Empowering Advocates

ally: university member who would like to support an advocate.

advocate: an individual working in an activist movement.

The Advocate Ally Project connects the resources of a university to the needs of democratic and human rights advocates. Over the past three years, CANVAS and UVA’s Democratic Futures Project have sponsored university/advocate partnerships in Belarus, Bolivia, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Syria, among other locations. With the Advocate Ally Project, the hope is to expand the global impact of this work.

Project Managers

Julia DaSilva

Julia DaSilva is a 3rd year undergraduate student at the University of Virginia double majoring in Chinese and government. Last summer she took part in a study abroad program in Taiwan, and the summer of 2022 she was an intern in the U.S. House of Representatives. Her other experiences include teaching English as a second language classes, working for the East Asia Center, and helping translate essential resource documents from English to Spanish. Currently, she is an intern for the Department of Commerce Office of China and Mongolia. She speaks fluent Spanish and intermediate Chinese.

Sophia Cheng

Sophia Cheng is a 4th year undergraduate student at the University of Virginia majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in East Asian Studies. She has previously worked as a student editor on the book “The Lived Experience of Democracy” to highlight the experiences of UVA students and their student advocacy efforts. She is also a long-time volunteer helping out UVA staff and students practice English and gain greater cultural competence. Her other experiences include extensive involvement in neuroscience research on microglia and teaching students physics and chemistry as a teaching assistant for both subjects. She speaks fluent Chinese.