A Decade of Ideas at STXi, Rooted in Home
STXi is helping reshape how students see themselves and their role in shaping the future of their communities.
On a spring day in the Rio Grande Valley, students from across South Texas gathered to share ideas, tell stories, and celebrate the place they call home. The energy is collaborative, creative, and entirely youth-driven.
South Texas Ideas (STXi) was founded by Bezos Scholar alum Michael Mireles and educator Marcos Silva with a vision to create a space where young people could explore culture, community, and identity, and see possibility in their own backyard.
Ten years later, STXi continues to serve the community with cohorts of young leaders. Hosted by students at IDEA Quest College Preparatory School in Edinburg, STXi now brings together students and families from across the region, connecting 8–10 schools and multiple districts through the annual festival “It’s youth-led, that’s the most important thing,” said Abigail Prado, a founding student team member who later returned as a teacher. “Everything you see is created by students.” As STXi celebrates its tenth anniversary, its impact continues to expand, reaching more schools, more students, and more communities across the Rio Grande Valley.
From Aspen to South Texas
The idea for STXi began far from the Valley. As a Bezos Scholar, Mireles attended the Aspen Ideas Festival to begin his Scholar experience. The experience that would shape both his sense of purpose and vision for what was possible in his own community. “I kept thinking, why can’t we bring this back home?,” Mireles said.
That question served as inspiration for the youth-led platform designed to give students in South Texas the same opportunity to engage in big ideas, meaningful dialogue, and community leadership. “We wanted to create a space where young people feel like everything they’re looking for already exists right here at home,” Mireles said. “My experience at the Bezos Scholars Program was one of the most transformative of my life,” Mireles said. “It showed me there are people everywhere who care deeply about their communities and want to make the world better, and it made me realize I wasn’t alone in that.”
Full-Circle Impact
Over the past decade, STXi has become a pipeline for leadership that encourages young people not only to grow, but to invest in their communities long-term. Many early participants, like Prado, once imagined their futures elsewhere. “I was planning to leave and not come back,” Prado said. “But after this, I realized I wanted to give back. Now I’m teaching here, it really came full circle.”
Adrienne Piando’s journey reflects that same arc. A founding student team member, she now serves as an educator supporting the next generation of STXi leaders. “I was one of the students who said I wanted to leave. I didn’t see the value in staying,” Piando said. “But being part of this helped me realize what was possible here. Staying became one of the best decisions I made.”
Today, she helps lead the program, focusing on empowering students to take ownership of their ideas. “When you give young people the power to lead, there’s a total shift,” Piando said. “They take ownership, and they create things we never could have imagined.”
Building Confidence and Community
Through organizing the festival, students gain experience in leadership, public speaking, and collaboration, all skills that extend beyond classroom settings. “It’s given me confidence,” said Destiny Allen, a student leader and co-lead of marketing. “I raise my hand now, I speak up. I do things I never thought I could do before.” The project’s growth is rooted in a strong sense of belonging and shared purpose. “It’s a very open community,” Allen added. “When I joined, I immediately clicked with everyone. We’re like a family.”
“I raise my hand now, I speak up. I do things I never thought I could do before.”
—Destiny Allen, Student Leader
What began as one student’s question, why not here?, has grown into a lasting platform for youth voice and civic engagement. And for the students leading it today, the message is clear: the future they’re building doesn’t exist somewhere else. It’s right here.