Vieques Youth Leadership Initiative

How Can I Help?

When Josue Cruz was 14, he was invited to serve as a youth delegate to a Youth Leadership Summit being held in his home of Vieques, Puerto Rico. When he arrived there, his first question was, “How can I help?” Then he saw a poster that said “What is your dream for your life, for your island, and for the world?” and he realized that for the first time in his life, he was being encouraged to dream big. “My dream for my life is to become a lawyer,” he said to himself. That was the beginning of a challenging journey–and an illustrious career–for Josue. After working very hard, he became a lawyer, and his first clients were the people in Vieques, whose land had been confiscated by the U.S. Navy. Josue helped them to reclaim their land: it was a long, arduous process and he spent many days pleading their cases. Today Josue lives in Texas, where he is defending the rights of border wall refugees from Central America. Now 30 years old, Josue loves seeing all the young people he has mentored at the Institute’s Sustainability Summits who are pursuing their dreams. The work he started goes on! To Josue, this is life’s greatest reward.