Encinitas Teen Appointed to International Advisory Board

The International Community Foundation has recently appointed two San Diego-area teens as youth representatives to its International Advisory Board. The International Advisory Board provides strategic counsel and advice to the Foundation to help further its mission of expanding charitable giving internationally with an emphasis on Mexico and Latin America.

The Foundation’s two youth representatives are Akash Patel, 17, of Encinitas, attending the Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, and Daniella Decker, 16, of La Jolla, attending La Jolla High School. Both teens have distinguished themselves through their leadership, their “can-do” spirit and their efforts to promote meaningful social change through their philanthropic efforts.

Since the spring of 2011, Akash Patel has been instrumental in leading a unique project called “Project Bus-San Ignacio” which seeks to convert an abandoned school bus into a school library and learning center in the remote community of Laguna San Ignacio along the Baja California peninsula. For this project, Akash has raised over $20,000 and has scheduled the school bus conversion to be completed by March, 2013.

Daniella Decker has stepped up to provide continuity to a youth-led initiative to help curb cervical cancer in Tijuana through establishing a fund at the International Community Foundation called the “Teens Against Cervical Cancer Fund.” Currently Daniella is actively organizing the“Fashion for Philanthropy” student-run fashion show, scheduled for February 8th, 2013, at the Joan Kroc Center for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego. Her goal is to raise $18,000 in new funding for the “Teens Against Cervical Cancer Fund” which provides the HPV vaccine at no cost to economically underserved girls in Eastern Tijuana through the Mexican charity, Fronteras Unidas Pro Salud.

In their role as youth representatives of the Foundation’s International Advisory Board, the teens will attend advisory board meetings and serve as “youth ambassadors” in the community for the Foundation. They will also play a key role in inspiring new youth philanthropy leaders at the Foundation’s International Youth Giving Forum in 2013, the annual forum for its youth philanthropy program.

About the International Community Foundation: 
The International Community Foundation is a public charity founded in 1990, whose mission is to expand the level of charitable giving internationally by U.S. donors, with an emphasis on Mexico and Central America. Last year the Foundation made grants totaling over $4.7 million to 70 nonprofits in the regions it serves. For more information regarding the International Community Foundation, visit http://www.icfdn.org

— Pacific Ridge School