About Austin Youth Gun Violence Awareness  

Being under the age of 18, it sometimes like it can be hard to leave a mark on an issue that is so widespread. But,  there is so much you can do to make your voice heard. Austin Youth Gun Violence Awareness is a platform that aims to teach youth how they can make an impact on preventing gun violence in their community. We serve as a space for artistic expression and policy literacy, and we call for legislative action prioritizing effective school safety measures to protect the communities that matter to us most.

Founder's mission 

Hi, ​my name is Serena Ray, and I am a high school student based in Austin TX. I created Austin Youth Gun Violence Awareness (Youth GVA for short) to be a source of expression, policy awareness and promotion of school safety for students across Austin and Texas alike. Originally inspired by a school project that I spearheaded during the legislative session a year post-Uvalde, Youth GVA was born out of a school walkout. Moved by the real action that joint student voices can promote, I decided to combine my longstanding interest in art with my interest in social justice and policy to truly create an impact on my community. The reality is that every student is affected in some way shape or form by gun violence. I have used my platform to focus on being a space for students and youth to create and post writings, artwork or other forms of expression that honor, highlight and bring light to the victims of firearm violence, and its overarching impact on youth. Since formally founding my organization in August of 2023, I have started my own campaign called “Teens Take on Policy”, spoken on meaningful webinars and forums to share my voice, helped work to organize Texas Advocacy Day, created an Art Advocacy gallery in my school district, and reached thousands of students. I am eager to continue to advocate for meaningful change and hope to shift youth narrative to replace fear with opportunity.

 If you want to learn more about me specifically or my mission, contact me at [email protected]