➖JULIETA MARTINEZ ➖ YOUNG ACTIVIST, ONLY 15 YEARS OLD, CREATES A PLATFORM TO SUPPORT CAUSES OF SOCIAL IMPACT 2004 - PRESENT Julieta Martinez is a young entrepreneur who, from a young age, saw the world differently from those her age. At just 15 years old, she created a web site “Tremendous" that is "a showcase that shows empowered women, precisely young, who seek to make their talents visible and impact and generate a change in society” (Natalia Espinoza), elmostrador. What called my attention to her was when she said "At school they always tell us that we are the future, but I think we are the present.” (Espinoza). With these words, Julieta Martínez explains that one should not wait to be able to carry out an activity that generates changes in society. Julieta is a young woman who, when she was 10 years old, attended a march with her family to demand that diabetic pumps be part of the Auge Plan. The Auge Plan developed several guarantees for 56 health problems for the insured. It prescribed clinical guidelines and no longer waited for diagnosis, treatment, or follow-up (Wikipedia). Julieta Martinez is insulin dependent and her parents have paid for her treatment. This is a privilege that not many children have. From that moment when she became aware of her privilege, she understood that she had to do something to change the world. She started attending social innovation fairs with her mother and at the age of 15 she decided to make her website. Julieta saw how divided the world was and that low-income people did not have the privilege that she had. The website helps low-income people to get medical and financial help, among many other social aspects. This is how "Tremendas" was born. Julieta not only wanted to create the website, she wanted action, so she sought to join with organizations and companies seeking to realize the projects that day after day she received: for example the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations (UN) to generate social impact actions (actions for the climate, end of poverty, etc). Currently with the coronavirus, she seeks to reach young people by giving talks through the internet about how important mental health is in quarantine time and the impact it has on young people. Anyone can contact "Tremendas" through their website. Julieta Martinez manages to ally with the UN. After the UN saw the social changes that Julieta could achieve with her website, the un contacted her to work together. Julieta, together with the UN, seeks to reach more people and maintain international peace and security, foster friendly relations between nations and promote social progress, improving living standards and human rights. Appearing on television, in just 20 minutes, Julieta Martinez achieved a social media audience which had 900 followers, and grew to 8,100 followers. Currently her Instagram platform has 26K followers. In 2018 Julieta Martinez was named an Ashoka Ambassador and recognized among the young agents of change. Ashoka is a platform in which each individual Ambassador is capable of effectively promoting responses to social problems and challenges, to achieve a society in which innovation and the desire for change are fostered, so that people find strength in themselves (Ashoka) and the power necessary to generate this transformation. Martinez won the 2019 Influential Woman award within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in Chile 2019 (Ashoka). Every time she wins an award, she is filled with pride and she is motivated to move forward because she sees the change that her project has brought to society and that is empowering the voice of young people. With the Coronavirus crisis, her "Tremendas" website has had to adapt to the new "normal." Her discussion continues to take place online, with a good participation of the public that follows her. In her most recent interview she said the following: “’Tremendous’ has the potential to be able to thrive everywhere. We want to continue looking for more tremendous women from different parts of the planet, in order to build a better world” (Ashoka). Julieta Martinez inspires me because since she was young, she has not allowed herself to be dominated by the saying "young people are the future", but instead, she says that we are the present. I am Andribel Castillo, a student at Hostos Community College, enrolled in WGS 100 with Professor Jerilyn Fisher, Fall 2020. Our class wrote biographies as our "Making a Difference" project, done in partnership with Women's Activism.NYC. Works Cited: Ashoka, “Julieta Martínez, la joven más influyente en 2019 y fundadora de Tremendas: El individualismo es una de las peores pandemias”, Ashoka Estados Unidos. “JulietaMartinez”https://www.ashoka.org/es/story/julieta-martinez”. Corvalan, Francisco. ¿Quién es Julieta Martínez, la estudiante de 15 años y la joven más influyente del año?. March 2019. La Tercera. https://www.latercera.com/que-pasa/noticia/quien-es-julieta-martinez-la-estudiante-de-15-anos-y-la-joven-mas-influyente-del-ano/575600/. Espinoza, Natalia. “Joven más influyente en 2019 y fundadora de tremendas”. August, 2020. El Mostrador. https://www.elmostrador.cl/braga/2020/08/05/julieta-martinez-la-joven-mas-influyente-en-2019-y-fundadora-de-tremendas-el-individualismo-es-una-de-las-peores-pandemias/. Martinez, Julieta. “Tremendas”. http://tremendas.cl/sitio/julieta-martinez/.