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.

Charlotte Relyea, a Partner at McKinsey, recently discussed findings from the "Women in the Workplace" study. She highlighted its insights and emphasized how gender equity benefits businesses.

This comprehensive research was a collaborative effort by McKinsey and LeanIn.org. Further details and key findings can be accessed here.

Pioneering women's rights lawyer and activist Catharine A. MacKinnon explores the "Butterfly Effect" in law. She argues that seemingly minor legal interventions can generate major social and cultural transformations, inspiring equality seekers to spread their wings.

A distinguished Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law at Michigan Law, MacKinnon specializes in sex equality issues under international and domestic law. Watch her discuss these powerful ideas in our latest RSA Spotlight video. For the full talk, click here. Learn more about her work here.

Our Children’s Trust is suing the federal government on behalf of twenty-one young people, including Victoria Barrett, over its climate policies. The lawsuit demands a science-based national climate recovery plan to bring carbon dioxide below 350 parts per million by 2100.

As of May 8, 2017, results were encouraging: a preliminary ruling in November affirmed the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life.

Water.org co-founder Matt Damon shares inspiring thoughts and anecdotes with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. They discuss strategies for making water accessible to the world's poorest communities.

Damon also recounts a humbling experience with a smart Haitian pre-teen, highlighting how even a mega-star can learn from unexpected sources.

Heidi Kritz has dedicated nearly half her life to protecting Alaska's Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble Mine. This copper and gold project threatens the world's largest salmon fishery, which is vital for the local economy, ecological stability, and native cultures.

Kritz has tirelessly fought the mine, organizing rallies and a letter-writing campaign that gathered over 6,000 voices. She also mobilizes new activists by working with tribal high school students. Her leadership has significantly advanced the decade-long effort to defend Bristol Bay, and she remains committed to this crucial fight.

Will Amos and a University of California, Irvine team have developed an innovative recycling system that transforms plastic waste into 3D printing material. This cradle-to-cradle system, which includes a grinder, extruder, spooler, and 3D printer, produces only water vapor as a byproduct. It directly tackles issues of overconsumption and plastic pollution.

An environmental engineer, Amos believes technology combined with education is vital for lasting environmental change. His team showcases the portable recycling system at campuses and TEDx events, emphasizing interactive learning. The project's core mission is to educate and inspire action.

Xerxes was honored with a prestigious Brower Youth Award.

This accolade recognized his significant contributions to environmental stewardship.

Specifically, Xerxes dedicated his efforts to restoring and establishing an educational wild space in upstate New York, creating a valuable resource for both nature and learning.

Onate received a prestigious Brower Youth Award, recognizing her significant environmental contributions.

She earned this accolade for successfully fostering a thriving butterfly garden at her high school in Hialeah, Florida.

Amos received a Brower Youth Award.

He was recognized for developing an innovative recycling system that transforms plastic waste into stock material for 3D printing projects.

Kritz received a prestigious Brower Youth Award.

This recognition honors her dedicated efforts in protecting Bristol Bay, achieved through impactful youth and community engagement initiatives.

Tennessee native Erica Davis recognized that rural communities often see little benefit from local oil and gas extraction. Collaborating with grassroots organizers in Campbell County, she researched and sponsored a bill to reform oil and natural gas severance taxes.

Davis's bill aims to raise these taxes, which are the sole legislative means to keep extraction wealth in-state. Crucially, it seeks to distribute all revenue directly to the affected communities where extraction occurs, rather than the current one-third. Despite Davis's lobbying efforts and bipartisan support, the bill was dropped from the 2015-2016 docket. Now pursuing an environmental law degree, Davis plans to revive the legislation in the next session.

Karina Gonzalez is a key student leader for Fossil Free Northern Arizona University (FFNAU), a campaign urging the university to divest from top fossil fuel corporations. She coordinates negotiations with the university president, leads recruitment, and manages media relations, securing national coverage for their efforts.

FFNAU is Arizona's sole divestment campaign, distinguished by its community partnerships. Gonzalez has fostered this by collaborating with the Black Mesa Water Coalition, an Indigenous environmental organization. Together, they advocate for university investment in Navajo Nation sustainability projects. Karina also coordinates a United Nations youth delegate leadership program.

Will Keepin & Cynthia Brix presented "Transforming Patriarchy: From Gender Oppression to Beloved Community" at the 2016 National Bioneers Conference. Watch their full talk here.

Their Gender Equity and Reconciliation (GRI) process heals wounds related to gender, sexuality, and intimacy, uniting people of all orientations to confront disharmony. Developed over 24 years and implemented in nine countries, GRI has achieved remarkable success, notably influencing South Africa's AIDS and HIV policies. New academic research on the program is ongoing at two South African universities.

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Davis was honored with a Brower Youth Award.

She earned this recognition for her advocacy on behalf of frontline communities impacted by Mississippi's gas extraction industry, a cause she advanced through the state legislature.