ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2020
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. In the three months the application was open in 2020, 15,159 young leaders applied to join the Class of 2020 on 1,458 campuses across 135 nations. 80 campuses worldwide (just 6%) were selected to host the 1,000+ Millennium Fellows. The Class of 2020 is bold, innovative, and inclusive.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT MELANIE RODRIGUEZ, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW AND CAMPUS DIRECTOR FOR THE CLASS OF 2020.
Florida International University | Florida, United States | Advancing SDG 10 & UNAI 7
" Becoming a Millennium Fellow means becoming part of a larger community. Working with others to achieve goals such as Reduced Inequalities will create stronger projects with a true community-building component. Becoming a Millennium Fellow entrusts me with an additional level of responsibility towards working with the Sustainable Development Goals and helps me become a better advocate for my community. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Let Your Voices Echo (L.Y.V.E)
Let Your Voices Echo (L.Y.V.E.) is an independent project led by FIU students Melanie Rodriguez and Frederic Aurelien. L.Y.V.E addresses issues of social justice through the arts. The project aims to engage with members of the FIU community (both students and faculty), and eventually the greater Miami community, to reflect on social issues through open discussion that simultaneously fosters a deeper appreciation for the arts.
Project L.Y.V.E will host a minimum of three online events throughout Fall 2020. These events will be a mix of film screenings, art-making workshops, roundtable discussions, and open mics. We are aiming to reach about 200 people combined across events.
About the Millennium Fellow
Melanie Rodriguez is a first-generation, rising junior at Florida International University's Honors College pursuing a double major in English and Exceptional Student Education with a certificate in Exile Studies. On-campus, Melanie serves as the Tutorial Coordinator for TRiO Student Support Services Program and is also a participant in the program. As a Global Learning Medallion student, Melanie was part of FIU's inaugural Millennium Fellowship cohort during the Fall of 2019 working to advance the United Nations' 4th Sustainable Development Goal, Quality Education by addressing mass incarceration in relation to the school-to-prison pipeline. Most recently, she has joined the Panther Community Action Board at FIU's Center for Leadership and Service. Additionally, Melanie works as Culture Shock Miami's Program Coordinator at the Miami-Dade County's Department of Cultural Affairs, which encourages youth ages 13-22 to become active patrons of the arts. At CSM, one of her main roles is to lead the Student Advisory Council. For her work both on and off-campus, Melanie was awarded FIU's 2020 Outstanding Student Life Award for Outstanding Junior Leadership. Overall, Melanie's lifelong goal is to enact social change by combining her passion for the arts with her dedication to activism, youth education, and social justice.
