Three young Southern Arizona changemakers have been selected to participate in Junior Achievement of Arizona’s 18 Under 18 program, an annual recognition that honors youth who show exceptional leadership, initiative and impact in their communities.

Tucson’s Owen Brosanders and Gauri Srivastava, and Nogales’ Pamela Carbajal are among the 2025 honorees recognized for their ingenuity, generosity and entrepreneurial spirit.

The young people selected are role models, innovators and community leaders, demonstrating creativity, passion and the ability to find motivation from hardship.

University High School junior Owen Brosanders combines his love for the outdoors with sharp civic engagement in his role as co-lead of the Arizona Youth Climate Coalition.

Brosanders helped develop Tucson Unified School District’s groundbreaking Climate Action Resolution, which passed by a 4-1 vote last fall.

Since then, he’s been appointed as the only student on TUSD’s Bond Oversight Committee, helping determine how $480 million in infrastructure funds are allocated.

“I love going out into the desert environment, hiking and climbing mountains,” Brosanders told Tucson Spotlight. “I really came from the recreational perspective, but the youth climate movement got me thinking more critically about what’s going on in our environment.”

Brosanders’ interest in advocacy began in elementary school, when he noticed the lunchroom didn’t have a recycling bin. He asked his fifth-grade class to sign a petition, and it worked.

“Small things like that let me know that my voice was wanted,” he said. “It made me learn that we need to make a difference and my voice can help.”

That early success laid the foundation for a bigger goal.

“When I tell my children and grandchildren in 50 years, I want to be able to tell them I did my best and I cared when so many other people didn’t,” he said.

Brosanders hopes that student voices will continue to be included in leadership spaces, especially on school boards.

“Oftentimes, school board conversations don’t incorporate student voices at all,” he said. “So I think it’s helpful to have a student representative. I hope to see that in the future.”

BASIS Oro Valley junior Gauri Srivastava is the founder of MedAspire, a student-led initiative providing medical-related volunteer experience, exposure to health care campaigns and sessions on medical careers and research.

“My goal is to close the disparities that exist in health care access and education,” Srivastava told Tucson Spotlight. “What if the next groundbreaking doctor, researcher or health care innovator never gets the chance to explore medicine simply because they lacked access, faced financial or educational barriers or never saw someone like them in the field?”

Srivastava said her own school, like many in Arizona, lacks access to health science CTE courses, barring students from early exposure without the burden of costly extracurriculars.

In just a year, MedAspire has partnered with clinics and organizations across Arizona, launched a blood cancer awareness campaign that reached more than 5,000 people through the Pima County Library System and worked with the National Marrow Donor Program to provide guidance to make lifesaving action more accessible.

“We also understood that blood cancer disproportionately impacts children, so we engaged younger audiences through interactive activities, art events and educational bookmarks,” she said.

In addition to MedAspire, Srivastava co-founded the Tucson Student Science Association, which connects students and STEM clubs across the region. The group offers free research toolkits, Olympiad prep materials and support for independent projects, all designed by members with national competition experience.

“In just a year, we’ve collaborated with five schools and 15 STEM clubs, and now we’re working to scale TSSA into a statewide nonprofit,” she said.

Srivastava plans to pursue a pre-med degree at the University of Arizona before attending graduate school at an Ivy League university. She said the early hurdles, uncertainty and fear were real, but her mission kept her moving forward.

Nogales High School senior Pamela Carbajal is proving that leadership can flourish in small towns. At 17, Carbajal serves as cadet lieutenant colonel in her school’s Air Force Junior ROTC program, where she leads 131 cadets.

This past year, she served as unit commander, ensuring cadets wore their uniforms and completed their community service hours. She also helped organize the school’s annual military ball, helping raise $5,000 through concessions and school events to make it happen.

“It’s a great opportunity to grow as a leader,” she told Tucson Spotlight.

Though she doesn’t plan to join the military, Carbajal values the lessons ROTC has taught her: discipline, time management and leadership.

She’s also president of her school’s Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) chapter, a competitive STEM program. Her team recently placed second nationally in the Engineering Design Competition.

In addition to MESA and the AFJROTC Honor Society, she’s active in her church youth group and is a member of the varsity volleyball team.

Carbajal also honors her cultural heritage through music, performing with Mariachi Apache, a school ensemble that plays at community events and conferences like the Tucson International Mariachi Conference.

“Being able to celebrate that part of my family is an honor,” she said. “Performing is something I’ve done since middle school, and I really enjoy it.”

Her message to other small-town students: Don’t let geography limit your goals.

“Being recognized by something as big as Junior Achievement’s 18 Under 18, I feel like I can show other students in similar situations that being from a small town doesn’t mean your dreams have to be small,” Carbajal said. “You can still make a big difference and be recognized for what you do.”

Isabela Gamez is a University of Arizona alum and Tucson Spotlight reporter. Contact her at gamezi@arizona.edu.

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