CORE PROGRAM

Young  Climate Leaders of Color

About YCLC

Building off of the success of its Young Black Climate Leaders (YBCL) program that launched in 2020, People’s Climate Innovation Center seeks to continue supporting the next generation of climate leaders through radical transformation. We recognize there are many diverse entry points for catalyzing change within our movement ecosystem and we value all approaches to change, from music and the arts, the power of culture, to community organizing and radical policy advocacy, restorative and healing connections to the Earth, liberation, and many others.

Young Climate Leaders of Color (YCLC) aims to build a national network of young leaders of color who are learning, growing, and advancing climate justice work in their own communities. The project seeks to immerse youth in climate justice, arts, story-based advocacy, cultural strategy, targeted direct action, community organizing, transformative change, ecological principles, and leadership development with amazing strategists, leaders, and political activators from across the country. YCLC participants will have the space to shape their projects into what they want to see and what they feel serves them and their communities.

Please connect with us, spread the word and support YCLC.

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YCLC Fund

The YCLC Fund provides financial awards to young BIPOC climate leaders who are advocating for and transforming their communities toward racial and environmental justice. The Fund provides access to resources for young BIPOC climate leaders between the ages of 18 and 32 who are reshaping the broader climate movement. With a focus on centering local movements and initiatives, the YCLC Fund will uplift models of climate resistance and regenerative practices rooted in creativity and advancing transformative change.

This award opportunity has been crafted to broaden our impact in the climate justice space and deepen our commitment to resourcing the changes we wish to see in the world. Award recipients will have access to capital and seed money based on a liberatory practice and framing that embraces fewer stipulations attached to the award. Awardees will be asked to share via three quick evaluations and a final narrative reflection at the end of the fund term that reports back on the impact of the award and the project's progress. Participants may apply individually or as a part of a BIPOC collective.

Please note this award is not tied to a built-in cohort experience, additional mentoring support, or virtual capacity building. Young people most directly impacted by climate disasters will be prioritized for this opportunity. We strongly encourage applications from young people who are based in the Northeast, the Gulf South, California (Central Valley), and Tribal lands.

Stay connected!Stay tuned for details on the next YCLC Fund Round!

YCLC Scholarship Recipients

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Z Spicer

An avid fan of the beach, skateboarding, music, and reading, Z has high hopes for the future of the region they call home. A resident of South Florida for most of their life, Z returned after graduating in 2022 with a degree in Geography, which gave them the lens to see spatial injustice and the power of community organizing. With ties to Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, Z feels the climate crisis and its urgency on all fronts of their life. Z aims to recruit and train other young people for local organizing, especially around climate and its related areas like housing, transit, and labor. Z has experience managing regenerative agricultural operations and dreams of a Miami that utilizes its favorable climate and historical ties to the Caribbean and U.S. South to become a capital for community gardens, healing the land, heart, and mind simultaneously.

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Yasmina Benslimane

Yasmina Benslimane is an award-winning feminist activist, consultant, and women's empowerment coach dedicated to advancing gender equality and promoting women's rights. As the founder of Politics4Her, she advocates for increased political participation and representation for young women and girls from Global Majority countries. She focuses on climate justice, forced migration, gender-based violence, and peacebuilding. Recognized for her impactful work, Yasmina has been featured on international platforms such as HuffPost, Al Jazeera, BBC, and more. She has spoken at prestigious institutions, including the United Nations. Yasmina's achievements include Forbes 30 Under 30, MADRE Champion, BBC 100 most influential and inspiring women of 2023, and recognition as a UN Women Peace-builder in the Arab States. With eight years of experience collaborating with different stakeholders, Yasmina contributes her expertise as an advisor and board member to various institutions.

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Valeria Esqueda

Valeria Esqueda was born and raised in Santa Ana as a result of her family’s migration from the north-central region of Mexico, Aguascalientes. Valeria received her bachelor's degree in Political and Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz. She absorbed her family’s familiarity with land-based practices and was able to grow into her own practice when she began volunteering at a local micro-farm and community gardens. In these years, she's become quite attached to agroecological solutions and the lessons from the earth.

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Valeree Catangay

Valeree Catangay (she/her) is a sustainability professional, artist, and activist based in Los Angeles, California. Growing up in an area of Long Beach heavily impacted by the oil and gas industry and pollution from the Ports, she has dedicated her life to the movement for a sustainable and just future. She has five years of experience creating climate action plans across entertainment, technology, consulting, manufacturing, and nonprofit organizations, and formerly led sustainability programs at Warner Bros. Discovery and Dolby Laboratories. She is currently on the sustainability team at Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to protecting Earth's natural resources and wildlife, and to defending peoples' right to a healthy environment. Valeree believes in art as a powerful tool for activism. She is involved with several climate justice collaborations, including the California Allegory, a collective of arts activists using illustrations and other creative mediums to inspire collective liberation throughout the state. She co-created the Environmentalists of Color Collective at UCLA, a space that amplifies BIPOC environmental narratives through events, workshops, and art projects. Her work has been featured by the UN Environment Programme, Al Gore, Mark Ruffalo, The Solutions Project, and Intersectional Environmentalist, and she was recognized with a Brower Youth Award in 2018 and as a GreenBiz Emerging Leader in 2019. Valeree finds joy in camping and painting outdoors.

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Tamisha Sablan

Hafa Adai and Tirow! My name is Tamisha Lia De Brum Sablan. I am Chamorro/Marshallese and I come from the island of Saipan,Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana islands (CNMI). The CNMI are a chain, or archipelago, of 14 islands and are a US Commonwealth in the Pacific Ocean.  I graduated from Kagman High School in 2023.  During the summer, I applied and was chosen to be a summer intern at the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality.  I was assigned the Division of Coastal Resource Management Shoreline Monitoring Program.  I was tasked to measure the island’s shorelines and input data to determine whether the island of Saipan was losing or gaining shoreline.  In addition, we conducted numerous outreach programs to educate school children and the general public about how climate change, human activities, erosion, and etc. play a critical role in our shoreline reduction. The data collected is critical information that will be used to determine vulnerability to our islands shoreline fluctuation and sea level rise. I am currently a freshman at the Northern Marianas College majoring in education.

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Sim Bilal

Sim Bilal is a Gen-Z climate organizer from South LA, raised by a single mom. He is a Korean, Black, and Chickasaw. Currently, he serves as a Los Angeles County youth climate commissioner and the lead organizer for Youth Climate Strike Los Angeles. Sim has been a climate activist for over six years, working on banning oil drilling in his neighborhood and fighting for green spaces, green social housing, and climate literacy. Sim is busy in his community fighting for the enrichment of other local South LA youth, supporting elementary, middle, and high schools through mutual aid programs, and volunteering as a robotics and coding instructor for the past three years. Sim has been working on integrating tech, activism, organizing, and legislation into addressing the climate crisis in Los Angeles. As a youth climate organizer, Sim has organized climate strikes in southern California, mobilizing thousands of LA youth to call on divestment from fossil fuels and investment into green jobs, infrastructure, and spaces. Through the coalition, YCSLA has helped pass legislation banning and phasing out oil infrastructure in Los Angeles within the next five years, pushed for SB-1173 divestment of pensions, and created a unique climate action plan for Los Angeles.

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Sarina Vega

Sarina Vega (she/her) is based between San Diego and Los Angeles, CA and is currently a Master’s Candidate in Landscape Architecture + Urbanism at USC. In addition, Sarina works to support Native American Tribes throughout CA in the climate change adaptation & resilience sector through landscape design and community health solutions that center Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). I have 7+ years of experience working in community with local officials and State agencies to craft and implement bottom-up environmental justice solutions. My research interests include transborder and queer spatial ecologies and cultural/historic landscapes.

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Sara Carrillo

Sara Carrillo works on a vegetable farm in Mendocino County, California. A graduate of Stanford University, she is passionate about food and environmental justice. In her free time, she loves to trail ride with friends, forage for mushrooms, and knit in front of a fire.

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Paulina Rodríguez Ruiz

Paulina Rodríguez Ruiz (they/them) is a storyteller, cultural worker and environmentalist currently residing in Yokuts territories (Fresno). Their work is rooted in the belief thatstories have the power to transform ourselves, each other and our environment, challenging long held narratives and shaping meaning. Living in the Central Valley amongst oppressive systems that seek to dehumanize land and people, while thriving off the exploitation of both, led them down a path of food sovereignty that centers the liberation of QTBIPOC, indigenous and immigrant folx. In their previous work, they developed a food policy council framework for the city of Fresno, established mutual aid networks amongst QTBIPOC farmers within the Valley, and utilized art, culture and storytelling to create intentional spaces of joy.

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Paula Ortega

My name is Paula Ortega, pronouns Ella/She/Elle/They. I am a multidisciplinary artist, youth co-founder & core team member at RE:Frame Youth Arts Center. I believe in the radical potential of young people leading & ensuring that they have autonomy over their bodies. I come from a family of migrants, as we moved throughout Mexico & the United States knowledge from my ancestors was lost. I am using food, art, & my connection to Mother Earth to reclaim my ancestral practices alongside young people & community. I am building a program where young people have a space to talk about the broken food system here in Arizona and the impacts it has on us. Food carries a lot of conversations that impact Mother Earth & ourselves. How can we build a reciprocal relationship with food, ourselves, and Mother Earth in a way that doesn't mass abstract resources? How can we ensure young people continue to be at the forefront of the movement as we continue to think 7 generations ahead? What will we leave behind?

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Neena Mohan

Neena is an environmental justice advocate and student of somatic healing. Neena currently works with the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) as a Grant Writer and with Farallon Strategies as a Project Associate supporting equitable climate adaptation & resilience efforts. Neena’s professional experience includes serving as the Climate Justice Program Manager and Climate and Air Campaign Manager at CEJA, where they worked on fossil fuel phase-out, transportation justice, air quality improvement, and Just Transition issues alongside environmental justice communities. Neena has also served on the AB 32 Environmental Justice Advisory Committee to the California Air Resources Board and on the California Energy Commission’s Clean Transportation Advisory Committee. Neena previously worked with Alameda County’s Office of Sustainability, the Greenlining Institute, Earthjustice, and National Parks Conservation Association to advance various equitable environmental policies, programs, and communications efforts.Neena is a graduate of Justice Outside’s Outdoor Educators Institute and Pathfinders programs, and of Critical Ecology Lab’s Liberation Ecology Field Course. Neena holds a B.S. in Environmental Sciences, a B.S. in Conservation & Resources Studies, and a minor in LGBT Studies from UC Berkeley. Outside of work, Neena is a certified yoga teacher, stand-up paddle-boarding instructor, peer counselor for the trans community, and forest therapy guide in training.

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Monica Chan

Hello! I've been actively passionate about environmentalism and environmental justice since high school. So much of our health is reflected by and linked to our environment. So many movements have taught me about how we can create a better world from the fight for ethnic studies, the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline.I’m the daughter of immigrants, with my family being from Hong Kong and Vietnam. I currently live on the traditional territories of the Pomo people in Clearlake, CA. I enjoy learning about permaculture and applying it to our garden, playing with my very active cattle dog, and watching everything Shonda Rhimes created. I am super excited about this opportunity to build community with other people invested in climate justice in their communities and creating a project that empowers people where I live!

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Miriam Amador Mendieta

As a Policy & Civic Engagement Intern at Canal Alliance, I actively contribute to empowering and partnering alongside immigrants and their families in Marin County through research, policy analysis, and community outreach/education. With over two years of experience as a College Prep Program Assistant and Entre Mujeres Facilitator, I've assisted low-income and first-generation students in college preparation and led a women's empowerment group. Currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Sociology at the University of California, Davis, and holding Associate's degrees in Sociology and Behavioral Sciences, I am deeply passionate about social justice, human rights, and liberation. As an undocumented student my goal is to leverage my skills, education, and experiences to advocate for change and make a lasting impact in my community. I have not always seen myself reflected in leadership of environmental movements and I hope to take up space intentionally through YCLC.

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Melodie Marsh

Melodie Marsh is  a dynamic and ambitious sophomore at The Howard University majoring  in Health Sciences and minoring in Chemistry on the Pre- Med track.  She has aspirations to work in the medical field as a Gynecologist  to change the narrative and hopes to inspire other people of color to pursue careers in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Born and raised in a community known for its strength in the face of adversity, she is a proud native of Flint, Michigan. Melodie's roots in Flint have instilled in her a deep sense of community engagement. Drawing inspiration from her hometown's resilience, she actively seeks opportunities to give back.  Melodie serves as a member of Flint Public Health Youth Academy, where they host  youth-led podcasts to bring awareness to public health and different environmental injustices. Melodie is also a Youth ambassador for National Clean Water collective, where she advocates for environmental injustices  all over the United States.  All of these organizations align with her belief of helping marginalized communities.Like the Howard University motto she continues to lead a life with truth and service. In her free time she enjoys spending time with family and loves to try new things.

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Meghana Nallajerla

Meghana Nallajerla (she/her) is a South Indian/Telugu community organizer and researcher from the deep South. Meghana’s work lies at the intersection of trauma-informed healing and movement-building -- she is interested in healing collective trauma and applying trauma-informed perspectives to make progressive movements more effective. Meghana has worked in progressive South Asian organizing for the past decade and is currently an MSW/PhD student in Social Work at the University of Southern California. As an activist-researcher, she hopes to apply research toward social change and make healing accessible for all peoples.

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McKenna Dunbar

Dunbar is a visionary leader in the realm of clean energy and environmental advocacy, celebrated for their passionate pursuit of environmental justice and sustainable energy practices. As a pioneering social entrepreneur in the non-profit world, Dunbar has been instrumental in driving initiatives that significantly cut down fossil fuel reliance and fervently promote building electrification in the electric sector. Renowned for their dynamic approach, Dunbar has been a trailblazer in integrating environmental justice with green workforce development, bringing climate mental health conversations to the national stage and pushing for ambitious net-zero building policies. Dunbar's expertise has been sought after in various high-profile roles, including serving as an expert panelist at the CDC, and an SME reviewer for DOE offices. As a Gen Z Board Advisor at the Climate Mental Health Network and a Board Member at various organizations including the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council, they have cemented their status as a formidable voice in shaping a sustainable and equitable future. With a deep commitment to raising awareness about climate mental health, especially among youth and marginalized communities, Dunbar's work extends beyond policy and technology. Their personal pursuits include e-biking, hosting engaging tea parties, vlogging, indulging in clean energy podcasts, and competitive bodybuilding.

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mango gwen

mango gwen is an interdependent and underground Kapampangan xenotr@nsbinary experimental noise punk farmer combining performance art, music, spoken word, film, photography, sculpture, upcycled garments, anti-imperialist education, and healing justice practice spaces to mobilize a warrior community responding to transnational calls-to-action for mutual aid, land sovereignty, and prison abolition through their work with earthlodge center for transformation, star route farm, and as a member of liyang network usa. They have toured across Turtle Island (United States of America), Europe, United Kingdom, Mexico, and Thailand. As farmers and artists, mirrored fatality has completed residencies with Buttermilk Falls Residency, Postcrypt Gallery, EFA Project Space, Dead Bedland, Earthlodge Center for Transformation West and South, Star Route Farm, Esalen Institute, Isis Oasis Sanctuary, AADK Spain, Calafou, Baesianz x hatezine at SET Woolwich, University of the Underground, Tour de Moon, Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios, The Uhuru Dreamhouse New Orleans, Fancyland, Habitable Spaces, Prattsville Art Center and Residency, Outsider Art Festival, and xI20.

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Lynette Pham

Lynette Pham, she/her pronouns, is Vietnamese & Cebuano. Lynette is currently living and working on Unceded Lower Tanana Dena Lands in Fairbanks, Alaska, and from Unangam Tanangin Lands of Unalaska, Alaska. She is a local and statewide community organizer; who focuses on intersectionality of health, climate, and equity within Alaska. Her dedication is an obligation to protect the lands & waters she has settled on with the Indigenous people who steward the lands and water. Pham organizes as a form of community care, support, and mutual aid to advocate for communities and the people of Alaska.

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Kieshaun White

My name is Kieshaun White I am a environmental justice advocate from Fresno, California I’ve be in advocacy work since I was 16 years old now I’m 23 and I don’t see myself doing anything else other then helping my community

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Katherine Villegas

My name is Katherine Villegas, I am a community organizer for El Paso Texas, I grew up an activist, ever since i was 3 months old my mother would take me on protest and rallys and community meeting, I went from youth to volunteer, and now I am a community organizer. The community we reside in is called Barrio Chamizal, due to NAFTA this area and the people within have ever only been seen as manual labor, we help create spaces where the community can express themselves creatively, through workshops and 'Platicas' we are able to uncover ancestral knowledge from our Community in order change the way we are seen to the outside world and the way we see each other. Because of my involvement from childhood, I recognize the importance role youth play in my community, I hope to learn techniques to help inspire the young people in Barrio Chamizal gain their voice just as i gained mine, I hope to open a new world of possibilities and opportunities to share with my community and to be able to invest in the youth.

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Joelle Jenkins

Joelle K. Jenkins is a socio-environmental scientist and third-year M.S. student at The Ohio State University. In OSU’s School of Environment & Natural Resources, her study of focus is environmental social science. Her research at OSU highlights the need for shifting how sustainability is operationalized and conceptualized in higher education and society utilizing just and transformational sustainability frameworks in doing so. Originally from Denver, Colorado, Joelle has always taken pride in connecting her Blackness to the outdoors. Hobbies of hers include birding, painting, poetry, dancing, cooking, etc. Before starting her master’s at Ohio State, she obtained B.A. in Environmental & Sustainability Studies with minors in Biology and Africana Studies from the University of Northern Colorado. One of Joelle’s favorite things to do is build community locally and online. If you would like to connect with her, please reach her at Jenkins.1373@osu.edu or connect with her on Twitter or Instagram (Sustainabaddie).

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Jiapsi Gomez

Jiapsi Gomez is an indigenous youth artist, citizen scientist, environmentalist and resident of Logan Heights that is one of the founding board members of Tierras Indigenas CLT. His contributions include community safety and advocacy for green spaces for urban agriculture and ecological sustainability in order to encourage access to nature and participate in environmental restoration. Jiapsi is an educator with the POC Fungi Community, teaching adults and youth about fungal networks, principles of bioremediation, and on how to use microscope equipment. He used to serve on a statewide Youth Mental Health Committee that analyzes the multifaceted principles of mental health for BIPOC youth. His main goal as part of the CLT is to generate healthy spaces for community to cultivate foods and medicines, prevent overdevelopment and gentrification, as well as reduce pollution in designated areas.

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Iris Crawford

Iris M. Crawford is a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Iris has reported on solutions around the just transition, environmental science, decarbonization, and the intersections between race, culture, and climate inequity. Her work has appeared in the NPQ, San Francisco Chronicle, Sojourners Magazine, AGU’s Eos, and Prism, among other publications. She is a board member of the Uproot Project—a support network of environmental journalists of color.  Iris has a BA from Syracuse University and a MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is based in New York City.

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Hailey Miranda

Hailey Miranda is a sophomore at The City College of New York. Born and raised in the South Bronx, Hailey is a part of the We Stay/Nos Quedamos Youth Team as a Youth Team Leader, joining from the first-ever cohort in 2021. Alongside her team, Hailey works to engage residents of a Nos Quedamos residential building, El Jardin de Selene, with workshops, engagement events, and outings to places including the NY Botanical Garden. Recently, after being awarded the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) fund, the youth team has been working on environmental justice seminars and community interviews! On a personal level, Hailey enjoys watching movies (especially romantic or psychological ones) and hanging out with friends and family. She loves to meet new people and have a great time and is extremely grateful to join the YCLC 2024 cohort!

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Gracie Osborne

Hi everyone, my name is Gracie Osborne and I am so excited to be in this program. I am currently studying Public Health at college and am an organizer with Youth vs Apocalypse.  In my spare time, I love watching my favorite shows/movies and reading. It is an honor to be  in this cohort where I get to glean from other youth leaders and I hope to take way a lot of key insights to share with my community.

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Grace Magny-Fokam

Grace Magny-Fokam is an 18-year-old artificial intelligence researcher, climate advocate, undergraduate student, and author who is passionate about mobilizing young people to solve global challenges through social innovation. As the inventor of a climate technology device, the founder of an AI-for-Social-Good nonprofit Folia Technologies, and an ambassador of the United Nations, Graces uses her skills and influence as an innovator and scientific communicator to garner interest in enacting positive change through AI, especially with regards to addressing humanitarian issues like the climate crisis. Throughout her journey as a researcher and activist, she's worked with organizations such as UN Climate Change (UNFCCC), the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the U.S. National Security Agency. She has also won over $70,000 USD in total research funding, runs a nonprofit that develops climate & agricultural technologies for environmental justice organizations, and has received numerous awards for her work from the Nobel Foundation, the Computer Science Teachers Association, and private tech enterprises like Google, Microsoft, and Lockheed Martin.

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Fatimata Cham

Climate Activist. Published Poet and Human Rights Advocate, Fatimata Cham is originally from the Bronx, New York, she is 22 years old and is a first generation gambian college student. She is a double major in Government and Law and Women and Gender studies. She is also a 2019 coca-cola scholar, Truman Scholar and former girl up teen advisor to the United Nations Foundation. Fatimata is passionate about advocating for her community and does so through her writing and frontline community work. In high school Fatimata published a short book of poetry titled Perfectly Imperfect. She uses the intersection between poetry and activism to talk about issues related to environmental injustice, gender inequity, racism, islamophobia, and a plethora of issues she is passionate about. She is also the president of her college’s girl up, kaleidoscope social justice peer educator, gateway peer advisor and a Bloomberg Campus Ambassador. She also currently serves as Vice-President on Student Government. Recently, She was casted in Dear Season 2 on Apple TV alongside Malala Yousfzai to talk about her climate activism work. She hopes to build a more just and equitable world through her work and uplifting those around her.

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Daja Elum

Daja Elum is an imagery scientist and environmentalist who specializes in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing, focusing on applications in natural resource management, precision agriculture, climatological modeling, and the development of satellite retrieval algorithms. She holds both a bachelor's and a master's degree in environmental science from Tuskegee University and is presently pursuing a PhD in atmospheric science at Howard University. Her master's research concentrated on identifying adaptation strategies for climate change's impacts on crop yields. Currently, her doctoral research aims to investigate the effects of industrial air pollution. Beyond her academic pursuits, Daja is the founder of The Earthly Advocate, an organization dedicated to offering environmental science education to communities and providing scientific consulting to local groups. Additionally, she authored the children’s book titled "The World of Imagery," which introduces young readers to remote sensing's role in solving environmental issues. Having grown up in Detroit, Michigan, and personally witnessed the impact of environmental injustice, Daja draws inspiration from her upbringing to champion environmental and mentor the next generation of minority scientists.

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Chris Welch

Christopher Welch is a Creative, Producer, Pollinator, and lead for When Black And Brown Go Green serving experiential entertainment and advanced climate justice.

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Charles Orgbon

Seemingly Charles’s life has taken two distinct tracks – first, he’s a non-profit and corporate executive who’s won over 30 awards for leading environmental sustainability programs, and second, he’s an accomplished writer and folk musician. Among his list of accomplishments include conducting an Arctic climate science expedition, developing numerous corporate sustainability strategies, and awaiting the release of two embargoed writing projects with Marvel. He lives in Oakland, California, or wherever there’s passionfruit lemonade or a good guitar riff.

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Charles Hua

Charles Hua is the Founder and Executive Director of PowerLines, Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office, and Research Affiliate at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Previously, Charles advanced building electrification policy with Rewiring America, supported clean energy investment efforts with Generate Capitol, and developed clean energy projects with Avangrid. In college, Charles was appointed to serve on the Harvard Presidential Committee on Sustainability, where he helped develop and write Harvard’s sustainability plan and organized the inaugural Harvard Climate Summit. Charles has advised Fortune 500 companies and international NGOs on sustainability issues and serves on the Board of Directors for environmental nonprofits Slipstream, Energy News Network, and Clean Wisconsin. Born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, Charles organized a campaign that successfully petitioned his school district to become the largest in the U.S. at the time with a 100% renewable energy commitment. For his work, Charles has been recognized by the White House as a 2018 U.S. Presidential Scholar, by the Aspen Institute as a Future Climate Leader, and as an Energy News Network 40 Under 40 honoree. Charles holds an A.B. in Statistics and Mathematics from Harvard College.

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Bruno Sagrera

My name is Brennon “Bruno” Sagrera; I am a mixed indigenous, Cajun/Creole from coastal South Louisiana. I come from a place with one of the fastest-eroding coasts in the world. It is not just our lands disappearing, but our culture too. I focus on living my life in a way that honors my ancestors and helps to ensure the cords of who we are stay strong and extend into our future generations. Over the years, I have found purpose and passion in indigenous/regenerative farming, community work, traditional healing work, and habitat restoration. I strive to strengthen my community's food sovereignty and food security through reconnection to our culture, each other, and Mother Earth.

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Bree Ahmed

Hello friends! I’m thrilled to join this cohort and build power with young people of colour! I’m Bree, I use any pronouns and I’m currently a college student in the Bay Area. I’m new to climate justice but I hope to bring some organising experience and young immigrant perspective for everyone <3

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Bineta Sarr

My name is Bineta Sarr, and I am Senegalese- American. i am a current senior at The City College of New York with a yearning to pursue a career in healthcare. I am an advocate for climate justice, merging my deep understanding of environmental issues with a strong commitment to social equity. With a background in community action, I have become a dedicated voice in the climate justice movement.Driven by my conviction that community-driven action may bring about profound change, I regularly collaborate with various communities to highlight the unequal effects of climate change on underprivileged groups. My goal is to enable people,young people in particular, to become knowledgeable leaders in the struggle against environmental injustice.

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Augie Angel

I am a dedicated advocate for positive community change and youth empowerment, with a background in Public Health. Throughout my journey, I've actively contributed to impactful initiatives such as youth leadership education, environmental projects, and the organization of youth summits. My passion lies in youth engagement, environmental health, and community health activism, and I am unwaveringly committed to leveraging my skills for lasting impact.Guided by a belief in the transformative power of collaboration, I thrive on building meaningful connections and fostering inclusivity within diverse communities. As a Co-Founder of Leaders4EARTH and Outreach Manager, SF LTF, I've honed my leadership skills and developed a strategic approach to address challenges.In this cohort, I look forward to learning from the collective wisdom of fellow participants and mentors, aiming to gain insights into innovative community engagement practices, sustainable project management, and effective leadership in dynamic environments. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute my experiences and perspectives while building enduring connections with like-minded individuals.Beyond my professional endeavors, find me hiking, by the beach, exploring diverse cuisines, always ready for a conversation about youth leadership, environmental and community health, and mental health. Let's embark on this journey together, committed to making a positive impact on our communities and beyond.

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Annika Sial

Annika is a climate and zero waste policy professional who is passionate about finding intersectional environmental solutions that not only benefit the climate but also improve environmental justice, public health, economic development, and more.She is currently developing building product circularity policy and programs at the San Francisco Environment Department. In 2022, she graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in conservation biology. She is excited to bring her multidisciplinary perspective to a project spotlighting the inequitable impacts of environmental degradation and potential solutions as part of the YCLC 2024 Cohort.

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Angel Hannah Akinleye

Angel Hannah Akinleye strives to create a positive impact in her communities and the world. Angel is an International Affairs major (B.S. ’25) with a double minor in African Studies and Portuguese. Angel was honored to be a 2023 Patricia Roberts Harris Fellow. She served as a fall 2023 intern for the Indianapolis Mayor's Office within the Office of International and Latino Affairs. This past summer, Angel interned in Cape Town, South Africa with the distinguished think tank, Isandla Institute, where she conducted extensive research on informal settlements and the climate crisis. Angel studied abroad in spring 2023 with São Paulo, Brazil CET Academic Programs. Angel’s first trip to São Paulo was in 2019 as a Youth Ambassador to Brazil sponsored by the U.S. State Department. Angel is the co-founder of the Youth Environmental Press Team. Angel serves as a board member of Earth Charter Indiana. In 2021, the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute honored Angel with a Hoosier Resilience Award. Furthermore, The U.S. Green Building Council and Green Schools National Networks awarded Angel the 2021 National Student Leader award. In every endeavor, Angel Hannah Akinleye exemplifies a remarkable blend of academic excellence, advocacy, and leadership. Her work, both locally and globally, is a testament to her unwavering commitment to creating a more just, sustainable, and equitable world.

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Angel Hannah Akinleye
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Andreina Barajas Novoa

Andreina Barajas Novoa (They/She) is an environmental justice organizer from Connecticut. They are in their last year of college where they will graduate with degrees in Sociology and Political Science. Central to Andreina’s organizing areas are labor, housing, and environmental organizing efforts that are rooted in the radical transformation of society. They are motivated to build grassroots movements that abolish oppressive systems that obstruct our collective liberation. As an organizer, Andreina has organized in her community to address the flooding and pollution issues her neighborhood has been plagued with for decades. As a student, they are currently organizing a Students for Justice in Palestine group on campus to challenge their university’s complacency with the genocide in Palestine. Upon graduating college, Andreina hopes to pursue a career where they can work at the intersection of labor and environmental justice; with the goal of continuing to build and support movements, outside of their job, that seek to abolish oppressive systems.

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Andreina Barajas Novoa
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Alyssa Wainaina

Alyssa Wainaina is a leader in Black and Trans Liberation in the Mountain West. Using their knowledge in Sociology and movement work, Alyssa created the first Black and trans centered organization in Idaho, the Black Liberation Collective. They work to provide guaranteed income, healthcare and leadership development to the Black and trans community in Idaho. Outside of creating new systems to empower our most frontline communities, Alyssa loves to travel, read and spend time with their family.

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Alyssa Wainaina
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Alexis Harris

Atlanta native Alexis C. Harris is an environmental professional dedicated to educating her community on all things environmental justice!  Growing up in Unicorporated DeKalb County was her first hands-on experience with environmental racism.  Alexis works diligently to help create the next generation of Black female environmental stewards!  Her focus remains providing current individuals and future generations with clean air, clean water, and clean land.

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Alexis Harris
She/her
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Zora Uyeda-Hale

California

Zora Uyeda-Hale (she/her) is a passionate leader, activist, and creative from Albany, California. She is a second-year at UC Berkeley, double majoring in Society & Environment and Ethnic Studies. Before college, her activism journey revolved around anti-racist education, which she believes is crucial to environmental justice. Zora is the co-founder and former district lead of AUSD Diversify Our Narrative, an organization dedicated to implementing anti-racist literature and education in K-12 schools. At UC Berkeley, Zora is the Co-Editor in Chief of Perennial, Cal’s Premier Environmental Undergraduate Journal, a SERC Environmentalists of Color team member, and a researcher for a project on CBPR and desire-based narratives. She also works for a zero-waste refill store that seeks to eliminate single-use plastic. Zora strives to use storytelling, artivism, and culture to spark community-based change. In her free time, she can be found carving stamps, following YouTube workouts, and laughing loudly with her roommates.

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Zora Uyeda-Hale
she/her/hers
California
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Zavia Jenkins

Florida

Zavia Jenkins (she/her) was born in Chesapeake, Virginia, and grew up along a salt marsh in Nassau County, Florida, in the Gullah/Geechee Nation. There, she often watched her community pray and honor the ancestors lost in the Middle Passage and witnessed her people's deep connection to the ocean, the land, and each other.Living on land inherited from her great-grandparents, with wildlife all around, further increased her interest in the environment, and that link between land, water, and culture largely influenced her decision to study marine science at Stetson University. While at Stetson, she interned with the St. Marys Riverkeeper and conducted her senior research in the Volusia Blue Spring. She also studied audio engineering and production. In 2020, she graduated from Stetson University with a bachelor's degree in Aquatic and Marine Biology and a minor in digital arts.Following graduation, she worked as an archivist for the Gullah/Geechee Nation and since then has enjoyed her roles as a fellow for various environmental organizations including YECA, Faithful Climate Action, Thriving Earth, and Ocean Conservancy. Through these fellowships, Zavia has collaborated with different communities to address climate change and currently analyzes policies that can help conserve natural resources. Zavia continues drawing on her cultural foundation as she works to combine her interests in science and music to study acoustic ecology and highlight the important connection between cultural and natural soundscapes.

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Zavia Jenkins
she/her/hers
Florida
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Thalía Flores Perez

New York

Thalía Flores-Perez (they/them) is from The Bronx, New York, and currently serves as the Lead Environmental Coordinator to provide youth-led support on the Clean Air Green Corridor project at WHEELS with Futures Ignite in Washington Heights. As a Latinx/Xicanx New Yorker raised in Washington Heights and the Bronx, they recognized the environmental and educational inequities that communities of color – especially Black and Brown communities – face while living in New York City. This led them to attend and pursue a degree in Environmental Studies, Public Policy, and Cultural Studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, as a first-generation student with a background focused on urban ecological agriculture and environmental justice. They interned as a Farm Manager Assistant at the Hilltop Urban Gardens, a community-based organization in Tacoma, Washington (Puyallup). Thalía co-supported and organized produce for the Hilltop community and supported Black and Indigenous youth organizing. They returned home to New York City to provide culturally relevant environmental education through non-profit organizations like the Riverdale Neighborhood House and The Hort.

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Thalía Flores Perez
they/them
New York
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Tammy VuPham

Washington

Tammy VuPham is a city parks commissioner and outdoor advocate. She became involved with local policymaking after her experiences as a family caretaker. Her human-centered design and social psychology background help Tammy improve community mobility and well-being through solutions in the built environment. She also works as a grantmaker to increase environmental education opportunities for young people across Washington state. By applying to the YCLC program, she hopes to connect with other underrepresented professionals in climate activism.You can find Tammy outside, working as a mountain guide when not sitting in public hearings. Her favorite assignments are teaching avalanche and snow science courses to BIPOC groups. She hopes to encourage more people of color to pursue professional outdoor work, especially in the winter.

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Tammy VuPham
she/her/hers
Washington
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Summer Smith

Alabama

My name is Summer Smith (she/her) I am from Montgomery, Al and I am 24 years old. I am currently a student at Auburn University at Montgomery as an English Major with a minor in Writing and Editing. I have a background in Molecular Biology and spent three years in the field of research. During that time, I have had many encounters with my local environment with the intent of discovering and studying endemic species of insects and other specimens. While conducting research, I became more interested in the preservation of the current biodiversity that is available in the state of Alabama. I became more aware and sensitive to the environment and the low quality of life of the plants and animals I researched. To right my own negligence of the environment, I began recycling, wasting less, and advocating for others to do the same, at least in my presence. Although I have made many changes to consider the environment, I would like to accomplish more. In the state of Alabama, it is not easy to recycle or to be environmentally conscious. I found this to be strange because of Alabama’s history of agriculture. Therefore I aim to assist Alabama in becoming more green and conscious of the bounty of biodiversity surrounding them.

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Summer Smith
she/her/hers
Alabama
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Shekinah Deocares

California

Shekinah Deocares (she/her) is an LA born and raised Filipina organizer. She grew up witnessing her parents and friends forced to repeateadly go up against discrimination based on immigration status and background, exploitation and mistreatment in the workforce, and systemic barred access from resources. She also saw this same community on the frontline of heat waves, toxins, and pollution while also and oftentimes climate refugees, even though they have championed sustainable practices and have not been the primary effectors of climate change. Shekinah is determined to support frontline communities in getting the resources and space to lead the EJ & CJ movement. Shekinah also loves mint chocolate chip ice cream, her dog Jeju, and roller skating.

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Shekinah Deocares
she/her/hers
California
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samar saif

California

samar is a visionary freak, multidisciplinary artist, glitch, and heart led. They currently center their work as a member of the duo mirrored fatality. mirrored fatality is an underground interdependent Kapampangan and South Asian xenobinary experimental and healing noise queer punk farmer duo sharing their rituals + altars. mirrored fatality creates their “cocoon webs'' combining performance art, music, spoken word, film, photography, painting, drawing, upcycled garments, anti-imperialist education, and healing justice practice spaces to mobilize a warrior community responding to transnational calls-to-action for mutual aid, land sovereignty, and prison abolition. samar graduated from UCLA as a Magna Cum Laude Honors student in the Gender Studies, LGBT Studies, and Sociology departments and through Gender Studies they worked on the first collaborative Gender Studies Honors thesis called “Desi Muslim Kapampangan-Pilipinx Biomimicry Queer Femme Transmutations: Mirrored Fatality’s Cocoon Webs”. They have worked in prison abolition, land sovereignty, food justice, QTPOC organizing and programming, sexual violence advocacy, founded multimedia art collectives, host discussion spaces and workshops with orgs such as Dignity and Power Now, Vigilant Love, HEART Women and Girls, API Equality LA, UCSD SPACES, UCLA LGBT and RISE Center, and Amnesty International. They are inspired by the legacy of QTBIPOC resistance fighters who continue to pave new paths through all the rot and decay.

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samar saif
they/she/he
California
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Miarri Phillips

Colorado

Miarri Phillips is currently a student studying both psychology and sociology. She is passionate about social justice and has an intense drive to create change in areas that she recognizes. Miarri is actively involved in both her communities, starting with Rochester, New York, to her Denver campus. Miarri was a Teaching Assistant and Cohort Coordinator for a Leadership Program at her previous institution. She has held several executive positions that educate others on the importance of active citizenship and civic engagement. She is notorious for her creative ideas and served as the Outreach and Engagement Chair for a nonprofit formerly known as Millennials 4 Environmental Justice.Phillips is also a Cities United Fellow alum taking a public health approach to gun violence. She was recognized as the 2021 Women of Color Environmental Leaders Move Mountains Grant Program in partnership with Greening Youth Foundation and The North Face. She is the founder of Green Goddess. Green Goddess creates a space for girls of color to be their authentic selves. Our mission is to provide emotional and social support for girls of color to develop identity, purpose, and community by providing and facilitating equitable and inclusive experiences in the outdoors.

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Miarri Phillips
she/her/hers
Colorado
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Samantha Hernandez

Oregon

Born and raised in Hialeah, FL to Dominican parents, Samantha has always been passionate about building climate resilience in the face of fossil fuel-induced climate change. She works as a climate justice organizer for the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility. Her work is primarily focused on supporting campaigns and coalitions advocating for climate justice through the lens of public health. Samantha also serves as board secretary of the Portland Harbor Community Coalition. She graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Studies and a minor in Environmental Studies. Climate justice is deeply personal for her because she is not seeing her people being invested in or protected. She comes to this line of work with the intention of co-creating a better future for everyone that is co-created by everyone. She is inspired every day by the amazing grassroots organizing happening all over the world. Samantha is excited to join the YCLC cohort because she has been looking to be a part of a space of young adults doing climate justice advocacy work. She is looking forward to learning from her peers about their organizing strategies, successes, and challenges. In her free time, she enjoys reading and baking recipes from her favorite chefs, Claire Saffitz and Sohla El-Waylly.

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Samantha Hernandez
she/her/hers
Oregon
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Nautica Jones

California

Nautica Jones is a disabled African American woman and scholar from Saint Martinville, La. She is pursuing a doctoral degree in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California Santa Cruz. Her graduate dissertation with Dr. Erika Zavaleta of the Conservation Science and Solutions Lab will investigate black ecological knowledge and its impact on the climate resilience of North America. Nautica draws on her memories of navigating major hurricanes, racism, and inaccessibility to ground her research endeavors. Nautica completed her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a concentration in ecology and evolution at the University of Louisiana Monroe. In her undergraduate thesis research with Dr. Joydeep Bhattacharjee of the Plant Ecology Lab, Jones assessed the diversity and abundance of native and invasive woody species within Louisiana’s “chenier” forests to understand their rapid decline. Nautica’s career goals are to support and create climate resilience plans for the underserved and to shift the narrative around black land relationships. Nautica hopes her work will impact the legal frameworks surrounding black peoples worldwide, specifically regarding indigeneity and the rights of displaced indigenous peoples. Nautica enjoys nature walks, food tours, and pageantry. Nautica has held chapter and district-level titles such as Miss Black and Gold 2022 for the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and hopes to compete for Miss California in the future.

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Nautica Jones
she/her/hers
California
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Riddhi Patel

California

Riddhi S. Patel (they/them) holds a Bachelors in Neuroscience and is an abolitionist and grassroots organizer from Bakersfield California. They currently serve the community as the Economic Development Coordinator at the Center On Race, Poverty & the Environment. In this role they assist in leading the organization’s just transition work in the Central Valley which is historically one of California’s most carbon intensive regions. Additionally, they have been instrumental in connecting environmental justice issues within the intersectional framework of abolition and racial justice while doing the work to ensure the most impacted communities are served. Outside of the nonprofit sector they are a part of local grassroots abolitionist coalitions in Bakersfield that work to build a world without police or prisons. They were introduced to this work via the Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign, co-founded a local Sunrise Movement Hub shortly following the campaign, and were soon radicalized after being introduced to local abolitionist leaders. They continue the work via love for their community, organizing mainly in their hometown where they were born and raised. They applied to the program because they believe that non-white youth are the best people to lead environmental justice work. They do not believe in respectability politics and enjoy the “burn it down and build a better world” energy non-white youth have always had for generations.

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Riddhi Patel
they/them
California
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Murphy Barney

Vermont

I am a sister, doula, storyteller, and community health storytelling nerd. I author a newsletter titled Our Medicine which is a weekly exploration of love, storytelling, and rematriation. The focus is on Indigenous community building, personal and collective medicine, and a collection of beliefs grounded in love and togetherness as a means of surviving, thriving, and building a more sustainable world. Love, as we define it, is medicine. This writing is an exploration of the human tapestry of wisdom rooted in collective care. I am a steward of 2 acres of land in so-called Vermont. I am so delighted to be a part of this group to connect, organize, and build a more just world for all.

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Murphy Barney
she/her/hers
Vermont
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Mazzi Ingram

Pennsylvania

My name is Mazzi Ingram (she/her), I am originally from Philadelphia and I am currently studying environmental studies at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. I am interested in environmental education and sustainable development, specifically in improving the ways in which Black people experience these things. What inspires me to do this work is my upbringing. Growing up in North Philly I was exposed to a lot of “risk factors” but I continuously found the outdoors being my outlet and safe space. As I got older, I began to become more aware of the causes of the “risk factors” I was exposed to such as systemic racism. I found that two of the two biggest issues impacting my community are the failing education system and gentrification. Because of my student leadership roles I was able to affect positive change around education equity and have been outspoken about the issue of gentrification. My access to the outdoors was heightened by my participation in a STEM leadership program for women at the Academy of Natural Sciences, called WINS. In this program I was exposed to the field of environmental justice and a community of women of color who’d also found refuge from city life in the limited green space we have.

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Mazzi Ingram
she/her/hers
Pennsylvania
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Melissa Cervantes

California

My name is Melissa Cervantes (she/her) and I’m a fourth-year student at UC Berkeley majoring in Society & Environment and Conservation & Resource Studies. My academic interests revolve around environmental justice and agroecology, specifically looking at the nexus between environmental education and media. I enjoy hearing people’s narratives and believe it’s important to highlight the experiences of people who face environmental injustices or have survived a catastrophe; media is a powerful tool that can help engage and educate widespread audiences on these pressing issues.I grew up in the Napa Valley and this is where my passion for conservation and farmworker rights began. My family has a long relationship with farming, yet many of my family members face health disparities from working in the fields. My passion for studying agroecology stems from witnessing the socioeconomic challenges that come from working in the food industry, and how system-created access barriers to healthy foods affect people’s livelihoods. I have decided to take an extra year at Cal to complete an honors thesis where I will be doing a case study on the Farm to School Program in my hometown, and hope to create a short media piece highlighting the food service workers at NVUSD schools.

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Melissa Cervantes
she/her/hers
California
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Lujain Al-Saleh

California

Lujain Al-Saleh (she/her) is a public health advocate based in Oakland, the ancestral and unceded land of the Ohlone people in Northern California. In her current role at Frontline Catalysts, a climate justice leadership program, Lujain is collaborating on a two-year youth participatory action research project to advance climate resilience in the Oakland Unified School District. She also writes for KneeDeep Times, an online climate resilience magazine that features stories from the frontlines of the climate crisis. Lujain holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science & Management and minors in Professional Writing and Middle East & South Asia Studies from UC Davis and a Master of Public Health in Global Health & Environment from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. In her free time, Lujain enjoys swimming at her local community pool and spending time with family and friends.

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Lujain Al-Saleh
she/her/hers
California
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Lorraine Wangari

California

My name is Lorraine Wangari (she/her) and I am a second-year biology major at the University of California, Los Angeles. I have done organizing my whole 4 years of high school, I mainly focused on issues relating to school issues. I wanted to expand my horizon and learn more about the ways that I could help when it comes to climate. Since I am in college, I do have a big audience to share my knowledge and to raise more awareness throughout the University. I would love to make an impact throughout California. Growing up as a low-income black female, I have faced a lot of discrimination and continuously do. This motivates me to be an organizer, to fight for little girls never to have to face injustice/discrimination. I am incredibly excited to be here and to make a change.

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Lorraine Wangari
she/her/hers
California
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Lenika Rivas

Alabama / Illinois

Lenika Rivas (she/hers) is a recent graduate from Brown University, double concentrating in Environmental Science and Latin American and Caribbean Studies, focused on environmental policy processes. She was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona with roots in Sonora, Mexico, where both her parents immigrated from. Growing up low-income in the beautiful desert of Arizona has instilled a passion in her for environmental justice, advocacy for legislation concerning our climate, and public service work addressing social inequities. Aware of the toll environmental justice work can take on the minds and bodies of EJ practitioners, Lenika has found meditation and mindfulness tools to be at the core of her work. In trying to heal the hurt of the earth, we often engage with and encounter energy sources that are draining and harmful, in more ways than one. That is why in taking care of ourselves, we take care of the earth, and vice versa. Lenika's environmental advocacy has led her to facilitate justice-oriented science education workshops and outdoor leadership activities, understand the process of community healing after natural disasters, and work with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Abroad, Lenika has taken courses aimed at understanding international relations and conflict resolution, studying the challenges of peacebuilding in Bogotá, Colombia, which supplemented her creative honors thesis on Latin American urban art and social mobilization.

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Lenika Rivas
she/her/hers
Alabama / Illinois
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Kalé Camara

Vermont

Kalé Camara (they/them) is budding artist, farmer, visionary, and writer working on art and media that creates new possibilities and culture that centers love, care, interdependence, and freedom. They situate themself within Black feminist, Afrofuturist, surrealist, and trans liberation lineages and ways of being. Kalé gets out of bed every day to make the safety and joy of mad trans people like themselves more possible in all the ways they can.Kalé was a founding member of Rise! Upper Valley, a group of college students and local organizers who banded together in 2019 to organize for the safety, wellbeing, and freedom of Black, brown, and Indigenous, queer and trans, disabled and neurodivergent, and immigrant communities that they were a part of in the Upper Valley region of VT and NH. During its life Rise! focused on the crisis of ICE raids and deportations of migrant farmworkers and construction workers, working to raise awareness and build community knowledge through panels, rallies, and direct actions.Kalé has recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies with a special focus in Black feminism, the Black radical tradition, queer and trans liberation movements and theory, and performance studies.

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Kalé Camara
they/them
Vermont
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Kadin Love

Mississippi

Kadin Love is a dedicated community organizer and activist from Hattiesburg, MS. He graduated from Ridgeland High School in 2017 and earned an Associate’s Degree in psychology from Hinds Community College in 2019. Continuing his education at the University of Southern Mississippi, Kadin also began his activism work with Advocates for Youth, lobbying in Washington D.C. In 2020, he joined the Movement for Black Lives and worked on legislative campaigns. Kadin also became involved with BYP100 and Color of Change PAC, focusing on election protection. In 2021, he joined Advocates for Youth’s Abortion Out Loud team. By 2022, he worked on community sustainability projects with BYP100’s Jackson Chapter and was selected for the Young Climate Leaders of Color inaugural cohort. In 2023, he became a regional director at JULIAN, tackling biomass pollution issues, and was promoted to state organizing director in 2024.

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Kadin Love
he/him
Mississippi
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Josiah Edwards

California

Josiah Edwards is a 22 year-old, youth climate justice organizer based in Los Angeles, CA. Having grown up in the South Bay of LA County near the largest refinery on the west coast, he experienced environmental racism in his daily life. Now, as a member of the Los Angeles chapter of Sunrise Movement, he works to uplift the voices of youth in frontline communities by training young people on the organizing methods and discipline needed to build mutli-racial, cross-class solidarity, a prerequisite to the power necessary to win a Green New Deal. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Common Dreams, and Democracy Now.Josiah applied to the Young Climate Leaders of Color program because he wanted an opportunity to meet and learn from peer leaders across the country who were doing similar work, while also learning ways to expand his own capacity to organize and build power. He enjoys spending his free time with his nieces, nephews, and little cousins, reading about organizing, and thinking about how to win.

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Josiah Edwards
he/him/his
California
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Jordan Salcido

California

Jordan Salcido (she / her) is a multidisciplinary community organizer based in the Los Angeles area. Through a number of projects, she supports efforts to advance environmental justice and amplify community needs and priorities. She greatly believes in the power of storytelling and seeks to shine a light on community stories of strength and resilience. Recently, her work has focused on mentoring and supporting youth to take action in their community through documentary photography highlighting local leaders. Jordan is inspired by her community and applied to Youth Climate Leaders of Color to expand her network and to learn from a group of strong and thoughtful leaders. As a California naturalist, Jordan enjoys learning about the land and its plants, animals and people. Her favorite animal is a hummingbird but she has also come to love the sound of the flock of parrots that perch outside her window and screech to one another all summer long. Being surrounded by these sounds of nature in the middle of a busy city brings Jordan a lot of joy. Some of her other interests include scouring her local thrift stores for vinyl and knick knacks, having dance parties with her son and occasionally experimenting with new hobbies.

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Jordan Salcido
she/her/hers
California
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Janel Kemp

Florida

My name is Janel (she/her). I am an alumna of Florida A&M University where I first gained experience advocating for food sovereignty, coalition building, and systemic shifts for more sustainable practices through academic and extracurricular activities. Since then, I’ve been involved with my local community in Miami-Dade County and gained perspective on the intersections of socioeconomics, health, and our local environments, while earning an M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Johns Hopkins University. I’m inspired by my community members who are working to create food sovereignty, housing, and environmental justice and fighting the bureaucratic battles necessary to create true social equity. I’m also inspired by a vision for a just green transition made possible by solidarity that creates the opportunity for holistic wellness for black and brown communities.These experiences in tandem, are a large part of what led me to this current project, Take Root. Take Root is an app designed to promote a green economy run by and for black and brown communities. The app is also meant to be a space that engages conversations around what health and wealth mean in our vision for tomorrow.

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Janel Kemp
she/her/hers
Florida
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Isaiah Johnson

California

Isaiah Johnson is a Diversity Activist in the Bay Area. He carries out his work through the Video Game Industry where he Advocates for Diverse Representation, Inclusion, Mental Health, and Social Reform. Isaiah is the Founder of Project Beanstalk, a video game studio that fosters Diversity & Inclusion throughout the Game Industry. Project Beanstalk develops games that portray different cultures in a positive and fun light. Beanstalk creates opportunities for people from underprivileged backgrounds to pursue video game careers. Isaiah's drive towards social change was sparked and cultivated in Oakland, California. There, Isaiah has made a positive impact on several communities from granting awards (such as the Brandon Harrison Award) to local change makers, to inspiring youth and adults through public engagement. On average, Isaiah's social impact-centered communities were full of progressive, supportive, hard-working, and inspiring leaders! (Outside of the occasional misleading or corrupt programs). However when building out his career in the video game industry, Isaiah realized that many spaces centered around game development are a lot more oppressive. Experiencing the injustices created by this toxic culture has driven Isaiah's goal to create healthier gaming communities using everything he's learned through his work in social impact. @projectbeanstalkwww.projbeanstalk.xyz

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Isaiah Johnson
he/him/his
California
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hunter

California

hunter jpg is a multidisciplinary creative, storyteller, healer, and culture bearer using art, communication, and culture to generate a shift towards traditional Afro-Indigenous world views, values, and practices. Originally from Piscataway lands, referred to as the DMV by locals, hunter jpg has fostered a soul tribe on Tongva lands in the heart of Los Angeles, and balances time creating in both cities. Back east hunter jpg started their creative journey painting, eventually moving to graphic art, which allowed them to support independent artists and grassroots groups in UX/UI design and communications. You can also find two of hunter jpg’s murals in Maryland, one for a sustainable community project in College Park and the other a tribute to the Black legacies at the University of Maryland. In LA their passions have evolved to include community building and wellness events, live art activations, animations, sound healing, photography, paintings on and with natural materials, and website development, branding, and narrative development for frontline and non profit organizations.

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hunter
any
California
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Jaelyn Singleton

California

Jaelyn Elizabeth (she/they) is a Black, neurodiverse artist, facilitator, and creative director based in Sacramento, California (Miwok - Patwin - Nisenan territories). They have been dedicated to radical self and collaborative care practices that align with the land's sustainability for over a decade.

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Jaelyn Singleton
they/them she/her
California
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Isabella Higgins

Pennsylvania

Isabella Higgins (she/her) is a Philadelphia transplant originally from Albany, New York. She is currently working as a Farmer and Farm Program Manager at Urban Creators, an urban farm encompassing one city block. She is incredibly passionate about food justice and accessibility, and how best to educate and equip young people to be empowered growers and develop positive relationships with food and land. She is moved by the power food has to bring people together and strives to create spaces that foster community where people are nourished-mind, body and soul. Isabella loves cooking dinner with friends, reading, going to concerts, and picking up too many little hobbies.

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Isabella Higgins
she/her/hers
Pennsylvania
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Isabel Sanchez

Oregon

Isabel Sanchez (They/Them) grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and learned to be compassionate towards nature early in life through spending summers outside with their Latine grandmother. They studied natural resources and practiced sustainable living in a demonstration home at Cal Poly Humboldt. In 2018, Isabel served as the Environmental Sustainability Officer for both Cal Poly Humboldt’s Associated Students and California State Student Association representing over 500,000 CSU students on a statewide level. Isabel moved to the PNW shortly after the pandemic started to live their queer dream with their partner and two very cute and silly cats. They currently work as a Climate and Health Coordinator for a coalition that supports Oregon’s communities of color. Isabel is passionate about supporting frontline communities who experience the worst burdens of the pandemic and climate change. Outside of work, Isabel goes by DJ Flor Violenta and is the host of Vinyl Pleasures Radio for a local community radio station. They recently took on a leadership role to ensure that the station is upholding its commitment to being diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

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Isabel Sanchez
they/them/elle
Oregon
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Honu Nichols

Hawai'i

I am a queer Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) kiaʻi wai (water protector), aloha ʻāina, activist, haʻiʻōlelo (orator), organizer/facilitator, and creative raised in Maunalua, on the island of Oʻahu. I am kanaka diaspora born on Ohlone Lands. I am accountable to Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi (The Kingdom of Hawaiʻi). I currently work at Loko Ea fishpond, a 400-year-old traditional fishpond, as a research alakaʻi (lead) and restoration assistant. I led monthly community workdays, removing invasive algae and restoring native plant, fish and bird species. As a kumu (teacher), I educated elementary students through moʻolelo (stories), place-based education, mele (song), and good ol’ fashion hard work. I recently graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a BA in Political Science, concentrating in International Relations and Environmental Policy. While at UCSB, I organized with the UCDivestTMT campaign, mobilizing students across California to demand the UC divest and reinvest in their students and indigenous communities. My pursuits are directed towards a complete hulihia (overturn) of decision-making power from Hawaiʻi throughout Moku Honu (Turtle Island). My activism focuses on food sovereignty, decolonization/demilitarization, the protection of sacred sites, emboldening the ʻoiaʻiʻo (truth) of our histories and healing through connection to place.

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Honu Nichols
they/them/all
Hawai'i
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Hannah Estrada

California

I am a 19 year old Chicana organizer from Yelamu, also known as San Francisco. I have been organizing for intersectional climate solutions since I was 14 years old with a group called Youth Vs Apocalypse. Through organizing I’ve come to understand that there is a need to shift over into deeper race and class conversations as having to do with climate. The climate crisis must be reframed to be truthful about how pollution and climate exists, and how intersectional solutions are truly the only way to move forward. I continue to organize because I hope to be apart of the amazing community that push forward these necessary conversations as well as fight for tangible solutions to local and global climate issues. I joined YCLC to continue building a climate movement that is not only intersectional but a movement of integrity and truth. When I’m not organizing I’m a full time student. When I’m not a full time student I’m reading, writing and drawing.

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Hannah Estrada
she/her/hers
California
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Dontay Wimberly

Georgia

My name is Dontay Wimberly and I am a Georgia native and I have lived in Atlanta all my life. I became very active in Social Movements around 2015 and I have been contributing to the movement in various capacities ever since. Each new crisis, b provides a new opportunity to reflect, learn and create a vision for the future. I channel my political passions through various forms of media including, song, poems, and the occasional short video. I have seen that through art, poets have the potential to map the future. I work to make the revolution irresistible.

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Dontay Wimberly
any pronouns
Georgia
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Candace / kandeaux Clark

Alabama

A graduate of The Piney Woods School, a historically black boarding school, Candace Clark is a Tuskegee University Alumna from Chicago, IL; with a BS in Agricultural Business with a focus on sustainability and a certificate in International Relations, as well as a former USDA 189 Scholar. Her experiences abroad as an African American woman cultivated her internal obligation to serve her community and those like it abroad. Finishing at American University’s School of International Service and the United Nations University for peace with dual MA’s in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, Candace, or Kandeaux the Farm Plug as she is known by many, hopes to empower black communities by learning and being a medium for sustainable agricultural techniques to small and middle farmers, internationally. She is a Farm Plug: An explorer, afro-futurist, & purveyor of emergent strategies; committed to education, the promotion of alternative, thriving lifestyles, and cultivating impactful connections between people, ideas, and nature in a way that is intersectional, restorative and regenerative. Using her experiences, she hopes to break down barriers by helping to develop and increase the capacity of her neighbors while simultaneously encouraging agricultural representation and intersectional justice. She is currently enrolled in Tuskegee University’s Integrative Public Policy and Development PhD program.

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Candace / kandeaux Clark
she/her/their
Alabama
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Dionna Brown

Michigan

Dionna Brown (she/her) grew up in Flint, Michigan with deep roots in Detroit, Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Dionna currently serves as the National Director of the Youth Environmental Justice Griot Program for Black Millennials 4 Flint (BM4F) where she carries out her mission to educate the youth and create future activists in her community. In this role, she successfully co-led a summer camp with Flint youth to teach them about the intersection of environmental justice and public health. Dionna’s experience living through the Flint Water Crisis sparked her thirst to be a voice for her community. Her drive for environmental justice and education also comes from the privilege of being educated at Howard University where she obtained a bachelor’s in Sociology. She is working on her master’s in Sociology and Juris doctorate at Wayne State University where she plans on being a civil rights attorney. Dionna is passionate about environmental and climate justice at the intersection of race and gender, law, politics, and social justice. She is fluent in Simplified Chinese and was accepted to the Tradition and Modernity in Taiwan Program for her stellar accomplishments in her Chinese classes while in college. Follow her on Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter @dionnalatrice_ or Instagram or TikTok @dionnadoesgradschool

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Dionna Brown
she/her/hers
Michigan
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Charlotte Mourad

California

Charlotte Mourad(any pronouns) grew up in the unceded territory of the Tongva people, also known as the Inland Empire region of Southern California, and that inspires their work. The environmental challenges the region faces are rooted in capitalism and white supremacy, due to the rise of the e-commerce industry that has created severe air quality issues in underserved communities, with Amazon being one of the biggest offenders. Their current focus is working with frontline community members monitoring air pollution from mostly railyards and diesel trucking with the goal of holding these industries and the regulatory board accountable, as well as communicating and quantifying the true cost of free shipping. She is passionate about data sovereignty and returning any data collected back to the community in an accessible manner.Charlotte applied to the YCLC program so she could connect with other people involved in environmental justice in their communities as well as learn from them and their experiences through peer knowledge exchange. In their free time, she is learning how to crochet a blanket. Her favorite thing to do is cook food from the SWANA region for my family and friends. Charlotte has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from UC Berkeley.

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Charlotte Mourad
any pronouns
California
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Cameron Oglesby

North Carolina

Cameron is an environmental justice organizer, oral historian, award-winning journalist, anddeveloping author who is dedicated to re-centering the voices, narratives, and knowledge ofhistorically disinvested communities in conservation, environmental policy, storytelling, andcorporate decision-making.A double alum of Duke University (‘21 &amp; ‘23), Cameron, in partnership with prominent leaders and movement icons, has spent her six years in North Carolina working with university and community leaders to establish climate education initiatives, leverage institutional power, and report on the intersection of environmental racism, infrastructure and policy, and land and agriculture. Her journalism has appeared in The Nation, The Assembly NC, Atmos Magazine, Grist, Southerly, Yale Climate Connections, and Earth in Color. She is an Advisory Board Member for the Rural Beacon Initiative, a member of the Warren County Environmental Action Team&#39;s Strategic Planning Committee, and is the project lead for The Environmental Justice Oral History Project: A storytelling hub and repository combining a diverse set of storytelling modalities to provide a comprehensive view of environmental justice in the U.S. South.She is a 2024 Aspen Future Leader Climate Fellow, Covering Climate Now’s 2023 Student Journalist of the Year Awardee, a 2023 NAAEE Environmental Education 30 Under 30 Leader, and a 2022 Yale/Op-Ed Project Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis.Cameron’s work is inspired by her own connection to ancestral farmland in Maryland that’s been in her family for almost 100 years.

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Cameron Oglesby
she/her
North Carolina
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Ayushi Vig

California

Ayushi (she/her) has worked in philanthropy for the past five years, organizing wealth for reparations and redistribution. Working to heal extractive wealth accumulation at the interpersonal and systemic levels led her to somatics and the healing justice movement. Ayushi is currently a Fellow at the Just Economy Institute, where she is focusing on integrated capital strategies for transitioning to solidarity economies. Ayushi is in the first year of the Leadership for Sustainability master's program at the University of Vermont, an online learning ecosystem for organizers that has been beautifully healing after years enduring the violence of academia. Through the program, she has been studying the people and places she comes from, and reckoning with what that means for her role in the world. This inquiry into her lineage has taught her that economy - the root word of which means “management of home” - is fundamentally about how we organize our relationships in a place, to take care of it and of each other. Consequently, she has a responsibility to integrate land stewardship, climate change, and ecology into the economic work she does.Ayushi grew up in New Delhi, India, and has called the Bay Area home for the past eight years.

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Ayushi Vig
she/her/hers
California
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Amari Dewberry

Massachusetts

Amari (She/ her) is a 26-year-old educator from Springfield, MA. She teaches English to 7th graders at a large inner-city school. Since 2019, Amari has been an active member of LiveWell Springfield’s Climate Change, Health, and Equity (CCHE) Coalition. As a coalition resident advocate, she joins with leaders from non-profits, businesses, key stakeholders, and partner organizations to advocate for policies and systems changes that address health disparities directly linked to climate change. Springfield, MA is ranked 12th in the nation for asthma. Amari has been a climate warrior since she first learned about the impact of our carbon footprint. Amari will always hold space and time for climate justice work, as she holds it close to her heart. Amari applied to the YCLC program out of interest and a desire to meet like-minded individuals who share a common goal. Her hope is that she walks away from this program with a renewed sense of motivation and fresh ideas on what she can do to make a change.For fun, Amari likes to binge-watch interesting shows on streaming platforms, go to the movies, take walks, hike at a local reservoir, travel, spend time with loved ones, garden, and laugh.

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Amari Dewberry
she/her/hers
Massachusetts
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Brittany Ochoa

Texas

Brit Ochoa (she/they) is passionate about community care, creativity, and sharing a delicious meal with whoever will join them. Brit currently serves as Policy Coordinator at La Semilla Food Center, primarily working on cross-programmatic collaborations that include youth workshops and the coordination of civic engagement on local, state, and federal regulations and legislation. Brit brings over six years of community organizing and research experience to the cohort, with an eclectic educational background (a B.A. in English with minors in both Art and Tourism Management) from Texas A&M University. Currently completing their Master of Social Work at the University of El Paso, Texas, Brit is dedicated to integrating civic engagement and cultural relevance into every aspect of their academic and professional work.

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Brittany Ochoa
she/they
Texas
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Ashley Ramirez

California

Ashley Ramirez (she/her) is from the Bay Area. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona – but has lived in Richmond, CA for the majority of her life. She graduated from Making Waves Academy, where she was a part of the girls' varsity soccer team and cross country team. During her high school years, Ashley was also a part of the ALA Girls State and Youth Vs Apocalypse (YVA) – these programs allowed her to find my passion for youth activism, politics and environmental justice. She is currently a first-year student at Sac State as a political-science major. Ashley still enjoys playing soccer and staying physically fit. As she enters the second semester of her freshman year, Ashley aspires to complete her philosophical goal of uplifting the voices of those who are underrepresented. Being able to create a positive impact in low-income communities is what inspires her the most. Ashley was inspired to apply to the YCLC program because it’s an opportunity to meet new people who share similar interests as her and people who can guide her in accomplishing her mission statement.

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Ashley Ramirez
she/her/hers
California
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Amara Ifeji

Maryland

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.

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Amara Ifeji
she/her
Maryland
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Brayan Cruz

California

Brayan Cruz (He/They) is located on the traditional lands of the Acjachemen people in Santa Ana, OC. As a migrant Two-Spirit person, their work is driven by the preservation of culture through seeds and food. Their knowledge comes from their lived experiences as a working-class migrant person, their community, and their culture. They are currently working in five community gardens in their community. Where they are actively supporting the development of a Seed Library. A Seed Library that will uplift seed and food sovereignty endeavors in their community. They are driven by intergeneration healing and migrant justice initiatives. Their individual and collective work is part of a greater responsibility. A responsibility to care for the land and seeds for the next generations. As an undocumented person, they believe in the access to traditional food and cooking materials as a medium for holistic wellness. The support, resources, and the nationwide efforts of the YCLC were the major contributing factors to their application into the program. They are excited to build community with people with similar ideas and projects that align. When they are not found gardening or cooking they are dancing in moshpits.

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Brayan Cruz
he/they
California
Graphic Recording: Ashanti Gardner - visualscribe.co