Teen Vogue Summit Urges Teens To TURN UP Their Voices With Activism Celebrities and Political Leaders Share Insight On Topic

New York, NY — A humid and cloudy early morning in New York City on the first of the month didn’t stop eager and excited teens from migrating to The New School to partake in the second annual Teen Vogue Summit; with this year’s theme “TURN UP” bringing out activists and political leaders to inspire the youth why raising their voice in today’s political climate is more vital than ever.

Sponsors for the event like: Lifeway, PBTeen, TOMS, Pop Sockets, and The New School gifted students with customized totes, offered healthy breakfast and lunch options, encouraged playful photos in a voting booth photo op, and even allowed unregistered voters to sign up. Teen Vogue editors were also on site to have one on one chats about any articles posted, listen to pitches, and give career advice.

TOMS voter registration/photo booth – Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

TOMS voter registration/photo booth – Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

Throughout the weekend (June 1-3) teens would sit in on panels that discussed gun control, immigration, LGBTQ + equality, reproductive justice, representation, the idea of “fake news,” and more REAL issues that not only affect the people attending the summit, but those in our country and spiraling out into the world. Hollywood stars, political leaders, and notable activists took the stage to offer gems and how raising your voice, or how to TURN UP, is easier than you think. The line up included: Diana Guerrero, Dolores Huerta, Common, Logan Browning, Aja Naomi King, Desmond is Amazing, Cynthia Nixon, Emma Gonzalez, Former Vice President Al Gore, Billy Eichner, and many more!

Breakout sessions in between keynotes and roundtables broke down the larger group into intimate discussions on subjects like building confidence to speak your mind, drafting legislation, speech writing, dealing with sexual harassment, and much more!

Teen Vogue Summit Breakout Group – Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

It was a weekend of inspiration and information with so many gems dropped. Check out some below.

“[On what her breakout group is about] Who truly gets to be a role model and who gets to be considered important enough for people to emulate to look up to and how the most important thing you can do is be your own role model.” – Mars Sebasatian

“Every time I get upset today I’m going to remember that teenage girls are going to save the world.” – Phillip Picardi

Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

“Conforming and pretending to be someone else is nothing more than a black hole of unhappiness. Your uniqueness allows you to define your own galaxy on your own terms.” – Desmond is Amazing

“We have to vote for power. We have to vote because there are people who literally want to put us in harm’s way, they are doing it every single day, and they are voting on the other side. So if we don’t vote what we are doing is letting other people speak for us” –Rashad Robinson

Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

“[On why she chose particular breakout session] I think communication is one of the things I need to work on and not freezing up, and not panicking, and being able to be kind of fluid and work through when things go wrong. That improv session did a good job at addressing that.” –Emily Todd, teen attendant

“By registering to vote you are one more person adding yourself to the resistance by saying no we do not stand for this garbage, we will not allow this trash to be America. We have always been here. We have ALWAYS been here. We will always BE here. We are America.” – Crissle of The Read

“Making sure we get broadband everywhere in this country matters. Making sure everyone can afford it matters and making sure it’s really high-speed matters not just so you can consume stuff, but so everyone in this group can also create stuff because that’s the democratizing force the internet can be.” – Jessica Rosenworcel

Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

“Other people can’t find me. I have to find myself in order to feel the best me. It’s ever-changing. We change, we grow, we’re humans.” – Phoenix Best

“I became an activist because I was so desperately seeking to be represented and wanting to represent my community when I saw my community so misrepresented; especially now more than ever.” – Diane Guerrero

“Every time someone criticizes you it’s really a blessing. As long as we keep that in mind and we have to conquer that fear. That anxiety that we feel. I like to say that when we get that anxiety it’s like when we exercise. If you’re exercising and your muscles don’t hurt you’re not doing it right, so when you get that anxiety that just means you’re doing something different, you’re going into new territory, and you’re getting our of your comfort zone.” –Dolores Huerta

Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

Photo: Glambergirlblog.com

Teen Vogue is bringing another summit similar to this one in Los Angeles from November 30 – December 1. This summit will explore all things careers: how to get started, navigating “failures,” creating success on your own terms and more. Get details at summit.teenvogue.com.

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Photo: Glambergirlblog.com