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Student advocates for women with nonprofit, TEDx talk

Yixuan Li stands at the podium during a TEDx event at Hopkinton High School in January. PHOTO/COURTESY YIXUAN LI

Rising Hopkinton High School senior Yixuan Li is on a mission to empower women and girls.

Li is the co-founder of a nonprofit called She Builds the Future. She created the group over a year a go with fellow HHS students Phoebe Jia, Tejaswini Pitchuka and Melissa Chiang. According to its website, the organization seeks to make STEM education accessible to women of all ages by building “a free, comprehensive online resource hub.”

Beyond online resources, She Builds the Future also offers in-person events, Li noted. She stated that the organization got funding from the Karma for Cara Foundation to teach self-defense classes for girls across the state. It also participates in the Cambridge Science Festival to build its exposure and offer fun activities for the kids who attend.

As part of her advocacy for women, Li gave a presentation during a TEDx event that took place at HHS earlier this year. The talk, she explained, chronicled three generations of women in her family — her grandmother, mother and herself.

“I observed at a young age how each of us has learned … how we contribute to our families as well as growing and learning to place the needs of others before our own,” Li said. Her talk, she added, explored how girls can value caregiving and responsibility and still be themselves.

Li credited her mother as a major inspiration for the talk. She discussed how her mom went back into a career after years of caring for their family. “Seeing her doing something that she loves [and] having a job was very motivational to me,” said Li.

Co-founding a nonprofit as a high school student and giving a TEDx talk have taught Li important lessons, she noted. She said she appreciated the response to her talk and how other Asian families respond to the same generational issues. Li also noted how running She Builds the Future has put her out of her comfort zone at times.

“It really kind of transformed me into a different individual who is more confident and more capable,” she said. “Being able to … host events and just be able to just start talking to whoever’s in front of you, it’s very rewarding.”

— NICK SCHOFIELD

Latest News

MassDOT plans to close ramps at the I-90/I-495 interchange tonight through Friday morning.

Ollie Mae Flannery, 93, of Hopkinton died July 29. She spent many years working in the church rectory and volunteering for St. John the Evangelist Church.

Town meetings tonight include the Sustainable Green Committee (6), Woodville Historic District Commission (6), Commission on Disability (7).

Photo of the Day

Posing for a photo in front of an inflatable whale exhibit brought in to the Hopkinton Public Library by the Whalemobile last month are (from left) Diya Narendran, Ishanvi Kantamneni and Nishka Swayampakulaa.