Danika Jacobsen never forgot the emotions she felt at the first protest she ever attended.
She was one of the hundreds of people who gathered in downtown Des Moines after a Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked in May 2022.
“There was so much community and passion there,” Danika, 19, of West Des Moines, said. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘I’m not going to be able to separate myself from this [movement] and I’m going to pursue this work for a very long time.’”
This proved true for her. Danika, who has been named a Robert Mannheimer Youth Advocacy Award winner, began participating in Planned Parenthood’s Teen Council. The program, based on the idea of peer education, is made up of diverse students from local Des Moines high schools. They meet weekly to discuss and learn about sex education topics before creating classroom presentations to share with their peers at various schools and community groups. However, legislation passed by the Iowa Legislature barred them from talking about those topics in schools more widely so they found other outlets to speak out like lobby days, rallies, and other events.
“People my age are having sex, and our bodies are changing, whether we have access to sex education or not. Shouldn’t the priority be safety over suppression?” Danika asked. “Young people will have to face the future consequences of legislation being passed by politicians right now. That's why it's so essential for youth to be heard.”
Danika currently attends the University of Iowa. An Honors student, she is double majoring in English and Creative Writing, along with social justice. She is also pursuing a minor in Spanish and a minor in Rhetoric/Persuasion.
She still spends time volunteering with Student Advocates for Planned Parenthood and other organizations like Iowans for Palestine. She was also recently named the Programming Director for Hawk the Vote, which focuses on increasing voter turnout and civic engagement on campus. Outside of the advocacy sphere, Danika is a member of the Hawkapellas, an all-woman-identifying a cappella group, and participates in theater productions at Des Moines Young Artists' Theatre.
If you know a young person or group of young people in Iowa who should be nominated for the Mannheimer Award in 2025, click here. Nominations will next open in early fall 2025.
