Erin McKenney

Erin McKenney (born 9 April 1998) is an American human rights activist.

Early Life and education

Raised in New Hampshire, McKenney was recognized for her achievements in activism and service from an early age, earning an Activism Award through Junior State of America and the St. Timothy's Award through the Catholic Diocese of Manchester. She also interned at the New Hampshire State House throughout high school as part of the Girls Rock the Capitol Program, which she credits as helping her to decide her major and career goals. Through working on the Child and Family Law Committee, she learned that what she loved AbOUT political careers was the ability to improve lives through social programs, but that she would rather be working with people more directly. She was also a member of the New Hampshire Legislative Youth Advisory Council.

As a student at Lafayette College, Erin McKenney is a Marquis Scholar. She is currently pursuing degrees in psychology, anthropology and sociology.

Advocacy work

McKenney has been involved in advocacy work, earning the Girl Scout Gold Award by creating a role-model-based science program for young women, the Curiosity Science Program. This program features a series of interactive lab activities that each are tied to a female scientist in a related field. She collected letters from women in STEM fields around the world to give to her students, in an effort to help the young women find positive examples they could relate to and share support from the STEM community.

In InterViews with the BBC, Erin McKenney explained that "teaching a girl that her voice deserves to be heard is the most valuable lesson she can ever be taught," and "people need to know that their place in the world is anywhere they want it to be. There is no job that is masculine or feminine. The only thing that really matters is that they're doing something they believe in." This program earned her recognition from the BBC and a spot on the list of 100 Women for 2016. She was one of the youngest women on this list. McKenney also worked with BBC in London on their 100 Women Wikipedia campaign, in an effort to create more pages for women, because she believes strongly in increasing the visibility of role models for young women.

McKenney has also been active in advocacy in special education, campaigning for acceptance of neurodiversity and listening to the voices of these communities.