High school mental health activist, the only surviving triplet of his family, and a proud member of the neurodiverse community with Non-Verbal Learning Disability, Charles Kolin is spearheading the effort to create a formal resolution by Congress to support Unity Day, celebrated each year in late October (this year on Wednesday, October 23) to honor and recognize the annual anti-bullying prevention day formally on a national level.
Charles singlehandedly set out to contact Senators and Representatives in Congress directly to lobby them to help put this resolution, which he drafted himself, on the books. His Unity Day resolution includes the goal of bringing together youth, parents, educators, businesses and community members across the country to emphasize a message of uniting for kindness, acceptance, inclusion and mutual respect, that all students deserve to be safe in school, online, and in their communities, that there is value in celebrating our differences be they biological or ideological and that civil discourse is the road to compromise and tolerance
Charles spent this past year visiting Washington D.C. to meet with members of Congress, including recently Senator Blumenthal (D -CT) and Congressman Himes (D-CT), to establish this statewide and national Day of Unity through creating and writing his own bi-partisan congressional resolution. As this resolution gains backing by members of the House and Senate, we would be thrilled to have Charles share with you his remarkable journey of creating and getting this measure passed.
Charles is uncommonly strong, focused, and persistent at just 16 years old. He is the lone survivor of triplets, and he has a Non-Verbal Learning Disability (NVLD) that includes having difficulty interpreting nonverbal cues like facial expressions or body language, and impaired visual spatial and social skills. Charles prefers to think of himself as part of a “neurodiverse” community, rather than having a disability. His NVLD made him different to other students, and this caused him to be bullied on an everyday basis from 5th grade to 8th grade. Because he’s experienced bullying firsthand, it is his mission for Unity Day to help create a world where no one is afraid to share their opinions and where being different is okay.
Politician, attorney, supreme court justice, TV sports commentator-Charles Kolin’s career aspirations span a broad spectrum. And why not? After years of enduring incessant bullying, the rising junior and varsity soccer star at Greens Farms Academy in Connecticut is having the time of his life, and pursuing his passions with conviction and joy.