The Social Justice Generation is a talk about the power of engaging the youth of America is the work of ending chronic homelessness. Speaker Stephanie Sena has been teaching college courses since 2003, and opened SREHUP (Student-Run Emergency Housing Unit of Philadelphia)- a student-run homeless shelter in 2011. Her talk examines how SREHUP has been transformative both for student participants and the guests who are housed at the shelter. Funny and tender vignettes, married with data from the project make the case for the importance of youth empowerment initiatives that develop the social justice leaders of tomorrow.

Stephanie Sena teaches history at Villanova University and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Her courses concentrate on history of imperialism in the Middle East and Africa, and the history of race and class in the US. In 2011 Stephanie founded SREHUP- the Student-Run Emergency Housing Unit of Philadelphia, to engage students in the work of ending chronic homelessness in Philadelphia.

Stephanie also sits on the board of directors of Playgrounds for Palestine, a non-profit that builds playgrounds in the occupied territories. She traveled to Palestine in 2015 to work on the playgrounds.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx