics or people.
So she CAN was made to empower and educate people on topics relating to marginalized communities. We create posts on Instagram to help people around the world know more about trans international issues. Most of our posts are based on articles or blogs written on our website, soshecan.wixsite.com.
And then we have a podcast, which is a bit more informal, but it allows people to understand issues in a way that makes it more relatable. Through the podcast, we get to cover a more broad range of topics. The podcast really helps people learn more about themselves because we have different guest speakers and we've covered different issues that can touch on one's own community and one's own self.
What's one of your greatest accomplishments?
Just hearing people say that something is interesting, or that they learned something, or that they like seeing the work that I'm doing makes me want to continue. I like the idea of knowing that we've helped at least one person educate themselves and that might've helped them do the work.
How do you juggle being an activist with being a high school student?
It’s definitely a work in progress. I have always been a very busy person. All my life I've always done a lot and had to balance it and I'm definitely not a master
You're not going to be motivated one hundred percent of the time, but I think my passion really guides me to be able to do all the work I've been doing for so she CAN while still balancing school and social life, and keeping my own mental health fit.
I like to say that I learned a lot about leadership through so she CAN. I learned that it's okay to ask people for help. Even though a lot of people think it's a sign of weakness, I think vulnerability is really a sign of strength, and knowing your limits and knowing when you need help, I think that's really important in helping balance yourself.
What does being honored as a Voice of the Year mean to you?
It makes me feel so honored to be a part of this generation where we are actively making change and being reflective and wanting to work towards the better in our community and society. Being a part of other youth who have been chosen represents the importance of our voice and highlights the amazing things that everyone on my team has been doing. I think is really cool.
Photo Courtesy of Emily Charais; Design by Yoora Kim.
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