When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit last year and schools went to online learning, 17-year-old Union High School senior Ashley Lin said she felt incredibly disconnected from the clubs and communities that she belonged to at school, and she knew many of her peers felt the same way.
“Without the hallway conversations and lunch meetings, it was really hard to stay connected with people and accomplish everything that we had wanted to do,” Lin said. “I started thinking a lot about how we could adapt our communities online and continuing creating impact together.”
As the founder of Project Exchange, a youth-led 501c3 nonprofit that organizes cultural exchange programs for students around the world, Lin said she had a bit of experience in building online communities. She said she was also lucky to be part of thriving digital communities like Civics Unplugged and #BuiltByGirls, which both provided early inspiration and ideas for her book – titled “Youth Organizer: Cultivating More Powerful Digital-First Communities.” Lin’s book will be published this August by New Degree Press.
“I’ve been writing for about a year now and my hope is that this book democratizes access to community building knowledge so more young people can create spaces of belonging and power online,” Lin said.
Lin said that when she first started researching more about online community building, she actually didn’t intend to write or publish a book. She said she became “obsessed” with online community building because she noticed that it was challenge that a lot of her peers were facing for their school clubs and communities after schools went online due to COVID-19.
“In the beginning of the ‘book writing process,’ before I even knew I was doing it, I spent a lot of time interviewing student leaders and youth community builders who were getting people together to do cool things online together,” Lin said. “What started off as friendly conversations about their communities turned into brainstorming sessions/troubleshooting calls, and I realized it would make sense to document all these community building tips somewhere.”
Lin said she started diving into digital community building in March 2020 and got connected with Professor Eric Koester at Georgetown University in June 2020, who then connected her with her current publisher. Lin described the whole process as a “whirlwind process” and something that kind of feel into place on its own, which she said she is very grateful for.
As for her future goals, Lin said she was accepted to the Jerome Fisher Management & Technology Program at the University of Pennsylvania this past December, and she plans to pursue a dual degree in economics and computer science. Career wise, she said she is incredibly passionate about reimagining the future of education and helping every young person have the resources they need to realize their full potential.
“Not sure what that means yet but hoping to start ed-tech companies and service in an education advisory role at the White House,” she said. “My background lies in social entrepreneurship and education policy work. As mentioned earlier, I run Project Exchange and am the co-founder of the Mindful Applicant, an ed-tech startup leveraging the college application process for social emotional learning. I also serve on the Washington State Board of Education’s Mastery-Based Learning Work Group and work with the Oregon Department of Education to develop culturally responsive sex ed.”
Lin’s presale campaign for her book can be found here.
