Youth Advisory Board. Future Leaders.
Who we are, what we like to do, and why we chose Y4KC
Brigid Burroughs
ChairFounding Member of Y4KCBrigid is twenty-two and is a first-year law student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. She graduated cum laude from Duke University in May of 2018, and now she wants to combine her legal education with her undergraduate background in psychology, education, and women's empowerment to promote gender, economic, and educational equity in her community. She believes that without equity and fairness for everyone, there can be no ethical society, and she thinks that legal advocacy and eventually non-profit work are where her strengths are best suited to promote that equity. Brigid joined Y4KC because it provides a unique opportunity to learn, teach, and do good work for her community all at the same time. And she thinks this is a particularly effective way to create lasting change. In her free time, she enjoys reading, rereading, and then forcing other people to read books; drinking coffee; and watching college basketball.
Alex Crayon
Vice ChairFounding Member of Y4KCAlex is twenty and is a sophomore at the University of Oklahoma. He is majoring in English Writing and minoring in Spanish, and he wants to get his PhD, eventually. After so much school, he hopes he still likes it, because he wants to become a high school English teacher. His goal is to become the mentor to his students that his teachers were for him. Alex joined Y4KC because he wants to affect positive change in his home community and sees Y4KC as a way to become directly involved in that change. In his free time, he enjoys writing short stories, reading old, dusty paperbacks, and eating three-too-many slices of pizza. The best thing ever, he thinks, is when he does all three at the same time.
Fiona Burroughs
SecretaryFounding Member of Y4KCFiona is sixteen and is a junior at Liberty High School. Fiona is unsure of what she will study in college, but she sees Y4KC as a great way to get insight into how nonprofits operate, as she is interested in working with nonprofit organizations in the future. Fiona joined Y4KC because it is a great opportunity for her to improve her leadership skills while making an impact on her community. Also, she appreciates that Y4KC trusts her with important responsibilities that she would not ordinarily have because of her age. In her free time, she does improv comedy shows and runs her dogs' Instagram account.
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Daniel Pfaff
Daniel is nineteen and a sophomore at the University of Oklahoma. Majoring in Biochemistry and Linguistics, he hopes to pursue research in genetics after a PhD program. Daniel grew up in the Waldo area of Kansas City and attended St. Elizabeth’s School and Rockhurst High School. He joined Y4KC because he saw a unique opportunity to leave a legacy and help other kids in his city, as well as develop skills far outside his lab-focused experience. In his free time, he enjoys being too-involved for his own good, playing ultimate frisbee, learning bits of random languages, and turning strangers into new friends!
Emma Vance
Founding Member of Y4KCEmma is fifteen and is a junior at Blue Valley High School. She plans to study political science in college and wants to go to law school. She has always been interested in law and thinks that she would really enjoy it as a career. Emma joined Y4KC when Sarah Castle introduced her to it last year, and she thought it would be an amazing opportunity to help her community. In her free time, she plays club volleyball, does photography, and reads.
Troy Savaiano
Founding Member of Y4KCTroy is seventeen and is a freshman at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He is majoring in physics and hopes to do research upon completion of his degree. He loves exploring the unknown and working to understand the world around us. Troy joined Y4KC to make a difference in the community around him. "I feel privileged to have the life I have," he said, "so why not share some of my good fortune with others?" In his free time, he enjoys buying and selling shoes, playing soccer with his friends, and spending time with his family.
Erin Burroughs
Founding Member of Y4KCErin is twenty and is a junior at Wake Forest University. She is majoring in biology and wants to do field research upon the completion of her degree. She has always loved biology and wants to work with animals and in the outdoors. She would love to pursue a career in ecology or evolutionary genetics in the future. Erin joined Y4KC because she saw it as an opportunity to give back to a community that has done so much for me. She grew up in Liberty, Missouri, and it wasn't until she was in high school that she realized how special of a place Kansas City was for everyone in the community. There is a true sense of neighbor-helping-neighbor, and when she heard the idea for Y4KC, she knew it was exactly what she was looking for. In her free time, she is very involved in the Wake Forest Rowing Club as head coxswain, loves reading and rereading books, and likes hanging out with her cat, Ferdinand.
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