2022 John Lewis Youth Leadership Award Recipient

Marwo Sougue, 21, Westbrook

Marwo is an amazing and passionate advocate for the New Mainer youth. She tirelessly encourages high school students to pursue higher education, do internships, develop meaningful ties with community at large, and apply for scholarships. For example, she shared her experiences on navigating higher education during the Financial Authority of Maine panel. During the True Leader Equity conference in Washington DC, 4h youth were challenged to identify issues and explore solutions for these concerns within their communities. As Mainers, in order to enhance Equity in the community, they chose youth homelessness. They learned a lot about their community and were able to include many youths in their community in that conversation. They compiled a list of their most needed supplies with the input from the youth homeless shelters.

Starting at age of 16, Marwo started giving back to her community, despite the language barriers as a new Mainer. She has been demonstrating her dedication to various community issues by volunteering at the homeless shelter, Ronald McDonald House, Barron Center, as a page for the House and Senate and was a Teen Teacher at East End Community. She was chosen for the Maine Youth Leadership Conference. She also attended the Citizenship Washington Focus conference which is National 4-H Council’s premier leadership and civic engagement experience for high school students.

Marwo earned a full scholarship from USM and is currently enrolled in as a second-year nursing student and a biology minor. She is also a TRIO and Promise Scholar member.

Honorable Mentions

Kiesha Scott, 19, Islesboro

Kiesha is a student of mine at UMaine in Machias studying Education. Her plan after her bachelor’s degree is to continue on with a master’s in political science because she is so passionate about social justice, inclusivity, equity, and women's rights. Kiesha has been a camp counselor every summer for the last four years where she has strived to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable. She will advocate for anyone, and she always does what is right and fair in every situation. Kiesha also just recently took an opportunity to coach a JV high school basketball team in Islesboro, Maine, and she has been teaching not only about basketball, but about leadership, dedication, and perseverance. She is highly respected in her community and on campus. Kiesha is always a voice for her peers and a role model for younger ones. She has shown up and spoken up in person and online about voting rights, especially for women. She has also expressed her opinions on social media about culture, racism, ethnicity, and overall equal rights for all. She has promoted and brought awareness to Multicultural week.

Kayden Boilard, 13, Lewiston

Kayden Boilard created a makeshift food pantry out of a spare room in her home in 2017. Since then, the 13-year-old has grown Kaydenz Kitchen Food Pantry into a nonprofit aimed at providing food and other essential items to families and individuals in need of assistance. Her work addresses a tangible problem in the wider community. According to Feeding America, about 13.5% of people in Androscoggin County experience food insecurity. Kayden started a project out of her home to feed community members struggling to make ends meet and has grown it into a family operated non-profit providing a variety of social supports to homeless and impoverished community members. Her philanthropic spirit and drive and love for our community at such a young age is inspirational. She was born and raised in Lewiston and enjoys the diversity of people in its community. She loves growing up here and treasures the times walking around town and seeing everything it has to offer.

Julianna Morningstar, 19, Caribou

Julianna has been an advocate for Maine's foster care community for many years. Julianna has been part of the Youth Leadership Advisory Team (www.ylat.org) for the past two years. She has participated in leadership and advocacy trainings and often uses her personal lived experience within foster care to educate, inform and help improve Maine's Child Welfare System. Julianna has served as a local leader in the Aroostook YLAT group and participates in statewide activities. Julianna is passionate about others, recently changing her major at UMO from Chemical Engineering to Social Work. She spends her summers participating in mission trips to Africa and as a camp counselor with other young people. Julianna has a poise and grace that is well beyond her young 19 years; although her journey during her time in foster care was not always positive (at one point being separated from her 7 younger siblings), she chooses to use the lessons she learned during her time in care to help others. In November 2020, Julianna and her 7 siblings were all adopted into the same family which is a treasured memory Julianna often talks about.

Julianna spends the little free time she has in service to others. She is always willing to support child welfare causes and has been a key presenter in statewide training for OCFS Caseworkers, New Resource Parents, and her peers. She is a role model to her peers and to adults.

Julianna was recognized by her peers as the recipient of YLAT's Annual Brad Levesque Award. She also served as an MC for YLAT's Annual Conference.

Hallie Arno, 22, Lincolnville

At the height of the Pandemic, Hallie was selected to act as the Moderator for the College's All College Meeting. This is a weekly meeting of Faculty, Staff, and Students, modelled on the New England Town meeting. Our community was literally in danger of falling to pieces. It wasn’t expected that the All College Meeting would survive or be meaningful. Instead, Hallie pulled everyone together. The meeting attendance grew every week, and people looked forward to Hallie's calm, deliberate, organized and comforting leadership. When the term ended, by popular demand the Meeting continued all summer (an unprecedented event), with Hallie providing a vital link to a school that by this point was scattered across five continents, yet week after week, people logged in to get the latest news, receive vital updates, and to share a sense of community.