By Ashley Henyan

At the age of 18, Cissy Wang has already dedicated four years to serving her community with the American Red Cross. As she prepares to attend the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Business School this fall, she has no plans of stopping her volunteer work.

Cissy’s first experience with the Red Cross came during her freshman year in high school, when she joined the Red Cross Club at Centennial High School, in Ellicott City, Maryland.

“The Red Cross was a name I knew, the name of a service organization I knew I wanted to join,” Cissy said. “I attended all the club meetings, made cards for service members, built hygiene kits for disaster survivors and even volunteered at school blood drives.”

At the end of her freshman year, she decided to run for an elected position—describing her choice to take on a leadership role so early in her high school career as ambitious.  

“It was one of my first speeches ever—but I was voted in as the event coordinator for our club.”

During this first leadership experience with the Red Cross, Cissy welcomed the opportunity to plan her school’s biggest Red Cross events – including the annual blood drive. She also organized a carnation fundraiser in support of Red Cross disaster relief and to help fund her school’s Red Cross Club.

As her junior year began, Cissy - re-elected as her club’s event coordinator - was ready for increased responsibilities, in the form of additional volunteer roles. She became a blood donor ambassador, checking in blood donors at community blood drives, and a field ambassador through the National Youth Council. With this, she joined a cohort of young Red Cross ambassadors from around the country; and her assigned mentor told her about the International Humanitarian Law Youth Action Campaign.

The International Humanitarian Law Youth Action Campaign is a Red Cross program that encourages youth and young adults ages 13-24 to learn about the rules of armed conflict and explore IHL through peer-to-peer campaigns. High school and college student groups, community organizations, or Red Cross clubs can join the program and promote International Humanitarian Law in their communities.

“I was really interested, so I searched up IHL Youth Action Campaign on volunteer connection and I applied for the first position I saw,” said Cissy. “Eventually I got trained as a coordinator and instead of focusing only on my club, I leveraged the virtual setting [mid-pandemic] of the time and started a region-wide team.”

With her new team of advocates from high schools across Maryland and Virginia, Cissy and over 20 youth volunteers, began teaching International Humanitarian Law classes to their peers; and they also made a conscious effort to spread the word about the importance of understanding IHL and humanitarian challenges during times of armed conflict on several social media accounts.

“Cissy’s contribution to our work educating youth about International Humanitarian Law is essential and timely,” said Chris Duffley, director of Services to the Armed Forces and International Services for the Red Cross in the National Capital & Greater Chesapeake region. “Her passion is inspiring—and I see that being absorbed by the team she leads.”

Cissy received the Red Cross Presidential Volunteer Services Award in 2021 and the Van Hollen Public Service Award in 2022. And when it came time to apply for colleges, she included as much as possible about her Red Cross work – even mentioning her volunteer roles in her college admissions essay to the University of Pennsylvania.

In a few weeks, when she makes the move to Philadelphia, Cissy plans to bring along the American Red Cross.

“I’d like to help make the Red Cross Club [at the University of Pennsylvania] as active as possible,” Cissy said. “I want to teach International Humanitarian Law to my new college peers; and I still want to be the contact point for my current team, related to IHL, even from college.”

Cissy is part of the Red Cross National Youth Council—one of only 13 council members from across the U.S., serving a two-year term.

When asked to share advice for high school students interested in joining the Red Cross, Cissy said, “Take advantage of the resources around you and build those connections! Having initiative and taking initiative is so important to success.” She continued with, “It took me a few years to find my specific passion with the Red Cross – so just come in to the Red Cross Club and take your time, feel it out and find your own niche.”

To learn more about volunteer opportunities with the Red Cross, including ways to get involved as a volunteer, please visit RedCross.org/volunteer.