For as long as I can remember I have had a passion for the outdoors. As a kid, my parents took my brothers and I camping every summer, taught us the importance of the outdoors, and urged us to spend every free moment outside. We spent long summer days exploring the small wooded area near […]
My name is Malcolm D’Avilar and I live in the city of Minneapolis. I live in a community where it’s not so environmentally friendly, so environmental justice has always impacted my life. The environment is important to me because I have asthma. In the area that I live in there is a garbage incinerator, making […]
By Sarah Goodspeed, Youth & Policy Manager and Shaza Hussein, Youth Environmental Activists of Minnesota (YEA! MN) Core leader The youth of this country know that our voices are powerful. Today we are banding together to change the status quo in areas that for decades have been immovable. We are leading on solutions and raising our […]
Ever since I started my internship at Climate Generation, I’ve been more educated on climate change and social justice all together. I felt very scared coming in and meeting new people, but I slowly felt more welcomed by the amazing Core members. I not only started to learn more about climate change, but I felt […]
What did you love about the Youth Climate Justice Summit? “Advocating for myself and adults listening.” “The like-minded people, and seeing where legislators stand on issues.” “Getting the chance to talk to legislators.” This is some of the feedback students gave after our day of action at the State Capitol. On April 25, 2018 about […]
“Youth are powerful, youth are brave, youth are the answer.” Youth leaders stood in a circle and repeated this phrase just before departing our Youth Climate Workshop in the Moorhead Public Library. This moment was the beginning of our Youth Convening Minnesota project, a seven-month leadership opportunity for high school aged youth to learn about […]
Just a few weeks back, on January 26th, me and Marco—a YEA! MN Core Member—climbed the steps of the Thurgood Marshall Center in Washington, D.C. I was both excited and anxious. We were heading to the annual meeting of the Power Shift Network, a collective of organizations mobilizing to mitigate climate change and create a […]
When I was in middle school (in 2009), the topic of climate change was just beginning to gain widespread attention in the news. Within my 8th-grade class, a group of us became alarmed at what we were hearing in the media about global warming; however, the urgency of the issue wasn’t reflected in the programming […]
Our YEA! MN program began the school year with the first annual Climate Youth Kick-off, drawing 20 students from across the Twin Cities metro area for a day of workshops and hands-on practice with tools they can replicate at their schools and in their communities. The Kick-off was co-led by student leaders, Climate Generation staff, […]
YEA! MN is led by a group of students called the Core, with support from Climate Generation staff. They meet every week to plan and lead workshops and events for the YEA! MN network. Between robotics, debate, testifying against oil companies, and more, these 8 fabulous youth are steering the ship this year: Abdisatar Jibril […]