Salvador Gabriel Gómez-Colón (; born 2002) is a youth activist from

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. In 2017, Gómez-Colón founded the

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

initiative Light and Hope for Puerto Rico in response to

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...

. He is also the author of ''Hurricane: My Story of Resilience''.

Early life

Gómez-Colón was born in 2002. He was raised in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, and attended Saint John's School until 2018 and left to

Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was Settler, settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''Encyclopedia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed. ...

. During his senior year, he served as one of the student body co-presidents.

Hurricane Maria

After the hurricane in September 2017, Gómez-Colón launched a crowd funding campaign called "Light and Hope for Puerto Rico." Starting in November 2017, he raised funds and delivered solar lamps and hand-operated washing machines to the affected communities through his campaign. The campaign raised over $170,000 and distributed 4,100 lamps to over 3,500 households across the island.

Davos 2020

In January 2020, Gómez-Colón attended the annual meeting of

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

Davos, Switzerland Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian Al ...

. He spoke along with

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...

, Natasha Mwansa, and

Autumn Peltier Autumn Peltier (born September 27, 2004) is an Anishinaabe Indigenous rights advocate from the Wikwemkong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada. She was named Chief Water Commissioner for the Anishinabek Nation in 2019. In 2018, a ...

on a panel named Forging a Sustainable Path to a Common Future. Gómez-Colón was named one of the inaugural teenage change-makers at the annual meeting.

In popular culture

Gómez-Colón is featured on '' Marvel's Hero Project'', in the episode "Superior Salvador" of Season 1.

Honors and awards

Gómez-Colón was named one of "The 30 Most Influential Teens of 2017" by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine. In 2019, Gómez-Colón received the

Diana Award The Diana Award is an international award that honours young people who work to improve the lives of others. Named after Diana, Princess of Wales, the Diana Award was established in 1999 by a board chaired by Gordon Brown. History The award w ...

for his humanitarian work.

Publications

Gómez-Colón has published opinion editorials for various media, including ''Time'' magazine, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', and

CNN Business CNN Business (formerly CNN Money) is a financial news and information website, operated by CNN. The website was originally formed as a joint venture between CNN.com and Time Warner's '' Fortune'' and ''Money'' magazines. Since the spin-off of T ...

. His book ''Hurricane: My Story of Resilience'' was published by Norton Young Readers in October 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez-Colon, Salvador 2002 births Phillips Academy alumni Puerto Rican human rights activists Living people