. >> reporter: daphne melick and sophia nguyen did not waste any time getting involved in the board meeting. melick is a senior at monte vista high and she seeks tbe a voice for fellow students. >> i run my nonproft for use. >> reporter: but to her it was important to lift up the voices of homeless youth in the county. as an emancipted minor and former homeless youth, i believe i can have a perspective that cannot maybe be broadly shared by the mmunity, but it is a community that people sometimes assume does not exist. >> reporter: sophia nguyen is an advocate who did not regret taking on this role, even though she juggles youth coalition, school and work. >> i have always had to manage a lot of my plate, especially a job, to support my family and my medical bil comes with practice and time. >> reporter: sophia and daphne are among the first students ever to serve on the contra costa county board of education. they realize they need to bring in student voices to each and every meeting. >> ey are the ones at the schools and they can use their voice. they are also in touch with their peers. v

. >> reporter: daphne milich and sophia nguyen didn't waste any time getting involved in wednesday's board meeting. >> our mission statement says that you prepare students to solve relative problems. i was just wondering if there was an example of that. >> reporter: a senior at monte vista high school in danville, milich's goal is to be a voice for fellow students. >> i'm running my nonprofit. iyc which is a nonprofit for homeless -- and emancipated youth because i'm one of those. >> reporter: to her, it was important to lift up the voices of homeless youth in the county. >> as an emancipated minor and former homeless youth, i believe that i can have a perspective that may not be broadly shared by the community. but it's also a community that people sometimes assume doesn't exist. >> reporter: sophia nguyen is an advocate for substance abuse prevention. she didn't hesitate taking on this role. even though she juggles school, leads youth coalitions, and works. >> sometimes i have always had to manage a lot on my plate especially, managing like a job to support my family. and paying li

but it's also a community that people sometimes assume doesn't exist. >> reporter: sophia nguyen is anbs stance abuse prevention. she didn't hesitate taking on this role. even though she juggles school, leads youth coalitions, and works. >> sometimes i have always had to manage a lot on my plate especially managing like a job. to support my family. and paying like medical bills. just comes with, you know, practice and time. >> reporter: sophia and daphne are the first students to ever serve on the contra costa board of education. the board realized the need to bring in student voices to each and every meeting. >> they're the ones at the schools and they can use their voice and they're also in touch with other, you know, with their peers. very much so. so that was an important piece of this. >> i think i can bring this new perspective, not to say that, you know, the board members are old, but -- [ laughter ] you know, a youth perspective can be very refreshing. >> er the county had a lot of qualified applicants but they found two students who were committed to making an impact now and i