UN Stories, U.S. Voices: Dominic Trevino
As we continue celebrating UN Stories U.S. Voices, second in the series we would like to introduce Dominic Trevino, a teacher who has been involved with UNA-USA long enough to celebrate the United Nations 50th and 75th anniversaries—and plans to see the 100th.
Dominic has participated in UNA-USA in many forms—as a student, teacher, and now as a leader. It all started for him in 1980, at the UNA Santa Barbara Chapter where he began as a high-schooler involved in Model United Nations. After which he went on to University of California, Santa Barbara, where he maintained his involvement, and graduated to become a history and government teacher.
Dominic was a member of the UNA Sacramento Chapter in 1995 during the 50th anniversary—a year where all the chapters came together to strengthen themselves to become sustainable and send members as delegates to share the work they had done. As for the 75th anniversary, and as UN75 consultations begin, we see everyone being given the opportunity to speak up for what they believe in.
40 years later, he still works to raise awareness with young people about the work of the United Nations. Now a member of UNA Orange County Chapter and a teacher for over 27 years his focus remains on the goals of the UNA-USA as a whole. Dominic urges his students to understand that one of the core components of the UNA-USA mission is to engage Americans. His goal is to raise awareness about the crucial work they do both locally and globally that young people can involve themselves in. Always working to meld both world and national issues, he reinforces the experiences students feel today. He finds it important that people understand that the United Nations doesn’t work in isolation, that people all around the world are sharing in these ideas that are aimed to help utilize the resources that will benefit everyone. Dominic’s ethos of teaching the values of the UN is something that has been instrumental in the continuation of encouraging young people to be involved.
There is something in the United Nations for everyone, Dominic notes. Whether you are interested in medicine, technology, humanitarianism, agriculture, or anything in between the opportunities are endless. Engaging yourself at a young age in various experiences is so important to promote a holistic view of the world’s events. Dominic reminds us that we are all teachers, that the youth of today are watching and listening closely, grabbing onto everything that we do, and with that comes a great privilege. All students should feel like they belong at the United Nations, because, quite literally, they do. He proves to us that regardless of who you are, young people of all backgrounds have tremendous insight and value to share about their future and each brings something crucial to that table.
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In a series called “UN Stories, U.S. Voices,” we will be finding opportunities throughout the year to highlight some of the amazing histories and connections UNA-USA members have to the UN to celebrate its 75th anniversary.
