No matter the industry or role, I look forward to bringing my passion and results-oriented solutions in the human rights nonprofit space to further on my goal of advancing a more peaceful and tolerant world.
<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/2f44702c-5ed7-4af3-8709-d8c07b418781/YHR_USA_transparent.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/2f44702c-5ed7-4af3-8709-d8c07b418781/YHR_USA_transparent.png" width="40px" /> Youth for Human Rights, USA ****
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Founder | Youth for Human Rights, USA | August 2011 - Present
As a freshman in high school, I was struck by the shocking discovery that my hometown of Houston had the highest human trafficking statistics in the U.S. Thus, my own journey into human rights activism started with a deep-seated love for my community and the diverse array of humans within it. I resolved to make a change. What resulted in the form of an annual 1,000-person strong community event quickly blossomed into a lifelong philanthropic and intellectual passion for the field of human rights.
Hearing feedback from over 1000 attendees during that initial 2011 event, I realized the gravity of this issue; people were eager to learn more. My first step into the human rights arena left me yearning to use human rights education to make a bigger impact. Thus, I was driven to start a nonprofit to both ensure that this event would be sustainable for years to come and to expand to new projects. Over the past 9 years, creating Youth for Human Rights, USA has allowed me to reach over 2.2 million of my fellow Americans and has even inspired two similar events in Luxembourg. Empowering people in local communities with vital universal human rights education is a tangible step towards sewing seeds of peace. Given the value of knowledge as power, the more people learn, the more inspired they become to act as advocates for good within their own networks. Seeing my initial efforts ripple out through the vehicle of educational empowerment has shown me how powerful collective potential can be.
By creating one of the largest human rights events in the U.S., strategizing a nation-wide human rights campaign with the President of Malta, and orchestrating interfaith community building at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, I came to understand the value of empathy and cultural understanding in fostering productive dialogue.
Starting a nonprofit, while not for the faint of heart, not only taught me how to build practical systems from the ground up but also allowed me to develop a grassroots understanding of the vital importance of the SDGs. No matter the industry or role, I look forward to bringing my passion and results-oriented solutions in the human rights nonprofit space to further on my goal of advancing a more peaceful and tolerant world.
Demme Durrett (46:47) - 16th Annual International Human Rights Summit at UNHQ
Demme Durrett (46:47) - 16th Annual International Human Rights Summit at UNHQ
Demme Durrett ABC13 Interview
