As a current sixteen-year-old tenth grader in the International School of Panama, Raquel loves expressing her ideas and beliefs through painting, debate, Model United Nations, and writing. She is a Panamanian-American who despite being born in Miami, Florida, has been living in Panama almost her whole life. She is a firm believer that youth participation isn’t just another check off an organization's checklist, rather an invitation to work with us as peers--equals. She experienced this first hand last year, when she was one of the sixty kids who were able to participate in the Global Network of Religions for Children’s fifth forum. She was able to express her ideas to hundreds of successful individuals, as an equal. She loves being able to listen to other stories, and hopes that her story is able to push others, from both sides of the spectrum, to listen and learn from each other.