At 21 years old, Matt studies Political Science and Spanish at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. After empowering programs and meaningful relationships changed his life, he found himself working to develop effective programs and policies for other disadvantaged youth. He fights nationally for the rights and opportunities of the United States' most marginalized teens as the Vice-Chair of the National Council on Youth Policy and the Youth Advocacy Coordinator for the Southeastern Network for Youth and Family Services. As a teenager, Matt led one of the nation's most successful youth philanthropy programs called Youth As Resources. At 15, he helped lead the establishment of 61 C, Pinellas County's first youth-empowered teen center, and later helped raise over $1 million dollars to build four others. With his university and local teens, Matt founded CAUSE, named as Florida's best youth-outreach by any institution of higher education. Matt has traveled to ten different countries and talked to thousands of youth and adults as a speaker and trainer on advocacy and youth empowerment. During his summers of studying, volunteering, and living in Guatemalan villages, Matt has been profoundly influenced by the warmth, compassion, and endurance shared by the Guatemalan people.