Opt-Ed: What it Means to be a 21st Century Youth Leader at WarnerMedia

My name is Maya Velazquez and I was able to attend The WarnerMedia Institute for Future Leaders, which is a one-week program where high school students from Georgia, Los Angeles, and New York met virtually to learn all about the media industry. Previously, this program was exclusively open to high school students in Georgia. However, due to the pandemic I was able to join and have an amazing experience that taught me a lot about the variety of jobs that are in the media industry. One job that I became interested in is animation. Shaleen Desai is the Senior Vice President of Adult Series at Warner Bros Animation. He explained how he works alongside writers to come up with ideas for their series. I found this really interesting and might want to work for an animation company someday.

I also really enjoyed how the 21st Century Leaders community was welcoming to every student that attended. Every day, we met in smaller groups to discuss what we learned the previous day. I really enjoyed this because I was able to connect with students with similar interests to me. We would do fun team building exercises and this program also helped me try new things that were way out of my comfort zone. For example, on the last day we had to work in small groups and come up with a fake TV series to pitch to WarnerMedia professionals. I instantly connected with my group and, although it was nerve-racking, we were able to come up with an idea and pitch it. It was so cool to collaborate with others and bring our ideas together. 

Overall, this was an amazing experience and I was able to learn a lot about multiple careers in media. As a 21st Century Youth Leader, no matter what career path I choose, I hope to spread awareness about different issues and teach audiences about them through media.