Ysabella is a 12th grade student from Missouri. Severe flooding of the Missouri River in her hometown in 2019 sparked her interest in preparedness. She is most interested in flood prevention, climate resilience, and bolstering the nation’s infrastructure to ensure better disaster preparation and recovery.
Ysabella’s work in preparedness is tied to her is interest in public health. She serves as the state-level officer for Missouri HOSA --- Future Health Professionals during the school year. In this role, she worked with students pursuing EMT certifications, as well as those practicing CERT skills at statewide conferences, which she worked to develop and organize. With HOSA she also spoke to an audience of 10,000 for Virtual Health Care Day and traveled to Washington, D.C. to work with a global network to continue expanding health science opportunities.
Beyond preparedness and health interests, she is a member of her school’s Student Sense of Belonging Committee, managing heritage monthcelebrations, providing feedbackto administration aboutstudent belonging, and creatingsocial media outreachabout diversity, equity, and inclusion for the school community. She is a violinist in her school’s orchestra, a cross country runner and a member of the Women’s Student Union.
Ysabella serves on the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Teen Arts Council. She spends her free time running, spending time with family and growing houseplants.