ENBAR COHEN
As City Commissioner and Vice-Mayor of Aventura, Florida, 26-year-old Enbar Cohen is the youngest elected official in Miami-Dade County and the youngest out lesbian elected official in America. Her passion for helping others began in childhood: One of her most important first jobs was working as a youth panelist for Safe Schools South Florida, a non-profit that aims to end LGBT bullying. In that position, she shared her coming-out story with teachers and parents. (She eventually was invited on to SSSF´s Board, which led to her being offered a job as their Assistant Director.) She´s been a guest presenter at AmeriCorps and Keiser University, and following the Haiti earthquake in 2010, Cohen headed to the nearby Dominican Republic with other relief workers to provide food and other items to those who needed them. Over the past four months, she has been teaching “Street Law” at the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Detention Center, speaking to kids about employment, credit, housing and their rights. And as if her schedule isn´t enough to keep her busy she is also studying at Florida International University College of Law to earn her J.D. The most fulfilling part of her work, she says, is being “able to successfully navigate and collaborate in political circles to get the best possible outcomes by serving as the vehicle carrying the voices of our community.” -GH
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