How This UPenn Student Built the Largest Youth HPV Initiative in the Pacific Northwest.

When most people hear “HPV (Human Papillomavirus),” they look away. As a sexually transmitted infection, HPV is often misunderstood—and rarely discussed. But what many don’t realize is that it’s incredibly common. Millions of young people are exposed to it, even if they’ve never been sexually active.

For Sophie Wang, the issue became personal when a close mentor was diagnosed with cervical cancer caused by HPV. That moment changed everything. She co-founded Youth HPV Champions, a nonprofit that has educated over 3,000 students across three states, trained dozens of youth ambassadors, and hosted statewide conferences to break the stigma and bring HPV prevention into the spotlight.

Here’s how Sophie transformed a quiet crisis into one of the Pacific Northwest’s most powerful youth-led public health movements.

#1: What exactly is HPV? How do you treat it?

Sophie: HPV is a common infection with many different strains. A lot of them are harmless—around 3 or 4 out of 5 people aged 15 to 24 are exposed to HPV at some point. But certain strains are cancer-causing and can lead to cervical and other types of cancer. What’s scary is that once you contract HPV, it can take decades before cancer symptoms even appear.

Because it’s an STD, there’s still a lot of stigma. But prevention is simple: there’s a vaccine backed by decades of research that protects against the cancer-causing strains. It’s usually a two-dose vaccine, given 6 to 12 months apart, starting as early as ages 9 to 14. If you miss that window, you can still be protected—it just requires three doses instead of two.

#2: How did you meet your co-founder & begin Youth HPV Champions?

Sophie: I first attended a student-led HPV conference organized by someone who eventually became my co-founder. I reached out afterward and pitched the idea that HPV education shouldn't be a one-time event—it should become an ongoing initiative.

That was the spark for Youth HPV Champions.

#3: How did you build momentum from the ground up?

Sophie: I knew I couldn’t do it alone. I started by attending every boothing event I could, setting up tables with flyers I designed on Canva and handing them out to students.

Eventually, I built an executive council—high schoolers from across Oregon who shared my passion. I divided our team into committees: one for conferences, one for social media, and one for community engagement.

Then we launched an ambassador program. These students started clubs at their schools focused on HPV and STD education.

Our biggest milestone was launching our annual statewide conference. That meant planning everything: venue, catering, speaker lineups, merch, and coordinating across the team. It was a ton of networking, emails, and team meetings—but it paid off.

#4: How did you get students to attend a brand-new conference?

Sophie: That was probably the hardest part. We didn’t want to only reach students in Portland—we wanted youth from rural communities too. But funding travel and making accommodations for them was a huge challenge.

#5: There’s a lot of stigma around HPV. What kind of reactions did you face?

Sophie: Thankfully, I haven’t had any openly hostile responses—but I’ve definitely felt dismissed. Especially in rural schools, I’d give an elevator pitch and just sense people tuning out as soon as I said “HPV.”

But in those moments, I’d shift the conversation: instead of focusing on HPV as an STD, I’d reframe it as cancer prevention. Because no one wants cancer. That message always landed better.

#6: What was one of the most heartwarming moments you had while working on the initiative?

Sophie: After our annual conference, a crowd of students rushed to speak with our keynote speaker—an HPV survivor who had been through multiple surgeries and used a breathing tube after developing oropharyngeal cancer.

Students were so moved. They asked questions, stayed after the event, and wanted to learn more.

#7: What was a big lesson you had to learn about yourself by leading Youth HPV Champions?

Sophie: Communication. There was a point where I was balancing everything—school, family, this organization—and I hit a wall. I was burned out, but I didn’t say anything. And because I didn’t, my team felt it. They depended on my energy, and when I wasn’t responsive, it threw everything off.

Eventually, I had to learn to be okay with being vulnerable. Saying, “I need two days off to reset,” made all the difference. It’s a lesson I’ll carry forever.

#8: What’s advice you’d give now that you’ve gone through this entire process?

Sophie: Find people who care. I won’t lie—getting started is hard. There were moments where no one showed up to our booths, no one RSVP’d for events, and people questioned why we were doing this at all.

But my ambassadors and executive council kept showing up. Their passion gave me energy when mine was low. That support was everything.

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