Perry Sovich (they/he/she) showcases how leadership is about advocating and protecting one’s community through their work in their high school’s GSA. In his search for clarity and belonging, Perry took on the role of Vice President for the GSA during the pandemic. They created servers and spaces to keep their GSA connected despite the social distancing, giving their peers a place to come for support while quarantining with potentially unsupportive family members. Upon returning to school in person, Perry took to protecting her community even further than their meetings; she created resources for school staff to use to become better allies for their queer students. Perry gathered resources for the GSA, taught LGBTQ+ history, and mentored younger members to prepare them for when they’d take over the club in their absence. Perry will be attending the Maryland Institute College of Art as a First Year Fellow in Creative Entrepreneurship this fall.
