UC Davis junior Anna Peare of Lafayette, California, has served as a community development volunteer in four Latin American countries, and now she is helping Sacramento-area youth create positive change in their own backyards.

Peare, a community and regional development major, has helped establish and expand the reach of the first Backyard Program of the international nonprofit Amigos de las Américas, or AMIGOS.

She used a $10,000 award from a 2014 Donald A. Strauss Scholarship and a more recent $500 award as one of six Lead Now Fellows in the nation to support the program.

The Backyard Program has helped youth establish their own programs to:

• tutor native Spanish speakers in English at Davis middle and high schools; 
• form a feminist alliance at several Sacramento high schools with events ranging from guest lectures to dances and musical performances; and
• establish a youth center and community garden at a Natomas apartment complex. 

"It's been exciting to see youth inspired to do what they're passionate about," Peare said.  

Peare has volunteered with AMIGOS on public health and environmental projects in Peru, Panama, Ecuador and Costa Rica and provided leadership to the organization's campus club and local chapter.

In 2012, she began working with a UC Davis graduate student and the local AMIGOS chapter to help youth — some who might not be able to travel internationally — develop leadership skills and promote positive change in their own communities.

She conducted research, recruited participants, trained volunteers and provided support for the projects they identified.

About the awards

The Lead Now Fellows Program of SustainUS provides training, mentorship and funding to help fellows strengthen their leadership skills as they develop creative projects to advance sustainability in their communities.

The Donald A. Strauss Scholarship supports community service projects of juniors and seniors at selected California universities.