Seven projects, one through-line: when a community is being under-funded, excluded, or unprotected, organize the response.
When federal cuts threatened the UCLA Center for LGBTQ+ Advocacy, Research & Health, Jonah co-launched a fundraising initiative that raised over $185,000 (and counting) to keep critical research alive. This work was later featured in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health magazine's new "Join Jonah" campaign.
View the UCLA Fielding spread →See the live total and donate →
Jonah founded and produced the first-ever South Bay Queer Prom; an all-ages, judgment-free night built so LGBTQ+ students could experience a prom that felt unmistakably theirs. The event drew teens from across the South Bay and was covered on the front page of The Beach Reporter and in the Daily Breeze.
Read the Beach Reporter front page →
Organized and led a school walkout in protest of unlawful ICE detentions which rallied 900 students in a peaceful demonstration that turned student concern into collective action and visibility.
Read the MB News article →
After reading about Jonah in the paper, the pastor of Manhattan Beach Community Church invited him to speak to the congregation on Open and Affirming Sunday. Jonah shared his journey of coming out as a gay teenager, the role Judaism played in shaping his identity, and how the church's own faith tradition can be a source of belonging rather than exclusion for queer people. He urged houses of worship to keep their doors open and challenged the misuse of scripture to justify homophobia, so that the next generation of queer youth can grow up feeling safe to be their true selves. The talk was warmly received in the sanctuary and online.
Now in his fourth year on the Beach Cities Health District Youth Advisory Council, Jonah has risen to its most senior leadership role of Co-Chair, guiding a team of 40 students after first joining in 8th grade. In that role he presented a workshop on youth advocacy and legislation at the 2026 South Bay Leadership & Wellness Conference alongside members of Congressman Ted Lieu's Youth Advisory Council, to an audience of roughly 100 community members and local leaders.
On June 6, 2026, Jonah volunteered with UCLA C-LARAH at West Hollywood Pride, helping staff the booth, connect with community members, and support research grounded in LGBTQ+ health. Throughout the day, the team handed out Narcan, fentanyl test strips, condoms, pins, and bandanas for free while also inviting attendees to participate in studies and research projects. For Jonah, showing up at Pride was both personal and practical: supporting queer community health, making life-saving resources easier to access, and giving his time to research he believes can make a real difference.
Since 2025, Jonah has served as one of 10 students selected for the MBUSD Equity, Diversity, Social Justice and Inclusion Committee, working with district administrators, educators, and peers on the district's action plan. He has led teacher coaching sessions, using role-play and practical tips to help teachers handle difficult classroom moments, and joined candid conversations about discrimination on campus and how to bring more students into diversity work. He helps shape school-wide messaging on inclusion and allyship through assemblies and videos, was a featured panelist at the 2025 Voices of Unity assembly, and recruits classmates to join the No Place For Hate club so that standing up to hate becomes something the whole school does together.
Jonah Segil