Amber Montoya
I'm Amber Montoya.
BILINGUAL. HUMAN-RIGHTS ADVOCATE. CREATIVE.
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
MY BIO
Hello and welcome to my site! My name is Amber Montoya and I'm a Latino from Los Angeles, California. I currently am an aspiring first-generation economics major at Davidson College looking to bridge the economic and academic divide between lower income and higher income students. I'm always looking to volunteer and indulge myself in new work on the topics of mental health, women's rights, culture pride, economics, and politics.
PROJECTS
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My Accomplishments and Experience
Highschool Achievements
HONOR ROLL/National Honors Society: Made honor roll with a 3.9+ weighted GPA all 4 years. NHS my last year of Highschool
AP Scholar Award: Scored a 3 or more on all 8 of my AP tests (AP Spanish, AP Spanish Literature, AP World, AP United States History, AP Government, AP English, AP English Literature, AP Calculus)
GRADUATE: As a first-generation student, I'm the first in my family to graduate high school and be accepted into university and the first to do so with a 4.0+ GPA. Being a graduate means the world to me as many of my family sacrificed everything for me to be attending college.
1
LAHSA's Homeless Count is a countywide event that brings thousands of Angelenos together to count our unsheltered neighbors. Together, they count Los Angeles County over the course of three days. I was in charge of helping volunteers with uniforms, scanning the entry code, and actually going out to count unsheltered individuals.
Homeless Count Volunteer
2
Teach Democracy 'EHI' Internship Completion
Teach Democracy's Institute Program, previously known as Expanding Horizons Institute Program (EHI), is a program based in LA dedicated to uplifting first-generation highschoolers. The program consists of seminars, financial literacy meetings, internships, and a personalized CAP project. for 6 months, students attended online meetings and in person meeting to discuss their personalized project, and attack it from a legal perspective. My project was dedicated to Transexual and LGBTQ+ Rights in Los Angeles, meeting with the head of LGBTQ+ bills in the Los Angeles council. By the end of the program, I managed to continue updating the community on the bills being released and presented it to over 30 other students in the program.
3
Debate4All Content Writer
Debate4all is a youth-led organization focusing on uplifting individuals of all ages to feel more confident public speaking, debating, or expressing interests in politics. When working with them, I was a passionate volunteer content writer, focusing on creating insightful articles that address LGBTQ+ rights, political issues, and women's empowerment. I conducted thorough research to ensure accurate representation and promote understanding of these vital topics.
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03
Blood Drive Manager (2022 & 2023)
The American Red Cross often hosts a blood drive at Alliance Collins Highschool, through the Health and Medicine club. I was president of the Health and Medicine club, and was in charge of organizing volunteers, setting up the blood drive, networking, and data of the blood drive.
01
DEI Intern for Munger, Toles, and Olson (2023)
Munger, Toles, and Olson works with Teach Democracy to take in highschool interns for IT and DEI positions. I networked with several attorneys to conduct constructive research on diversity and inclusion of different genders and races. Survey findings were presented in meetings and analyzed by said attorneys. I also evaluated case content, including evidence, testimonies, and legal precedents, to categorize and prioritize cases effectively, developed and maintained a systematic filing system for both physical and digital case records, enhancing accessibility and retrieval efficiency.
02
57th District Youth Leader Under Reggie-Jones Sawyer (2023)
The Reggie Jones-Sawyer Youth Leadership program led plans for a free community resource event in which food, mental health resources, hygiene products, and a free community event was hosted at Skid Row with organizations like LA County Mental Health and LA CAN. More than 100 members of the community attended this event and more than 100 members of the community received free food. I was a part of several day outreach events, where I reached out to members of the community to spread word of the event. On the day of the event, I was in charge of going out to distribute food, sign-in members, and set up the event.
Junior State of America
In JSA, I was club Co-President (2024) of over 100+ members and State Director of DEI (2023): In charge of making sure the state members felt represented, appreciated, and included. Before, I was a State Assembly Member where I proposed bills 3 times a year to change JSA for the better in front of 15+ other state club members
ACHIEVEMENTS:
National Civic Community Service Award: My school's club had the most community service out of every other club in the country.
5
Pineapple empower program is a dynamic program designed to uplift and empower through interactive workshops, mentorship, and website creating, enhancing self-confidence and professional skills while belonging to a supportive community. My main accomplishment was being able to create my own website and build my basic skills. Now I can build websites of my own.
Pineapple Empower Member
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ACHIEVEMENTS:
My team and I made semi-finals two years in a row (2023 & 2024) while I was the main setter for our team. Due to my role as setter, I gained the Most Valuable Player of the Year Award in 2023 for helping my team go to playoffs. Outside of the varsity season, I was an assistant coach for the boys volleyball team and spent 2-3 hours after school coaching.
Varsity Highschool Volleyball
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She's the first fights for a world where every girl chooses her own future. The Fellowship teams up with grassroot organizations to make sure girls everywhere are heard, respected, and educated. I'm collaborating with girls around the world to take world-class training and mentorship to envision, plan, and execute my own activism campaign.