Gen Zs and millennials are feeling the heat as the impacts of the climate crisis hit closer to home than ever. These 30 youth leaders are pushing back, driving an impact revolution.
More than any other generation, Gen Zs and millennials are feeling the heat, with the brutal impacts of the climate crisis clearer than ever and fuelling a global wave of climate anxiety. UNICEF surveyed nearly 3,400 young people in 15 countries across Africa, Asia, and North and South America and shared the findings at Climate Week NYC in September. They found that more than half (57%) experience eco-anxiety. Rather than looking away, youth leaders are channelling their emotions into action. But it isn’t always easy.
How the top 30 are selected
Every April, Corporate Knights opens the 30 Under 30 nominations to the public. An internal team narrows the list of submissions down to a short list of 50, then the panel of judges each submit their top 30 picks, and votes are tallied.
Judges
Senator Rosa Galvez
Canadian senator and president of the ParlAmericas climate change network
Kat Cadungog
Executive director, Foundation for Environmental Stewardship, and a 2022 Corporate Knights 30 Under 30
Kyra Bell-Pasht
Director of research and policy, Investors for Paris Compliance
Adria Vasil
Managing editor of Corporate Knights and bestselling author of the Ecoholic book series
Zein Hindawi
29, TORONTO
MANAGER OF YOUTH ENGAGEMENT, PLAN INTERNATIONAL CANADA
Zein Hindawi’s first step toward advocacy came through reflections on her childhood, as a new immigrant to Canada, confronting other children who made fun of her Arabic accent or joked about not being able to hang out with her because she was Muslim. She wished she knew then about where she could turn for support in the face of discrimination. For the last 10 years, her work has been about filling that gap, empowering young people by providing them with the tools, resources and confidence to take action in a meaningful way. She’s created Plan International Youth Councils to support young leaders to start their own initiatives and has travelled to places like China, Senegal, Jordan and Kenya to understand the range of challenges facing youth today. “Achieving one’s advocacy goals requires a collective effort: asking for support from mentors, questioning the status quo, connecting with like-minded changemakers and more,” she says.
Mihskakwan James Harper
28, WINNIPEG
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, NRSTOR INC.; CO-CHAIR, SEVENGEN ENERGY
Every project Mihskakwan James Harper works on has a single goal: designing renewable energy sources that benefit Indigenous communities. As a member of the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, Harper knows his responsibilities as a future ancestor. And as co-chair of SevenGen Energy’s Indigenous youth council, he helped set up a new program called ImaGENation, which mentors Indigenous youth on implementing their own clean energy projects. “My work tries to advocate from a young person’s lens and make it very clear that we have to do more, faster.” To do that, the business development manager for NRStor energy-storage developer says, “We need warriors. That doesn’t only mean people out on the front lines, defending their territories. We also need warriors in boardrooms. We need lawyers. We need engineers to design the energy systems of tomorrow.”
Jessica LeBlanc
28, VANCOUVER
PROGRAM DIRECTOR, FOUNDATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
It’s frustrating to come up against the persistent tokenization of young people as “learners now” and “leaders later,” especially when the “later” is under threat, Jessica LeBlanc says. So her work at the Foundation for Environmental Stewardship (FES) has centred on equipping those young changemakers with the education, resources and support they need to act on climate, never mind the naysayers. “Youth leadership and influence are crucial for our ability to achieve the climate-resilient Canada we all desperately need,” she says. Her team at FES has delivered more than 80 sustainability training workshops to more than 5,500 students and educators across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. “The most significant impacts I’ve witnessed are when students learn and demonstrate empathy for a cause or a group of people that they hadn’t considered before. This culture of kindness is what will bring us a healthier and more sustainable planet.”
Xia (Alice) Zhu
28, TORONTO
PHD CANDIDATE, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
“If you have a vision for your planet, don’t be afraid to make it a reality.” That’s Alice Zhu’s message to young sustainability leaders today, and one she has embodied. She recalls the first time she heard about the North Pacific garbage patch as a high school student. It was such a startling image, a mass of plastic in the ocean, that it drove her to action. She founded Climate Impact Network, her first of three environmental organizations, which has delivered climate-science workshops to more than 300 middle- and high-school students across Ontario. Her doctoral research has shed light on how plastic pollution moves through the environment and identified which ecosystems are affected the most. Her peer-reviewed research has been cited hundreds of times, and she has spoken about it at dozens of conferences, workshops, panels and speaker series. “One person is not going to solve climate change or end plastic pollution,” she notes. “We need everyone working together to overhaul our broken system.”
Emily McIntosh
28, PARIS, FRANCE
STUDENT, SCIENCES PO PARIS; FORMER CLIMATE ACTION COORDINATOR, NEW GLASGOW, N.S.
As a kid growing up in St. Catharines, Ontario, almost all of Emily McIntosh’s free time was spent playing and learning in nature. Once she turned 18, she spent her summers in the forests and rivers around Ontario’s Temagami Island, where she worked as a backcountry canoe trip guide. These were formative explorations that forged a connection with the natural world that guides her today, as she pursues a master’s in environmental policy at Sciences Po Paris. Before relocating to Europe, Emily was the climate action coordinator in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, where she worked to embed climate and sustainability goals into all aspects of the municipality’s operations. She led two community-wide consultations, steered the Climate Action Volunteer program, and co-led the region’s inaugural Pictou County Climate Summit. “The more people involved, perspectives included and needs considered, the more likely we are to develop policies and projects that are meaningful, impactful and grounded in equity and reconciliation,” she says.
Miranda Wang & Jeanny Yao
29, MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA
COFOUNDERS & CEO/COO, NOVOLOOP
Vancouver high school students Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao were inspired to take action after visiting a municipal waste station and seeing the staggering amount of plastic trash. “We were shocked to see how much plastic was in the garbage,” Wang says. They had an idea: what if you could use bacteria to break down all that plastic? Yao went on to pursue biochemistry and environmental science at the University of Toronto, while Wang studied molecular biology and engineering entrepreneurship at the University of Pennsylvania. The duo, both daughters of entrepreneurs, reunited to found Novoloop (formerly BioCellection), a start-up that breaks down polyethylene waste to create high-performance materials. Their newest product, Lifecycled, is a thermoplastic made from up to 50% post-consumer waste, and it’s being used in shoemaker On’sCloudprime running shoes. Novoloop’s innovative approach has earned them a spot in the World Economic Forum’s 100 most promising Technology Pioneers of 2022 and raised US$21 million in funding.
Siobhan Finan
26, WHISTLER, B.C
MANAGER OF REAL ESTATE SUSTAINABILITY, CANADA POST
Siobhan Finan is playing a key role in getting one of the biggest and most recognizable Crown corporations to its waste-diversion goal. She led the creation of Canada Post’s first zero-waste baseline, a detailed inventory of all waste generated in operations through durable goods and construction, and she developed the company’s first zero-waste strategy, which serves as a roadmap so it can hit its 90% diversion target by 2030. Canada Post already diverts 67% of its waste from landfill through reduction, recycling and reuse – which represents 27,000 tonnes of material. “It can be challenging working in the field of sustainability, as you often hear fresh news stories about a new environmental disaster,” she says. “I try my best to focus on my slice of the pie where I can make a difference.”
Jordan Lin
23, TORONTO
ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTANT, ARUP; CO-FOUNDER, REIMAGINE17
At just 23, Jordan Lin has been busy. His focus? “Empowering the enablers of change with the knowledge, resources, connections and opportunities to achieve scaled impact,” he says. The Beijing-born mechanical engineering grad co-founded University of Waterloo’s Impact Alliance to amplify the UN’s sustainable development solutions before starting the non-profit ReImagine17, raising $150,000 in financing and providing 24 young people paid opportunities to learn about, contribute to and make an impact on sustainability across Canada. Now, through his work as an energy and sustainability consultant at Arup, he’s helped clients slash 8,100 tonnes of annual greenhouse gas emissions in their buildings. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the size of the world’s problem, Lin says. “Cultivate positive energy that builds a sense of purpose in your work and encourages perseverance to overcome challenges in the face of adversity.”
Ashoke Mohanraj
25, HALIFAX
AUTHOR; LAW STUDENT, DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
There are a few mottos that Ashoke Mohanraj lives by. One of them comes from his parents, Sri Lankan refugees who escaped the civil war and made it to Canada thanks to the kindness of others. Living in Markham, Ontario, they taught their son to work hard and be kind. “Nothing more and nothing less,” Mohanraj recalls. And so for him, “sustainability has never really been about saving the birds and the bees. It was always about kindness, both towards the planet and people.” He wrote Pollinator Man, a children’s book that teaches readers about different environmental issues and how they can be part of the solution. He has reached more than 5,000 youth through live readings and educational workshops, and another 10,000 through sales of the book. Mohanraj, a former environmental advisor for the RCMP, says the book promotes representation in the sustainability space and encourages people of colour to become engaged. His message to other young people: “Your personal and lived experiences are what make you a leader, so make sure you use that as an asset.”
Brighid Fry
20, TORONTO
ARTIST; CO-FOUNDER, MUSIC DECLARES EMERGENCY CANADA
Growing up in a queer, feminist, climate-focused family of activists, Brighid Fry spent a lot of time at marches and sit-ins as a child. But music was her calling. “My first-ever concert was performing at a Greenpeace fundraiser.” People can be moved emotionally and spiritually by music, Fry says, and that’s often missing from a lot of political activism. Today the singer-songwriter will humbly tell you that she’s not a musician with a lot of celebrity status but she is getting the music industry to sit down and listen through the non-profit she co-founded during the pandemic: Music Declares Emergency Canada. She’s since helped organize the inaugural Canadian Music Climate Summit and has worked with a number of festivals to reduce their carbon footprints. “I think we have really moved the needle,” Fry says. Having just turned 20, she adds, “I feel like I am just getting started.”
Fired up: Meet 30 youth leaders sparking change – Part 1
Fired up: Meet 30 youth leaders sparking change – Part 2
Source: Corporate Knights
