Salvador Gómez-Colón

Salvador Gabriel Gómez-Colón (born 2002) is a youth activist from Puerto Rico. In 2017, Gómez-Colón founded the humanitarian initiative Light and Hope for Puerto Rico in response to Hurricane Maria. He is also the author of Hurricane: My Story of Resilience.

Early life
Gómez-Colón was born in 2002. He was raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and attended Saint John's School until 2018 and left to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. During his senior year, he served as one of the student body co-presidents.

Hurricane Maria
After the hurricane in September 2017, Gómez-Colón launched a crowd funding campaign called "Light and Hope for Puerto Rico." Starting in November 2017, he raised funds and delivered solar lamps and hand-operated washing machines to the affected communities through his campaign. The campaign raised over $170,000 and distributed 4,100 lamps to over 3,500 households across the island.

Davos 2020
In January 2020, Gómez-Colón attended the annual meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He spoke along with Greta Thunberg, Natasha Mwansa, and Autumn Peltier on a panel named Forging a Sustainable Path to a Common Future. Gómez-Colón was named one of the inaugural teenage change-makers at the annual meeting.

In popular culture
Gómez-Colón is featured on Marvel's Hero Project, in the episode "Superior Salvador" of Season 1.

Honors and awards
Gómez-Colón was named one of "The 30 Most Influential Teens of 2017" by Time magazine. In 2019, Gómez-Colón received the Diana Award for his humanitarian work.

Publications
Gómez-Colón has published opinion editorials for various media, including Time magazine, The Independent, and CNN Business. His book Hurricane: My Story of Resilience was published by Norton Young Readers in October 2021.