Option 04

JOIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF FREE EXPRESSION ADVOCATES

PEN America is committed to empowering a new generation of free expression advocates and building a youth advocacy network that can work together to facilitate positive change. We regularly invite students to support and engage in our national and international advocacy efforts, and actively seek ways to amplify and encourage students’ own free expression advocacy projects.
PEN America Youth Advocates lead vigil for Ukraine
Next Gen PEN America

Get notified about Next Gen PEN America opportunities:

Name(Required)
MM slash DD slash YYYY
Would you like to opt-in to receiving periodic communications from PEN America about Next Gen PEN?(Required)

APPLICATIONS DUE MARCH 23:

 

Global Press Freedom Advocacy Institute - Spring 2023 Hero Image

Tuesdays, April 4 – 25, 2023

4:00pm – 5:45pm PDT / 7:00 pm – 8:45pm EDT

 

As part of the 2023 World Press Freedom Day global advocacy campaign, PEN America and the Student Press Law Center will be hosting the return of our Global Press Freedom Advocacy Institute over the course of four online weekly evening workshops. This program is FREE and available to all current and aspiring student journalists in high school and college. 

 

LEARN MORE AND APPLY HERE

Upcoming Institutes for Summer 2023

Los Angeles - June 26-30, 2023

Los Angeles - June 26-30, 2023

Open to high school students. Applications due April 27, 2023.
Learn More
New York - July 17-21, 2023

New York - July 17-21, 2023

Open to high school students. Applications due May 25, 2023.
Learn More
Washington, DC - July 31 - August 4, 2023

Washington, DC - July 31 - August 4, 2023

Open to high school students. Applications due June 8, 2023.
Learn More
Miami - Dates TBA

Miami - Dates TBA

Open to high school students. Applications open soon.

More Opportunities

Freedom to Read Student Ambassadors Town Halls

Freedom to Read Student Ambassadors Town Halls

Led by graduates of PEN America and Brooklyn Public Library’s Freedom to Read Advocacy Institute, this series convenes high school students for monthly online town halls to meet and collaborate on advocacy against book bans.
Register Now
Free Expression Essay Competition

Free Expression Essay Competition

PEN America is inviting submissions for a national student essay competition about the role of free expression in today’s world. If you’re in high school or college, PEN America wants to know what you think about the threats to this crucial right!
Learn More
Free Expression Leadership Fellows Program - Summer 2023

Free Expression Leadership Fellows Program - Summer 2023

PEN America is offering a 14-week professional Free Expression Leadership Fellows Program for undergraduate and graduate students passionate about human rights, the written word, and free expression in the United States and worldwide.
Learn More
Join our LinkedIn Group

Join our LinkedIn Group

Networking is key in the professional field of free expression advocacy. Former fellows, interns, and students of PEN America are invited to join our LinkedIn group to stay in touch.
Join us

Events

Freedom to Read Student Ambassadors Town Hall
WedApril 52023

Freedom to Read Student Ambassadors Town Hall

Free Event Online Student Town Hall Town Halls Virtual

PEN America’s Freedom to Learn Student Summit – Northern California

SatMarch 252023
Free Event In Person Student Summit
PEN America is coming to the San Francisco Public Library this March to host our first-ever Freedom to Learn Student Summit for high school students in Northern California.

Refusing Censorship: A High School Paper’s Fight for Press Freedom

ThuFebruary 232023
Free Event Online Virtual
PEN America, the First Amendment Coalition (FAC),  and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists are proud to partner with the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) on Student Press Freedom Day 2023 for a virtual event “Refusing Censorship: A High School Newspaper’s Fight for Student Press Freedom.” For this event, we invite students and educators to […]

PEN America’s Free Expression Student Summit at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville

FriMarch 312023
Free Event In Person Student Summit
PEN America is returning to the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in Spring 2023 for our Free Expression Student Summit.
See more

Past Guest Speakers

Kirill Artemenko

CEO, Paperpaper
Nora Benavidez headshot

Nora Benavidez

Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights, Free Press

Amanda Bennett

Pulitzer Prize-winning Author and Journalist

Neijma Celestine-Donnor

Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, University of Maryland-Baltimore School of Social Work

Troy Closson

Metro Reporter, The New York Times

Alex Gino

Author and Activist

Hadar Harris

Executive Director, Student Press Law Center

Dr. Faizullah Jan

Journalist, Dawn Newspaper

David Kaye

Clinical Professor of Law, UC Irvine

Amna Khalid

Associate Professor in the Department of History, Carleton College
Mai Khoi headshot

Mai Khoi

Artist and Activist

Julia Rose Kraut

Author

Susan Kuklin

Author and Photographer

Frank LoMonte

Director, Brechner Center for Freedom of Information
Writers at Risk Database

Wa Lone

Journalist, Reuters

Paul Muldoon

Poet

Fallon McClure

Georgia State Director, Spread the Vote
Ahmed Naji

Ahmed Naji

Author

Rikki Nathanson

Senior Advisor, Global Trans Program, OutRight Action International

Solomon Collins Nkulinga

Program Assistant, Disability Rights Fund and the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund
Achiro Patricia Olwoch

Achiro Patricia Olwoch

Writer, playwright, and filmmaker

Gregory Pardlo

Author and Poet

Daniel Alejandro Pinilla

Journalist, Human Rights Advocates Program at Columbia

Rachel Sanchez-Keneally

Government Liaison and Program Coordinator, IOM

Emerson Sykes

Staff Attorney, Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Bakary Tandia

Co-Founder, The Abolition Institute

Mary Beth Tinker

Vladimir Tlali

Director, New York State LGBT Human and Health Services Network

Laurence H. Tribe

Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School

Bukeni Waruzi

Executive Director, Free the Slaves