Monica Bustinza, Miami Dade College
Monica Bustinza is a 2nd year student majoring in Political Science. Her track record of community engagement and civic leadership since high school and while at Miami Dade College is nothing short of phenomenal. She completed more than 1000 hours of service in high school, won multiple awards, and even started an organization to address child and family hunger. Since enrolling at MDC she has continued her outstanding civic leadership. A few examples include serving as president of the Human Rights Alliance that regularly organizes forums for her peers; serving as an intern with HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity where she helps investigate cases of housing discrimination; and being a Campus Election Engagement Project “Student Fellow” which involved registering her peers to vote, educating them about the ballot, and working to get out the vote on election day. Monica regularly speaks at MDC and nationally in an effort to inspire the next generation of changemakers. Monica is a stellar student in MDC’s Honors College where she has a 3.85 GPA. She has made service and civic leadership her calling and she represents the best of the next generation of leaders committed to justice and the common good.
-Eduardo Padron, President
I am a passionate activist working relentlessly to make a positive impact in my community, as well as the world. I stand for justice, equality and peace and I am motivated by inspiring and empowering others to become greater than themselves. Currently my efforts are mostly directed towards eradicating poverty and hunger in my community. I am working to create social change through motivating youth to identify the social justice issues they are passionate about and using their convictions, talents and energy to become agents of change and start a movement. I try to motivate my peers by leading civic engagement workshops and also sharing the story of my journey to become a Changemaker with students hoping to ignite something inside of them. My ultimate goal is to become a respected political leader working for social justice. I also strive to catalyze my peers to “become the change they wish to see in the world.”
-Monica Bustinza
