Nia Skinner-Miller
Mott Community College
Nia Skinner-Miller is an active student leader. Nia has served in leadership positions for the Mott Feminist League, Phi Theta Kappa, and works closely with our National Society for Leadership and Success chapter. Nia cares deeply about social justice issues, particularly issues surrounding unequal treatment of women and people of color. Nia has worked to organize and present at a multi-school Take Back the Night event raising awareness of intimate partner violence and sexual assault, and has traveled to Washington D.C. to advocate with her Members of Congress on violence against women and gun control policies. Nia has also hosted film screenings and conversations to raise awareness of women's accomplishments and progress. Nia also works with organizations off campus, including AmeriCorps, to help high-risk students improve their educational opportunities and success. Most recently, Nia has had the opportunity to work with the Roosevelt Institute to increase her understanding of what it takes to work in policy and public health. Nia is not just a model student but an example of what a leader is, exhibiting a passion to improve herself, her community, and society at large, learning from her experiences and sharing opportunities with others.
Personal Statement
Sitting in the front row of American Social History Project, listening to my teacher vocalize an in-depth understanding of Intersectional Feminism, it was the first time I ever heard someone say my issues mattered. To address issues of inequality, I had to first learn to understand my environment and then decide to change the things I could not accept. When I was younger, I volunteered wherever I could to help people who needed it the most. As I got older, I volunteered around the city to understand how some issues leave generational scars and ultimately destroy communities. On campus, I became involved with the Feminist League to plan Take Back the Night with the University of Michigan-Flint, raising awareness of sexual assault on community and university college campuses through several activities including a march through downtown Flint. Even more, I obtained a year-long Roosevelt Institute Fellowship to do research on the foster care system, specifically how a system adapts to crises similar to the Flint Water Crisis and interacts with other systems (education, healthcare etc.). Strategically, in this think tank, I learned how equitable and equal policies are created and it can change the integrity of what the problem is.
