South Texas Ideas Festival (STXi)

South Texas Ideas Festival (STXi)

Years in Existence: 9
Project Theme: Education and Civic Engagement
Target Audience and Location: Students and families in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) in South Texas, hosted by students from the Idea Quest College Preparatory School in Edinburg, Texas.
Mission: To create a platform by and for young adults to engage them in an actionable dialogue about culture, community and identity.

Project Description: Founding Scholar Michael Mireles and educator Scholar Marcos Silva created STXi to inspire young people to celebrate their culture and identity through an annual festival featuring community leaders and speakers from the Rio Grande Valley. As STXi heads into its 9th festival year, they are focused on increasing festival attendance by 20%, increasing their social media engagement and ensuring youth feel more connected to their heritage and inspired to celebrate South Texas culture. This year’s STXi co-leaders, Sophia Flores and Anthony Capetillo, are proud of “the networking we’ve done to build connections and accomplished milestones we’ve set out to hit.”