Emma González

Emma González
González on February 19, 2018
Born	c. 1999/2000 (age 18–19)
Residence	Parkland, Florida, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Occupation	Activist · Student
Years active	2018–present
Website	Emma González on Twitter

Emma González (Spanish pronunciation: [ɣonˈsales], also spelled Gonzalez; born c. 1999/2000) is an American activist and advocate for gun control. As a high school senior she survived the February 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, and in response co-founded the gun-control advocacy group Never Again MSD. She first drew national attention after a speech she gave at a rally against gun violence went viral.

González was raised in Parkland, Florida. Her mother is a math tutor and her father is a cybersecurity attorney who immigrated from Cuba to New York City in 1968. She has two older siblings.

González is expected to graduate from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the spring of 2018 where she also serves as the president of its gay–straight alliance. In high school, González was the tracking team leader on Project Aquila, a mission to send a school-made weather balloon "to the edge of space"; the project was documented by fellow student David Hogg. She enjoys creative writing and astronomy but not mathematics.

On the day of the shooting, she was in the auditorium with dozens of other students when the fire alarm went off. She attempted to exit through the hallway, but was told to take cover and took refuge back in the auditorium, where she was held for two hours until police let students out.

Prior to the shooting, she planned to study at New College of Florida.

On February 17, 2018, González gave an 11-minute speech in front of the Broward County Courthouse at a gun control rally in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The speech was in reaction to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, three days previously, during which a gunman had killed seventeen and severely injured many more.