2018 High School Winners

Lily Forman is a ninth grader at Columbia High School in South Orange, New Jersey and a second-time participant in the World of 7 Billion contest. This time around, Lily was excited to connect what she learned about population and its impacts to women’s equality and health, issues she cares about deeply. Since middle school, Lily has attended a summer camp that helps empower young women and encourages them to speak their truth.

The most challenging part of the project for Lily was translating her concept for the video into reality. She explains that creating her stop-motion film meant combining a lot of individually photographed frames, even for a video that was just one-minute long. Lily advises future participants to make a video about something that really interests you and “find a way to personalize” the subject of your video. Lily says she focused her video on women’s access to healthcare because having “access to proper resources is relevant to everyone” and she cares about people’s inherent rights to health and life no matter their gender. Lily plans to donate some of her prize money to the International Women’s Health Coalition and Population Action International, two groups she promotes in her video for their work securing rights and resources for women and girls around the world.

Lily commits her time to several clubs focused on social justice and action. One of the biggest influences in her life has been her social studies teacher Ms. Rivera, who sponsors a social justice-focused club Lily is active in. Lily shared that Ms. Rivera effectively connected history to current events and injustices in her class, and taught her how one person can make a difference in the world. In the future, Lily hopes to become a teacher who can help students learn about social issues and empower them to use their own voices to speak out against injustice.