Young Black Climate Leaders

Afiya Ward grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and throughout college and beyond, has stayed active in her hometown community, serving as a mentor and tutor to local youth. In 2016, Afiya worked alongside community and organizational leaders to develop the ARTS-Us Youth Leadership Program as an advanced program offering of the ARTS-Us Center for the African Diaspora in Saint Paul. Since its 2016 inception, she has dedicated much of her time to the development and execution of this program, serving over 100 youth, introducing them to STEM career opportunities, and teaching expression through the arts, even after officially departing from her role at the organization as a Director. Afiya is now a recent graduate of Florida A&M University, having completed her B.S. in Agricultural Science and Business, and is now an Analyst at Capital One. Outside of her job, Afiya is working to leverage her degree and experience to continue contributing to the environmental science and food justice communities.

Akasha Gabrieloff-Parish (they/them) hopes to bring marine biology and restoration ecology to the communities that need it most. Honoring the legacies of Black and Indigenous ways of caring for the earth, Akasha seeks healing, social justice, and inspiration for the world through the study of ecology. From Colorado, Akasha is a student at Eckerd College in Florida where they can enjoy and observe the ocean every day. Akasha is also a history buff and does art in their free time.

The Black Liberation Collective is a small organization based in Boise, Idaho that is 100% led by, with and for Black queer & trans youth. We are an organization that creates joy, abundance and liberation for all Black Idahoans. The Black Liberation Art Collective is a project of the BLC that uplifts and brings together Black artists in Idaho with the hopes of providing resources, space to connect, and abundance.

Amara Ifeji is a National Geographic Young Explorer and internationally awarded non-profit leader in climate and environmental justice. As the Director of Policy with the Maine Environmental Education Association, she leverages grassroots advocacy to advance state and federal policy solutions. She served as the lead coordinator for Maine's first Climate Education Summit, mobilized a youth-led movement that spearheaded Maine's $2+ million climate education program, and serves on the Maine Climate Council as the governor-appointed Youth Representative.

I am Andrew Chambers, a 2nd generation Jamaican American from Prince George's County, Maryland of the DMV. I'm interested in anime, art, music playlist, penguins, and mental health. Hobbies include tailoring, archery, playing video games, arts & crafts, and reading. With this scholarship award I intend to put on a fashion showcase that brings awareness to climate change and the lasting effects fast fashion has on the environment; and the importance of community work and support of small businesses.

Bio coming soon

Hello! My name is Arianna and I am a sophomore at the College of the Holy Cross. I am an English major and an Education minor. My hope is to become a successful educator and become an activist for environmental justice.

Collin is a rising senior, majoring in Biomedical Sciences with a Pre-Med emphasis at Grand Valley State University. He’s a McNair Scholar, Chapter President of his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and Vice President for the Grand Rapids NAACP. He’s a member of Black Student Union, African Student Council, and Pre-Med Club. Collin enjoys servicing communities, offering tutoring to students, organizing a Flint water drive and clothing drives for Children’s Advocacy Center. He’s one of two students from Grand Valley and one of eight in Michigan to be recognized by Campus Compact for Michigan for dedication to service inside and outside of the classroom. Collin continues serving his communities and maintaining academic excellence as he strives for medical school!

Diamond Spratling, MPH (she/her) is an award-winning environmental justice activist, storyteller, and public speaker. In 2019, she founded Girl Plus Environment, the national non-profit organization designed to educate, engage, and empower Black and Brown girls, women, and non-binary folx to stand up for environmental justice in their own neighborhoods. Diamond's leadership in environmental justice and beyond is driven by her own lived experiences in Detroit as well as the motivation to dismantle health, racial, and environmental inequities in other Black and Brown communities alike.The Detroit native and two-time TEDx speaker has spent years at the intersection of environment and health. Her strong dedication to the sector has earned her the William H. Sterner Memorial Award (2017), the Elmore Manufacturing Award (2018) and the Yale New Horizons in Conservation Award (2021, 2022).In addition to her work at Girl Plus Environment, she has helped many cities, companies, and organizations globally to adopt meaningful, equitable processes that prioritize community and protect our planet. Namely, Diamond has supported projects at Bloomberg Associates, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, City of Atlanta, Climate Advocacy Lab, Greenlink Analytics, International Society for Urban Health, among others.

Isaiah Johnson is a social entrepreneur and game developer from the Bay Area. He is passionate about creating a future where the game industry is inclusive and less toxic towards gamers worldwide. He is developing a video game called Heart 2 Heart to teach people how to have conversations with others when they are dealing with anger, anxiety or depression. Isaiah’s plan is to show different communities the benefit and power behind caring for your environment including the people around you. To learn more about Isaiah’s work, follow him or reach out on Twitter or Instagram @johnsonisaiah28You can also follow his social enterprise Project Beanstalk. A video game company, he’s hoping to diversify the video game industry. @projectbeanstalk.xyz.

Janel is an alumna of Florida A&M University and is currently a master’s student in Environmental Science and Policy at Johns Hopkins University. Her passion for environmental justice and the physical and mental health of the black community, lead her to envision Take Root. Take Root is an app that aims to create a space to redefine our views on wealth by highlighting the importance of physical and mental health, along with the environment. The mission is to provide a convenient channel to locate and patron black-owned businesses that cater to these values, while also addressing the racial wealth gap in tandem with physical and mental health. Take Root will also encourage discussion on the history of related topics to empower a digital community.

Jasmine was born and raised in Memphis by way of deep Mississippi roots. She is passionate about liberation for all, and particularly for Black and brown southerners faced with compound economic, climate, racial, and generational injustices. Jasmine is deeply invested in youth organizing, excited about popular and political education, and energized by the potential for ancestral knowledge to guide us towards liberated futures. Alongside their movement work, Jasmine enjoys nature walks and hikes, cooking and baking, learning decolonial community herbalism and the bass guitar, hosting friends whenever possible, and keeping her houseplants alive.

Naudika is a mystic writer and a consistent learner. They work on short stories, scripts, social media and poetry, and when they’re not doing that, they’re up to no good. They are currently a student at San Francisco State University and had the opportunity to create a short, reading Choose-your-Own-Adventure-Game that they need to update.

Paul Jackson II, is an Honors Algebra and Geometry teacher in Miami, FL. During his second year teaching he was nominated as Rookie Teacher of the Year in Miami Dade County, after his efforts to propel his 7th and 8th grade Algebra students to pass the end of the year exam with a 100% passing rating, an accolade never achieved in school history prior. Paul acknowledges his success teaching is the ability to relate mathematics to the real world and daily interactions as a framework instructioning and creating dialogue with students. This pilot and theory captivated Paul to establish Math Relation as a online math platform with curated content teaching proficiency and mastery for students learning math. So far Math Relation has helped with the advancement of 70 students, and is continuing to grow. The scholarship funding will be used to establish a platform to accommodate students to the services before the end of the school year to help students review for final exams with the expectation to pilot an up and running platform for next school year.

Sarina Shane is a Chicago based designer, artist, and critic interested in inspiring others to be present and listen to their senses. Her long term interests center around homemaking: herbalism, cooperative housing, and experiential space activations.

My name is Trinity Haynes and I was born and raised in Detroit Michigan. I am currently a junior studying Environmental science at the University of San Francisco while also minoring in Chinese Studies. I am interested in working on restoration projects in the United States. Along with that, I am very interested in environmental education in urban areas and improving green infrastructure in urban cities. Some of my hobbies are arts and crafts projects, reading, and learning about the natural world around us.

I am just a remix of my ancestors. This current mix is called luigie alequín. I truly believe that Black bodies need to transition towards serenity and rest being the norm. We can’t heal while we’re defending ourselves. This can’t occur in the surveilled arena fabricated by the colonizer. I subscribe to actively not censoring myself to these systems, the Tía doctrine, and re-membering to remember.

Destiny Hodges (they/she) is a Black queer organizer, multimedia director/producer, and senior interdisciplinary communications major at Howard University from Birmingham, Alabama. They are the founder and lead steward of Generation Green, where the concept “environmental liberation” evolved into an ideological framework and movement. As a student of Black liberation movements with a love for narrative organizing, Destiny’s storytelling methods are rooted in their lived cultural experience and connections to the more than human world. Their work is rooted in the belief that climate justice and environmental justice are key components of Black liberation, along with building community and solidarity across the Global Black/African Diaspora to build collective power needed for systems change. They are exploring the role of African/African diasporic traditional religions in movements as a practitioner in the Ìṣẹ̀ṣe Lágbà (Yoruba) tradition as a priest of Ifá (Ìyánífá) and several Òrìṣà (Ìyálòrìṣà). As a singer songwriter, their stage name, Emere, means the child who roams between the spiritual and physical world at will. The music they write does the same, as they create R&B that blends in elements from their practice in the Ìṣẹ̀ṣe tradition and contemporary alternative influence. They are also a producer for the award-winning climate and culture focused podcast The Coolest Show presented by Hip Hop Caucus. Destiny supports the growth and care of the climate and environmental justice movement as an advisor on the boards on Climate Critical Earth and Young Black Climate Leaders.

Dontay is a Georgia native that has lived in Atlanta his whole life. His formative years were mainly spent on the South Side, learning, growing and becoming the person you see today. The Murder of Treyvon Martin was a catalyst for his politization. The murders of Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland and Micheal Brown, as well as the subsequent uprisings in cities across the United States, set him further along this path. Experiencing these events as a senior in high school helped cement Dontay's trajectory. The people he met helped him along the way. Georgia State University, served as a perfect incubator for a young activist. The election of 2016 was a moment of Radicalization for him. After seeing the shady tactics of the Democratic National Committee and the win for Donald Trump, he realized that the only way to make lasting change is through a grassroots movement of the people. Dontay has been very active in Social Movements since he started College in 2015. After Graduation, he decided to dedicate his life to transforming himself and those around him. For him, “The current political and economic systems will lead us to ruin. Only through transformation facilitated through cooperation, can we turn back the clock and prevent unfathomable disaster.” Dontay channels his political passions through various forms of Art and Media including, songs, poems, paintings, photos and all things related to art. Dontay believes that through art, poets have the potential to inform a revolutionary culture. For Dontay, his goal is to make the revolution irresistible.

Keem hails from the east side of Detroit, although at any time you might spot him in various parts of the city cruising on his skateboard with a few handfuls of wild plants that he probably foraged from some “unkempt” land, or someone’s backyard. He has a passion for life in all forms, "don’t worry about the little guy" is a saying that is never valid in his existence. There is no such thing as the "little guy" or someone who gets to be looked over, the value in Keems personality can be felt almost instantly for, example he picks up a plant that I walk over everyday and begins to eat it, then he goes "taste this" this caused me to take a second to think about things a little more. The way he values life and meaningful work has brought him this project and I have no doubt that it will be immensely impactful in a positive way.

Vic is a Democracy Organizer for ACE in the state of Wisconsin. Based in Madison, he is proud to get the opportunity to encourage young people to exercise their right to vote and educate them on the reality of climate change. Barrett witnessed the reality of climate change firsthand, as he was among the many impacted by the climate change fueled superstorm, Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which left his family and school without power. Barrett became involved in activism in high school by becoming a member of Global Kids, an organization that focuses on developing leadership skills for youth. Barrett then became a Fellow with the Alliance for Climate Education and spoke at the COP21 UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris in 2015, at the age of 15. Barrett is among 21 youth activists between the ages of 10 and 21 who are actively suing the government to take action on climate change in Juliana Vs. United States. The suit states that the government violated youth rights by allowing activities that harmed the climate, and are asking for progressive changes to current carbon dioxide emissions. Most recently Vic spoke at the NYC Climate Strike and told a crowd of at least 100,000 why climate justice needs to be highlighted and black, brown, and indigenous voices centered.