Haana Edenshaw delivered a speech at the 2020 Brower Youth Awards.

The event was held virtually on October 15. Further details about the awards are available at broweryouthawards.org.

Isabella Wallmow delivered a speech at the 2020 Brower Youth Awards, which took place virtually on October 15.

Further details about the awards are available on the Brower Youth Awards website.

Chander Payne delivered a speech at the 2020 Brower Youth Awards.

The event was held virtually on October 15. For more details, visit the Brower Youth Awards website: www.broweryouthawards.org

While volunteering at a juvenile detention center, Isabella Wallmow, 20, realized incarcerated youth needed healing, not just punishment. Inspired by permaculture agriculture, she conceived a gardening program in 2018.

With support from the Resiliency Institute and enthusiastic detention center staff, Isabella launched the Seeds for Change Garden Program in 2019. This initiative creates a safe, healing space, empowering youth with marketable skills.

Seeds for Change prioritizes youth voices, allowing them to manage all aspects of the garden, from planting to harvesting. The program addresses food insecurity and provides valuable health education. Learn more at Brower Youth Awards.

Ojibwe youth Danielle Boyer, 19, founded The STEAM Connection to combat disparities in quality STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) education. Her early experiences highlighted how unequal access disadvantages low-income students and impacts our planet's future.

The STEAM Connection prioritizes Indigenous and other communities of color, offering free classes and events on recycling, innovation, and sustainable design. Danielle helps children realize their potential as environmental innovators and fosters interest in STEAM careers.

Through initiatives like robotics kits made from recycled materials and mentoring 35 youth teams, Danielle has reached tens of thousands of students globally.

www.broweryouthawards.org

Haana Edenshaw, 16, a Haida Nation member and seasoned activist, is one of 15 Canadian youth suing the federal government for its role in the climate crisis. Her deep commitment to environmental and Indigenous rights, rooted in ancestral knowledge of land stewardship, has seen her organize climate strikes, speak with Greta Thunberg, and address the UN.

The lawsuit argues that Canada's continued support of fossil fuels violates the youth's rights to life, liberty, security, equality, and public trust. This action is part of a global youth movement, supported by Our Children’s Trust, holding governments accountable for climate change. Learn more: Brower Youth Awards

At 16, Alexandra Collins discovered Sterigenics had emitted levels of ethylene oxide (EtO), a known carcinogen, near her Hinsdale, Illinois, community for decades. Her neighborhood's high cancer rate (nine times the national average) spurred Alexandra to cofound Students Against Ethylene Oxide (SAEtO) to ban EtO emissions near schools and homes.

SAEtO educates the public, advocates for safer sterilization, and organizes campaigns. Alexandra's advocacy, with allied groups, led to the 2019 closure of the Sterigenics facility near her home. She also launched EtO-Free, a project whose all-girl team created a website reviewing EtO-free beauty products, empowering women to demand manufacturing transparency.

Learn more at broweryouthawards.org.

Eighteen-year-old Diego Arreola Fernández founded Green Speaking after learning about plastic pollution at the 2019 Ocean Heroes Bootcamp. His campaign uses in-school engagement, social media, and motivational videos to encourage Mexican children, schools, and businesses to combat plastic pollution through habit and policy changes. He also delivers talks to diverse audiences, from young children to business leaders, and postponed a 2020 conference to 2021 due to Covid-19.

Despite Mexico's challenges with violence, poverty, and inequality, environmental awareness is crucial. Diego aims to transform Green Speaking into an environmental organization. Its mission will be to cultivate more leaders, empowering them to advocate for the planet and inspire a sustainable future.

http://www.broweryouthawards.org/

In 2016, 18-year-old Chander Payne addressed his school's fresh produce shortage by connecting its food pantry with a local farm, delivering 20 pounds weekly. Inspired by regenerative agriculture, he founded Urban Beet farm in his high school courtyard. He invited youth from the Washington DC–based Homeless Children’s Playtime Project to grow vegetables, and his team partnered with True Food Kitchen to provide 20 children with farm-fresh meals.

Urban Beet has since provided 2,500 pounds of produce to underserved families and people experiencing homelessness, replicating its model nationwide. During the pandemic, they also donated 200 Free Little Farms—windowsill planters complete with soil, seeds, and support notes. Learn more at Brower Youth Awards.

Diego Arreola Fernández delivered a speech at the 2020 Brower Youth Awards. This prestigious event celebrates young environmental leaders.

The awards ceremony was held virtually on October 15. For additional information about the Brower Youth Awards, please visit their official website: www.broweryouthawards.org.

Unngoorra Harbour, an alum of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF), congratulates the Class of 2020 on their achievements.

Unngoorra attended Queensland University of Technology and St Joseph's Nudgee College, graduating in 2015.

Danat Tekie's TEDxUiO talk, "Demystifying 'sustainability'," explores youth as a driving force for a sustainable future and encourages self-reflection. It's a must-watch for anyone seeking clarity on sustainability.

Danat, an "earthpreneur" passionate about making sustainability business as usual, is Chief External Relations for Young Sustainable Impact (YSI). YSI solves global sustainability challenges by fostering youth entrepreneurship and innovation, creating impact startups. She previously helped build Future Leaders Global, a leading youth leadership program in the Nordics.

This talk was presented at an independently organized TEDx event. Learn more at ted.com/tedx.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland visited Columbia for a World Leaders Forum event, offering students and faculty an 'extraordinary experience' with a leading sustainability figure. The event was hosted by Alex Halliday, director of Columbia’s Earth Institute, and moderated by Karenna Gore, director of the Center for Earth Ethics.

Columbia has long tackled climate change through cutting-edge research and grassroots student movements. A new series, 'Columbia on Climate,' now highlights the university’s central focus on climate and sustainability within its community.

News media must address climate change with urgency. Over 150 outlets, partnering with Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation, dedicated a week (September 16-23) to reporting on humanity's devastating impact on the planet.

Teenage climate activist Alexandria Villaseñor shares her perspective within this initiative. Explore CJR's full series: https://www.cjr.org/covering_climate_now/

Dineen O'Rourke leads youth climate action, heading a 14-member U.S. delegation to COP23 in Bonn, Germany. She works with SustainUs, a youth-led organization with 20 years of experience empowering young people at UN conferences. Her focus includes storytelling, direct actions, and international partnerships, building on her prior role at COP22 in Marrakech.

Domestically, O'Rourke actively resists fossil fuels. She mobilized against fracking projects and pipelines in New England, and co-founded the Sugar Shack Alliance. This nonviolent direct action group has trained hundreds in western Massachusetts to disrupt the fossil fuel industry.

In late 2016, concerned about the incoming administration's commitment to the Paris Climate Accord, Anne Lee and students in Sammamish, WA, co-founded Schools Under 2C. This student-led organization aims to raise climate change awareness among students globally.

Schools Under 2C, with 80 members, has significantly reduced Tesla STEM high school's monthly carbon footprint by over two tons. Lee implemented composting, lighting reduction, and a transportation incentive app. Now, 30 schools worldwide have pledged to join the "Under 2C challenge," replicating these efforts.

In 2016, Claire Wayner and Mercedes Thompson co-founded Baltimore Beyond Plastic (BBP), a youth-led organization dedicated to reducing plastic pollution in Baltimore. Inspired by the public health impacts of plastic waste, including toxic incinerator emissions and carcinogens leaching from school lunch styrofoam, they sought to address local environmental inequities.

BBP actively combats pollution through school visits, educational workshops, rallies, and legislative advocacy. Having successfully campaigned for a statewide styrofoam ban last year, Wayner and Thompson are now pushing for bans on both styrofoam and plastic bags in Baltimore. They are sharing an award this year for their impactful work.

Last year, Dejah Powell founded Get Them to the Green (G2G) to foster environmental passion among Chicago youth, especially youth of color. G2G's first initiative was a summer camp, engaging 14 young people in environmental justice, sustainability, and food agriculture.

G2G has since partnered with Gardenneers to build a school garden at Powell’s elementary school, providing hands-on outdoor education. The organization also conducts environmental education workshops throughout the city.

Now a Cornell senior, Powell believes understanding environmental problems is key to solving them. She hopes urban environmental education will improve eco-literacy and help under-resourced communities access vital local and global conversations.

After organizing for fossil fuel divestment and environmental justice at Stanford, Charlie Jiang co-founded the DC ReInvest Coalition in Washington, DC. This coalition, part of the global #DefundPipelines movement, pressures the DC government to divest from banks linked to fossil fuel pipelines, private prisons, and predatory lending practices.

Instead, the Coalition advocates for reinvesting District funds into community-led solutions for DC's most under-resourced residents. Jiang provides strategic and narrative direction, helping organize advocacy efforts against fossil fuel extraction's environmental and community damage, including past support for the #NoDAPL movement.

Anthony Torres is a Washington, DC-based community organizer who mobilizes thousands of volunteers to advocate for climate justice, fossil fuel resistance, and environmental protection. He has organized diverse actions, from a dance party protest outside Ivanka Trump's home to a vigil for Hurricane Harvey victims and a sit-in at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's office. Torres strives to build accessible narratives that highlight shared humanity while addressing race, class, and gender disparities.

Additionally, Torres serves as the campaign representative for the Sierra Club’s Responsible Trade Program, advocating for an equitable NAFTA agreement that benefits the environment, workers, and communities. He is also a trustee for the Progressive Workers Union, representing Sierra Club employees.