June 26, 2012

Former Student Ambassador Tempest Cartwright Receives Colin Higgins ‘Youth Courage’ Award

This blog post was written by communications intern Carlo Steinman.

Last night, at the Trevor Project’s annual Trevor Live Gala, former GLSEN Student Ambassador Tempest Cartwright was honored with a Colin Higgins Youth Courage Award from the Colin Higgins Foundation. Tempest received the award for being “a bright voice for the voiceless,” advocating for safe spaces for LGBT youth in her home state of Oklahoma and beyond.

Tempest proved time and again that she was committed to making schools better for LGBT youth by being a vocal advocate for change within her school through her GSA leadership. Some of her most recent work with GLSEN includes her participation at the 2012 Respect Awards NY and at the White House LGBT Conference on Safe Schools and Communities, where she co-facilitated a workshop and introduced the founder of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Judy Shepard.

Board Chairs Wilson Cruz and Ryan Pedlow were also in attendance representing GLSEN and said they were “blown away” by her acceptance speech.

Please join them and all of us here at GLSEN in congratulating Tempest on her well-deserved award!

   

About Elizabeth Free

       

Elizabeth Free is the communications manager at GLSEN--the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. Elizabeth joined GLSEN in 2009 to make schools safer for all students and says one of the best parts of her job is working with GLSEN's Student Ambassadors. She is originally from Texas and has a B.A. in Public Relations and Advertising from the University of Houston.