Stanford basketball player Josué Gil-Silva is making a difference
A QR code displayed during Stanford University's men's basketball games is part of a student-athlete's effort to increase voter registration.
Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
At halftime of a basketball game at Stanford University in late February, a QR code was displayed on the giant screens above the court.
It was not an advertisement for a product or an announcement about an upcoming sporting event, but instead an effort by guard Josué Gil-Silva to scale student voter registration. To bolster the initiative, he created this captivating video to encourage fans to get to the polls and vote:
Gil-Silva is an inaugural participant in the Engage Athlete Fellowship, a national program of The Team and The Bridge Alliance. As Stanford, Gil-Silva is also part of the prestigious Mayfield Fellowship while pursuing his master’s in mechanical design after earning his bachelor’s degree in engineering there.
By using his standing as an athlete to speak to the thousands of fans at Maples Stadium, Gil-Silva is modeling what’s possible for student athletes who are willing to use their influence to bolster civic engagement.
Since its inception in 2020, The Team has been developing award-winning programs to help athletes become great teammates, leaders and citizens. Its innovative approach to civic engagement has positively impacted more than 50,000 student athletes and hundreds of coaches around the country. The Team is working with the Bridge Alliance Education Fund (which operates The Fulcrum) to reach the more than 500,000 students currently engaged in college athletics. The Team is utilizing the Bridge Alliance's bridge-building efforts, involving hundreds of organizations that support a movement to co-create a thriving, just and healthy democratic republic.
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The Team’s Engaged Athlete Fellowship is a unique civic leadership program that empowers a diverse class of 28 motivated student athletes to strengthen nonpartisan civic participation on their teams, their campuses and their broader communities. The student athletes have been encouraged to harness the power of athletics to build great teammates, engaged citizens and committed community members. They each received a fellowship to participate in an innovative program for college athletes that includes:
- Leadership and professional development curriculum developed by esteemed professors, coaches, professional athletes and civic leaders.
- Mentorship, support and a financial stipend for each fellow’s personalized civic engagement or service project on campus or in their community during the school year.
- A multiday, all-expenses-paid civic experience in Washington, D.C., in June to meet other fellows, participate in workshops, network with sports, business, and civic leaders, and present their work from the year.
In the fall, Gil-Silva organized a civic pep rally for student athletes on “All Vote No Play Day” as part of Democracy Day at Stanford. Over 200 athletes and coaches showed up for a range of talks and activities about how student athletes can extend what they do in sports to modeling better citizenship and teamwork in their communities. As part of the program, Gil-Silva recruited NFL quarterback and Stanford alumnus Andrew Luck to be the keynote speaker. Luck imparted the value of learning from differences in the locker room and in life (among other lessons). “For better or worse, you have to build bridges and find connections and find commonalities, and not run away to a phone to confirm something you already know and don’t want to be challenged on,” he said.
As the son of two teachers who were constantly fighting for the rights of teachers and improvements to the public education system in California, Gil-Silva learned about the power of engagement early in his life.
At Stanford, Gil-Silva goal is to learn how to design products that make a difference in underserved communities. As a student in the Design for Extreme Affordability program, he and his team work with a partner organization in Costa Rica to design a solution for an unaddressed need that the community faces. He says:
"Since arriving at Stanford and finding my passion for product design, I have sought ways to create products and services that benefit my community. I have helped start a non-profit bioengineering camp for students in Salinas, as well as working at a start-up to help make solar energy affordable for low-income communities.”
Gil-Silva is continuing his civic leadership by reaching out to local high school basketball teams in underserved areas to talk about the importance of voting and civic engagement for the next generation of voters.
In the coming weeks we will introduce you to more of the Engaged Athlete Fellows with the hope of inspiring you to use your time, energy, and skills in whatever way you choose to help your community, your state and your country.
