Eliana Bravos is a third-year Peace, Conflict, and Justice major hailing from Trinity College. She also majors in Psychology with a minor in Linguistics. Her passions lie in neurodiversity and accessibility, which is part of the reason why she chose PCJ: the program’s flexibility allows her to plan her courses in order to explore these interests.

These passions have also led Eliana to co-found and serve as Chair of Viability Employment Services. This non- profit drives change by empowering neurodivergent youth, working with them one-on-one to support every stage of finding volunteer and employment opportunities. Viability Employment Services launched the ViableLeaders program this year in response to barriers that impede neurodivergent youth from extracurricular involvement. This program allows neurodivergent youth to sit on a council that meets twice monthly, where participants can make friends while learning about governance, budgeting, and event planning, as well as organizing a community event from start to finish. Other initiatives include hosting community events aimed at challenging stigma, fostering networks, offering development opportunities, and contributing to the creation of a more inclusive community for neurodivergent individuals. Eliana is also developing a podcast to showcase neurodivergent voices and exploring the impact of COVID-19, as well as leading workshops and social programming on a weekly basis.

The Peace, Conflict and Justice program has been invaluable to Eliana in her mission. She has gained important skills such as being able to tackle large amounts of literature and has honed her critical thinking. The exposure to an array of diverse perspectives and frameworks for understanding and addressing issues has also been critical. Finally, the program has allowed Eliana to further explore disability rights through independent projects.

To learn more, connect with Visibility Employment Services at @viablecareers on Twitter!

If you are a PCJ student interested in being a Featured Student this summer, please submit your profile here.