Winner of John Lewis Youth Leadership Award 2024

2024 John Lewis Youth Leadership Award Recipient

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and John Lewis Youth Leadership Award winner Rosalyn O'Reilly.

 

Rosalyn O’Reilly, Bangor Area

Rosalyn is a very accomplished young change maker. She is the founder of her high school’s Civil Rights Team, leading student-based initiatives to create a safe and welcoming learning environment for students of all races, nationalities, ethnicities, genders, sexualities, religions, and abilities.  

Rosalyn is also the president of the Maine’s youth board of Children’s International Summer Villages (CISV), the international peace education organization, and is a Rural Youth Organizer for JustME for JustUS (JMJU), a local nonprofit that aims to project the voices of rural Maine youth which can often go unheard in community conversations, policy, and change.  

In addition to her commitment to the Civil Rights Team, CISV, and JMJU, Rosalyn is also dedicated to the issues of food security and substance use disorder (SUD) that challenge her community. She a member of the Maine Youth Food Council and a member of the Food and Medicine food council. She has conducted independent research studies on the role of storytelling in community support for SUD recovery housing resources.  

Rosalyn is dedicated to being of service to her community. She pursues the issues that affect not only her personal life, but the issues the Bangor area needs to address to promote peace, food security, recovery, and social justice. Her work and research around substance use disorder are inspired by her brother’s struggle with SUD. Rosalyn saw the need for greater community response to SUD when her brother went to prison for drug use, eventually relapsed, and then sought the long road to recovery.  

This experience acted a source of inspiration for her research and involvement in community action surround SUD recovery and access to other basic resources, like food and housing.  

The activities described act as a snapshot of the passion for leadership, social justice, and community betterment that motivates Rosalyn every day. As a high school senior, she is highly accomplished. The experience that she is building as a community organizing leader will serve as an important springboard for her future work and education.  

She easily embodies the core tenants of the John Lewis Youth Leadership Award. It is our honor to recognize her work.