2020-2021 Legislative Speakers
The Club Stride legislative speakers team represents the primary organizing component for coalition building. Their responsibilities include speaking at legislative visits, interviewing politicians and community leaders, building relationships to strengthen campaign base-building efforts with youth, families and organizations; and public speaking as Club Stride spokespersons.
Speaker Bios:
Madison Lindke was nominated student of the year in 2019. She is a social justice advocate who enjoys using her voice for change. She is highly motivated toward academic success and says that her favorite people are her parents who have supported her in so many ways. She enjoys dance and has taught it for several years. She is outspoken and caring, a team player and an exceptional leader. She was recently a keynote speaker at the Solano County Equity Summit, where she presented on intergenerational activism. Madison is staff intern and spokesperson for the 2020 -2021Legislative Speaker Team.
Albert Cruz and his team won 2nd place in a robotics competition in middle school. He enjoys expressing himself through music and video games. And Albert's favorite person is his mom, who he says has helped him throughout his whole life and inspires him to be a better person. He brings a positive attitude and cool demeanor to the team that is supportive and inspiring.
Hesten Parrish created a prototype of an app called Flag The Grade, which is designed to cut communication barriers that result in increase academic performance, and improve relationships between students and teachers. His favorite food is Granny Smith apples and his favorite being is his cousin's pug, Mickey. Hesten enjoys video games, is a senior leader in debate at the Bay Area Urban Debate League, where he has won several tournaments over several years of participation. He is a seasoned public speaker, with a history of speaking engagements at numerous events, including on stage at Afrotech and Hidden Genius events, where he highlighted his coding experiences.
Jonathan Justo-Santel enlisted in the Navy at 17 years old. He says that he has always wanted to serve his country in a naval force. He loves different types of music and his favorite person is his mom, who he says inspires him every day to do amazing things. Jonathan is a strong speaker and leader who stands firmly against injustice.
Raylene Shah is most proud of her accomplishments as a debater in the Bay Area Urban Debate League, a fantastic organization that trains and develops youth in debate skills. Her favorite forms of expression are writing or drawing. She says that writing is a nice way of expressing herself because if is self interpretative, and she puts her whole heart into her writing and drawing. She also enjoys anime and good food.
Sophia Aganon is a proud Filipino-American. She is a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do and achieved honor roll for her entire 6th grade year. In addition, one of her favorite accomplishments is learning how to bake different foods. Sophia's life-long dream is to be an actress. She is very passionate about acting and hopes to succeed in the entertainment industry later in life. Her favorite people are Millie Bobby Brown or Michelle Obama.
