Noah Collier, a "We The Future" Youth Ambassador, poses for a portrait at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019.

Collier and 23 other Washington state teens in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Youth Ambassador Program had come together last month to share such difficult conversations ahead of an art exhibit opening Saturday at the foundation’s Discovery Center. The exhibit — We The Future, which was in part designed by the youth ambassadors — highlights the work of 10 national youth leaders through informational displays paired with vivid illustrated portraits of each activist. We The Future, which runs through until March 21, but with a possible extension until late spring, will also showcase the civic work of 100 young Washington state activists.

Hanging above Collier and the other teens in discussion were the portraits of youth leaders like Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, an indigenous environmental activist who recently dropped a new hip-hop single, and Winter BreeAnne,a 17-year-old fighting to end gun violence while she attends Howard University.

When asked to stand beneath a leader whose work inspired him, Collier chose the portrait of Amanda Gorman, the country’s first youth poet laureate. In the illustration, she’s holding an open book and has a flower in her hair. The quote below — “I first knew my voice mattered when I recognized that I wasn’t reading any voices like mine” — resonated with Collier.

“I know I had that moment … but didn’t realize it,” Collier explained.