This article is part of our Youth Voices series. At Ten Strands we believe that young people have valuable perspectives and a critical role in shaping our society and our world. We recognize their power to drive dialogue and create positive change and are committed to providing a platform which amplifies their contributions.
What does it mean to be a youth climate leader, and why is youth leadership for the environment important to you?
To me, a youth climate leader means that they are empowering others to take on or advocate for climate action. A youth climate leader brings together a group of people from students to community members to create change that helps mitigate or adapt to climate change. They take the problem into their own hands, and they fight for a solution to combat environmental issues—no matter how big or small.
Youth leadership for the environment is important to me because I know so many students who think that climate change is going to end the world. They are paralyzed by the extreme information that they hear from the news. Youth leadership focuses on action. I believe that focusing on one’s control over a situation helps lower anxiety levels. For climate change, realizing that, as youth, we can make a difference can help reduce stress around the subject. Instead, they will focus on their actions. This is a big part of my nonprofit, One Green Step, as well. I hope to empower students that they can make an impact, instead of becoming overwhelmed by the information around climate change.
Why did you want to pursue an internship with Ten Strands, and what was your experience during your internship with Ten Strands? Additionally, in what ways do you hope your internship made an impact?
I wanted to pursue an internship with Ten Strands because of the opportunity to learn and grow in the area of environmentalism. I wanted to learn the best way to implement environmental education. I wanted to learn how an impactful nonprofit like Ten Strands is run, and I wanted to be surrounded by people with similar goals and interests and to learn from them. My goal was also to take what I learned in this internship and apply the knowledge and insights I gained so that my nonprofit could have a bigger impact beyond my community.
Interning with Ten Strands has been a great experience. The people here are amazing! I always love meeting and working with people who have the same passions as me, so it has been great working with Franny, another intern; Julie, a climate corps fellow; and Andra, the chief innovation officer of Ten Strands. I loved the variety of projects that we have worked on over the course of the summer since I could learn and test out different skills through a variety of topics and tasks. From going through the CYCP applications to researching the importance of sustainability for schools, I have learned so much, and it has inspired me to take on more projects to further environmental action.
Hopefully, my time here with Ten Strands has made a positive impact by advancing some of the projects that otherwise wouldn’t have been completed as quickly. Now, they can start making an impact sooner and continue making an impact after my internship.
Do you plan on pursuing environmentalism as a career?
I plan on combining my love for environmentalism and sustainability with business. I am not exactly sure what that will look like right now. It might be founding a nonprofit that furthers climate action, or it might be founding a start-up that, hopefully, drives change in the market. Or it might not look like that at all, but right now, that is what I am hoping to do. What I know for sure is that environmentalism will be a big part of my career no matter where it takes me.
What advice would you give to young and aspiring climate leaders?
Remind yourself of the purpose of what you are doing. Why are you, or why did you want to be, a climate leader? Remind yourself of your passion continuously because there will be a lot of hurdles along the way. People might say that your ideas won’t work. There might also be some pushback, but fight through it. Reminding yourself about why you are a climate leader can help reinvigorate the passion that will give you some fuel to keep pushing through the challenges. This is important because to make change, we need to continue showing that this issue matters. To do that we need to keep coming back to convince the naysayers. You might need to switch directions, but don’t stop going after your passion. And remind yourself why you are passionate.
One other piece of advice that is more specific for climate leaders is to remember that there is still hope. The news about climate change can and will be frightening. We can’t change all of it. What we can do is continue being a climate leader to create change. Books like Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie could be really helpful on your journey of being a climate leader to realize that there is hope or to give you a different perspective. Keep trying to hear various perspectives about the issue so that you can decide for yourself what is the best way to go about combating climate change.
