Hello YEA Family,
Ten years! This year, this month, today, we are celebrating 10 years of YEA Camp! I can’t believe it.

It was 10 years ago in April that I put a $2,000 check in the mail, pulled from my savings, to pay the deposit on our first ever YEA Camp!

I was excited, of course, but more than that, I was terrified. What was I getting myself into? So many things could go wrong. My brain was filled with “what ifs.”

I had a clear vision (though endless details to be worked out) and lots of experience working at camps, teaching, and as an activist, but I had never done anything quite like this before.

Walking down the street to put the check in the mailbox, I still remember thinking “well, hopefully the camp will actually happen, people will come, and I will make this money back. If not, $2,000 is a pretty small amount to risk to try to fulfill my dream and not look back on my life with regrets.” Hopefully! And look at us now!

But before I say anything else, I want to say that whether you have been a camper, parent, volunteer, donor, staff member, advisor, or have held some other relation to our camp family, THANK YOU!

YEA Camp is a culmination of so many incredible people doing so many incredible things. We will be sharing more about some of the people and experiences that helped YEA Camp exist and thrive this past decade. In the meantime, I want to share a personal story and note of appreciation below.

Get half off your registration to YEA Camp until May 1!

But first (just so it doesn’t get buried at the bottom of this post), I want to share that we are offering a special 10-year anniversary thank you gift!

For the next 10 days, we are offering 10 spots at each session for half-off tuition! This applies to each session of camp, including both sessions of our youth camp and YEA Camp for Adults! Just use the code 10YEARS when you register. This will be for the next 10 days, starting today until May 1.

We will also be reflecting on some of our favorite moments over the past 10 years on our Instagram, so follow us there to celebrate with us!

I hope you’ll join us as we embark on decade number 2!

How YEA Camp Came To Be (The Not That Short-ish Version)

People ask me a lot how I started YEA Camp, and my answer really depends on how much time they have.

Anyone who knew me between 2001-2009 knew that I was obsessed with activism and that I was planning to start a camp for aspiring activists someday. And some of them probably even thought it would happen one day! (I had my doubts!)

In 1998, I took an environmental science course that drastically redirected my path, leading me to such a meaningful, rewarding life of activism in many forms in the 2 decades that have followed. It was the activism of that professor, John Andrus, that has led to my own. And that’s the way activism works, isn’t it? One person inspiring and influencing another, who then pays that forward by influencing others.

I didn’t know anyone I really considered an activist. Looking back, I didn’t even know what activism was. I spent the first several years after that sort of stumbling along trying to learn. The more I learned about different social justice issues, the more I realized they were connected to other issues I didn’t know enough about. I wanted to learn as much as I could to help the environment, people, and animals. All I could think to do was to try one thing after another and keep going.

I pursued every training I could find, taking workshops and courses, and going to conferences, teach-ins, and talks. No matter how many books I read or internships and volunteering I did, I wanted to keep learning from as many people as I could. I did trainings in topics as varied as challenging white supremacy to permaculture, communication to education, management to improv.

I spent my 20s doing just about every type of activism I could think of. From leafleting to writing to protests to door-to-door canvassing and political campaigning, I tried to figure out how to make the biggest difference I could and find my place in the world.

Once I knew I wanted to start a camp, I did even more. I got my teaching credential and taught high-school English. Then I spent three years taking and then coaching leadership and communication courses. I even got certified to teach yoga. And I continued doing tons of activism, wanting to become knowledgeable in as many areas as possible. There was always more to learn and more ways to get involved.

It was this mentality that led to the idea for the camp in the first place.

It was 2001 when I started teaching a class called Animals and the Environment at an after-school program. I had been looking for volunteer opportunities on Craigslist, though I didn’t even know what I was looking for. I saw the listing to teach about a topic you’re passionate about that kids might be interested in. Even though I had no teaching experience, this seemed really interesting to me.

Over the years I had found that adults are often jaded or resigned when learning about problems in the world. On the other hand, young people often wanted to learn what they could do about them. I thought I would give it a try. What if I could nurture that naturally compassionate and activist-oriented mindset?

The students loved the class, and I loved teaching it. When parents asked me for suggestions for what their kids could do during the summer, well … the rest is history. (It’s in the longer version of this story.)

I give this backstory as context because so often our paths in life are windy and unfold as we keep going. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like we are even on a path, that we are headed the right way, or that we will ever get to our desired destination — if we even know what that is. If we continue on that path, we sometimes get someplace even more amazing than we could have planned for.

10 years of YEA Camp!!

We may not realize it at the time, but so many people are helping us along the way. Every person and organization I volunteered with, every journalist or author who educated me, even every person who debated and disagreed with me taught me so much in their own way. In fact, it was when I got laid off from my job teaching environmental education that I decided it was the right time to start the camp!

That “path” from when I first decided to start the yet-to-be-named camp to summer number 1 took me 8 years. Eight years to try to become the person I felt I needed to be to start the camp that I felt needed to exist. Eight years to feel confident enough that this program would be worth all the work to make it happen.

At camp, I’ve often shared the story about how scared I was to start YEA Camp, and how long it took me because I think it’s such a powerful lesson. I doubted myself so much, but I didn’t give up. I worked at camps every summer and did trainings for camp directors with the American Camp Association. It finally became clear to me that I had no more excuses and it was time to launch.

The thing I want campers to know is just how long it can take for us to manifest or achieve big projects. From the outside, it might seem like someone else knows what they’re doing and you don’t. Or it might feel like you’re never going to accomplish your plans. The whole time we’re working towards our goals, we might be filled with doubts and insecurities, but if it’s important enough, we need to just keep moving forward. It’s not that when I finally started the camp it’s because I stopped being scared. I had just done the work to prove to myself that I was ready to at least try. But that was only possible because I surrounded myself with people who believed in me — often more than I believed in myself.

Thanks to many people’s encouragement and coaching, in April 2009, I took the leap of faith. I sent my savings to Quaker Center to reserve the venue for our first session and haven’t looked back.

YEA Camp’s First Decade of Making an Impact

Over these 10 years, we have held 29 sessions in the most beautiful locations we could find. We’ve served thousands of vegan meals and led hundreds of workshops. We’ve trained over 700 inspiring young activists from over a dozen countries and most U.S. states. We’ve helped other educators bring social justice education into their classrooms and summer camps, mentored campers throughout the year, and wrote an ebook, The Beginner’s Guide to Changing the World. In 2018, we launched YEA Camp for Adults, the first program of its kind in the country.

We measure YEA Camp’s success by our campers’ accomplishments, though these are impossible to fully measure or list.

YEA Campers have gone on to make huge changes at their schools. Think improving the school’s recycling, having more vegan-friendly cafeteria options, getting rid of the cafeteria’s styrofoam trays, introducing anti-bullying campaigns, launching clubs to enable their peers to get active, changing the school’s racist mascot, and even successfully changing their school’s name. This just scratches the surface.

Campers have worked in their communities on political campaigns for preferred candidates, lobbying their representatives, holding voter registration drives, gathering signatures for ballot measures, testifying at hearings, helping to pass laws, and even gotten a polling place on their campus.

YEA Campers have organized, attended, and spoken at marches around the nation. They have posted about their cause and their activism on social media. They have volunteered their time and raised thousands of dollars for those in need, and on and on.

From feedback we’ve received, maybe the biggest long-term impact of YEA Camp has been on their mindsets. Even years later, so many campers have told us that YEA Camp shifted the way they think about themselves, about the world, and about the impact that one person can have. It gave them practical skills and ideas, like to start and run a great club, as well as the confidence to actually do it. Campers have told us at the end of camp that any activism they do from here on out is thanks to their experience at camp. YEA Camp helps people to get on or continue their own activist path.

How can we quantify this over a lifetime, or even over 10 years? How do we even begin to tell these stories? We’ve been working on it and will keep you posted on that too.

So Many People Have Made YEA Camp Possible

Looking back, the number of people who have helped make YEA Camp what it is today is beautifully overwhelming.

Listing anyone specifically means leaving many more people out. Nevertheless, it’s hard to imagine YEA Camp coming into existence without April Rood, Joshua Rood, Sophie O’Shaugnessy, Alissa Hauser, and Landmark Education’s Team Management & Leadership Program. Ari Nessel has been supporting YEA Camp since it was an idea, and he keeps bringing ideas into fruition. Leanne Alaman, Erin Fields, Luke Janes, Laine Forman, Sharon Smith, Laura Carver, and others helped get that first pilot session off the ground so we could show proof of concept and that this was worth continuing. So much of what we created that session has formed the basis for traditions we still do today.

YEA Camp’s Co-Directors, Nora Kramer and Laura Carver

Laura Carver and her family helped turn me from a “lone nut” into a leader. It was Laura who helped take YEA Camp to other states and who turned my ideas into a curriculum guide.

Laura kept YEA Camp in existence when we had no money and were practically begging campers to come for free. Her amazing husband Jay took on months of single-parenthood in supporting Laura being at camp each summer. Every single thing we do today and in the future, even years after Laura’s been actively working on the camp, Laura deserves credit for.

Yvonne LeGrice stepped in at a difficult time organizationally to help us in so many needed ways when we desperately needed her.

Every member of our staff at camp do so much to make YEA Camp what it is. That means everything from talking with a homesick camper, to washing dishes, to leading a life-changing activity.

Some staff have worked with us for so many sessions we need to look back and add it up to figure out how many. And some even started as campers and became some of the most reliable staff we have.

Aaron Sorto, Amber Canavan, Ananya Singh, Andina Aste-Nieto, Anthony Pizzo, Brian Grupe, Charles Orgbon, Danielle Holtz, Diana Rose Rachel Frances, Drew Wilson, Eileen Botti, Erin McIntosh, Jake Johnson, Jeri Schneider, Leanne Alaman, Lillian Davis-Bosch, Lindsy Coon, Madeleine Lifsey, Mary Beth King, Mike McLendon, Monica Carr, Pierce Delahunt, Pike Long, Salimatu Amabebe, Shelby Kim, and Tammy Kremer are just some of the staff who have had an outsized influence over multiple years of YEA Camp.

We’ve received critical grants from the Ford Foundation, Nature’s Path, and A Well-Fed World, all of which enabled us to take our work to new heights. The Pollination Project and Sacramento Vegetarian Society have sponsored campers to attend, while Mercy For Animals and PETA have been among our loudest cheerleaders.

More than 500(!) people have donated to us — whether through a generous year-end donation or a $10 per month gift. Bobby Rullo, Brian Grupe, Elliot Trexler, Gabe Quash, the Martell Family, Melissa Spitalny, the Nessel and Klempner family, Remy Raquiza, Shannon Durham, and Sophie O’Shaugnessy have generously supported us for years. We literally couldn’t exist without you.

Parents, friends, and people we had never met before have volunteered their time and expertise. Brandon Herman’s incredible pro-bono filmmaking, and endless tech help from Katie Albright, Ed Yaffa, Ezra Aharon, Joshua (who is) Awesome, and Karen Rudy have made a huge difference. April Rood and Emilie McBain designed the first two versions of our YEA Camp website and logos for free! Kimberly Ireland just says yes when I ask for things. There are crews of people who have tabled for us for years in their areas. Special appreciation go to the New England crew of Judy Kelly, Julia Caruk, and Tracy Albernaz. And there are people who have housed us and driven us around and just done whatever random tasks were needed. Alex Davis, Bethany and Scott Davis, Dave Rutan, Jaimsyne Blakeley, and Leslie Kowash have saved us or made life easier many times.

And dozens of companies have donated food to us! Special appreciation go to Amy’s, Miyoko’s, and Tofurky for their years of generous support! Amie Hamlin, Jeri Schneider, and Lauren Scheller-Wolf did an incredible job managing our food donation program, making it possible for us to serve some of the best vegan food on the market affordably.

I’m honored to have gotten to work with such outstanding people, and to help make YEA Camp a thing! None of this would be possible without the tireless support of all of you in our YEA Camp community. For that, I forever thank you.

This list could go on and on. I can’t even begin to wrap my head around it.

Personally, my friends/framily have supported me in so many ways, I can’t even begin. Alon Raab, the Colangelo family, Gabe Quashnofksy, Hazel Kahan, Jaimsyne Blakely, Laura Carver, the Martell family, Melissa Spitalny, and Samantha Carney have literally helped make my life and then YEA Camp after it possible just by having me in their lives. And my parents — well, this post has been long enough, and I know they would be proud.

What we have built together is beautiful, and we are still at it, prepping for summer 2019!

Check our instagram for the rest of the month to see highlights from each year of YEA Camp!

Thank You Thank You And Thank You

As a thank you, to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, we are offering a special discount for this summer! Over the next 10 days, we are offering half-off for 10 spots at each session. Use the code 10YEARS when you register for our youth or adult camps by May 1!

We will also be sharing some of our favorite stories and photos with you. Follow us on Instagram to see our spotlight on one year per day over the next 10 days. You might see some familiar faces!

I am so grateful and proud of what we have accomplished in the last ten years. I hope our impact will be exponentially greater in the decades to come.

Thank you all for helping me make my dream come true.

Nora Kramer
Founder, YEA Camp

The post Celebrating 10 Years of YEA Camp! appeared first on YEA Camp.

Buzzfeed’s huge reach meant that the one-minute video got more than 15,000 views in its first hour of posting and over 75,000 views in the first 48 hours!

If you click on the video below, your like, comment, or share will help even more people see it.

While the video and the number of views is a huge win to help so many people learn about us, maybe the most exciting thing about it for us is how many of our campers, staff, parents, and supporters posted truly inspiring comments on the post, which of course also helped with Facebook’s algorithms to enable even more people to see it.

We posted it to our social media and parent and camper alumni groups and asked folks to share and add any comments about their experience, and while we already have amazing testimonials from so many people who have attended YEA Camp, these were truly inspiring to us.

Check out just some of the amazing things folks from our community said:

We’re not crying — you’re crying!!

It was fitting that these comments were from people from so many different sessions of YEA Camp because the video included footage from several different camp sessions from over the years.

The video not only shows the benefits of going to YEA Camp as a teen, but it highlights YEA Camp’s newest endeavor — YEA Camp for Adults!

The impact of a social justice immersion experience like YEA Camp reaches far beyond its participants because attendees of YEA Camp go on to make major changes in their communities, whether in climate change, human rights issues, animal rights, or whatever issue they choose.

With so many problems in our world, we need more people making a bigger difference.

Want to join us for an amazing experience this summer? Check out the details at YEACamp.org.

The post BUZZFEED Video About YEA Camp Already Has 75,000+ Views! appeared first on YEA Camp.

The Pollination Project, a foundation that makes small grants to grassroots activists all over the world, has partnered with The California Endowment to look for and fund outstanding young people in California for its Youth Rising grant. Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp, a summer camp for teen activists, happens to know a lot of outstanding young people in California!

Three YEA Campers have already been selected to receive $1000 grants from this unique program, helping to manifest their visions to expand their efforts.

Phoebe Collver-Freeland, from Fremont, CA, attended YEA Camp in Oregon first as a 14-year old in 2013 and again 3 years later in New York. Phoebe is a lifelong vegan and became an animal advocate at the age of 11(!). Phoebe and her family have turned their Bay Area property into a microsanctuary for rescued farmed animals.

Phoebe’s vision is to add a visitor center to the microsanctuary so that members of the community, especially kids, can visit and connect with the chickens, pigs, and goats.

YEA Camp’s director Nora Kramer nominated Phoebe for the Flow Fund, and we are thrilled that Phoebe got the grant! Phoebe, now 17, was declared by PETA2 to be “The Coolest Vegan Alive,” just got even cooler!

Akosua Boateng is a senior at Sacramento Charter High School and attended YEA Camp in 2014.

After attending YEA Camp, she told us, “I’ve learned so much. [Before camp] when I looked at the civil rights movement, it was like, what can I do today? … Now I have a plan, instead of just going off the top of my head or going with the flow. I have a plan. I’m not unprepared for the world.”

This made our hearts sing! Since YEA Camp, Akosua has become very active in social justice causes at her school and a local sustainable farm in Sacramento.

We nominated Akosua for a grant for her Project GOOD, an acronym for Growing Our Own Destiny, and she got the grant! Akosua works with the Yisrael Family Farm in the South Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento to, in her words, “use urban agriculture activism to get more people of color and of low income in touch with what we believe is a sacred thing — cultivating the Earth.”

With the grant, Akosua and her team will make starter gardening boxes to give to people in the community who want to grow their own food. “It’s our way of food activism, ensuring that all people can have a high-quality life while giving back to the Earth,” Akosua said.

Akosua was thrilled when she found out she had been awarded the grant. “I am truly inspired and grateful for us receiving this grant. It gives me hope for humanity. It reassures me that there are still people out there who are past the superficial and sincerely care about the health of our bodies and the Earth. We must step and be good stewards of the land given to us. Here in the city, we will start with urban agriculture.”

Similarly, Aly Pelka, 18, from Oceanside, who attended YEA Camp with Akosua three summers ago as a 15-year-old, has become passionate about farming, growing food, and helping people in need. She helps organize monthly events to provide food and needed items to homeless and low-income people in her area. Aly has found that the homeless community in her area are “smart and care about health, they just unfortunately don’t have access to healthy food.” Aly has gotten a certification in permaculture and lived abroad farming on sustainable communities in Central America, and she wants to put what she’s learned into action in her community.

We nominated Aly for a project that is inspired by combining these passions, and we were thrilled that she was selected to receive the grant.

Called Plant Love, Aly will be working with members of her community to create planter boxes of veggies that will be maintained by local businesses in her town, many of which have already agreed to participate.

“I am beyond grateful for this grant, as I strive to positively influence the world, starting with my own community,” Aly said. “With this grant, I am going to touch the lives of my community, and fuel my neighbors with organic fruits, veggies, and lots of love.”

We have been beyond thrilled to help these outstanding young changemakers access the funds that have been made so generously available by The Pollination Project and The California Endowment.

For our final project in supporting the California Youth Rising grant, YEA Camp and The Pollination Project are partnering with Reframe Labs, an incubator and accelerator for innovative in and out of district schools dedicated to equity, to put on The $1000 School Hack contest this Saturday. The day-long event held at Sunnyside Baptist Church in the South Central part of Los Angeles will award up to 5 $1000 grants to students in the LA Unified School District who develop innovative ideas to improve their schools.

“Students crave to express themselves and take ownership of their lives,” Sean Markin, the VP of Advocacy and Communications at Reframe Labs, explained. “We all want the pride that comes from helping our community. But how often do students get the opportunity to help reinvent their education? How often can students bring investment back to their school family? We are excited to use the $1,000 School Hack to empower our city’s children in these unique and powerful ways.”

Are you a student, or do you know a student in LA ages 13-18?

Click here to register to participate in this free event, which is open to middle- and high-school students throughout the state. 

“We draw so much inspiration and hope from young change makers. It is a privilege to work with YEA Camp to identify and invest in youth-led social change projects in California,” said Pollination Project’s Executive Director Alissa Hauser.

We feel the same! Being able to partner with The Pollination Project to help some of our campers get funding to expand their social change efforts and make a bigger difference in their communities has been an honor, and partnering with Reframe Labs has enabled us to connect even more young change makers with the funds to help them implement their visions. We are thrilled that there are organizations like The Pollination Project, The California Endowment, and Reframe Labs that are helping to elevate youth innovation and passions to make a difference.

If you or someone you know is a young changemaker, ages 12-17, check out YEACamp.org to see about joining us at our summer camp for social change to take your efforts to make a difference the next level. And if you or someone you know is doing social change work that would benefit from greater funding, visit ThePollinationProject.org.

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Even though I was one of the oldest campers, I was constantly being inspired by ALL of the other kids; it did not matter if they were 11 or 17. What all of them had accomplished even before camp was moving, and what they had planned for after camp was just exhilarating to hear about. The community was full of positivity- no bullying, no gossiping, people would not even let you put yourself down! The counselors were wonderfully diverse, yet they were all brought together by their passion for activism.

For every topic there was a counselor that specialized in it, which meant that we got to create our IOIs (Issue of Importance) with someone who had firsthand experience in that area. Our relationship with our counselors continues to flourish because they stay in touch with us, giving us connections related to our campaigns, telling us about events we may be interested in, and providing support, because being an activist is not always easy.

We had several workshops every day, and they were all extremely interesting and informational. My favorite one was about intersectionality, because it’s important to realize how all areas of injustice connect in some way. I actually replicated it when I got home in my environmental club at school!

We learned about campaigning, which was helpful because I had no idea there was a right and wrong way to passing out leaflets! There were also two workshops dedicated specifically to racism and gender, because being knowledgeable about these issues is helpful no matter what area of activism you want to go into. We talked about school clubs (which gave me many ideas for the environmental club that I had just started) and nonviolent communication (which is beneficial to ALL aspects of your life — not just activism!).

It was also evident that the staff cared about us as people, not just as activists. The most vivid memory I have of camp was being asked to write down the raw emotions behind and about the causes we care about. Why do we care about the issues that we do? What makes us so passionate? These were all questions that we were told to ponder while writing our responses. When we were finished, everyone’s reflections were read anonymously. Many tears were shed, but the support we received for sharing these more hidden parts of ourselves was immense.

Towards the end of the week, we had our YEA Show, where we had the opportunity to share talents or projects or anything that we wanted to show that we hadn’t yet that week. Sometimes the acts were goofy (I did a trio with two counselors, me on piccolo, one of them on flute, and the other on an Indian flute, where we performed a silly rendition of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”), and sometimes they were extremely deep (campers and counselors alike shared powerful poetry about activism).

The best part about this night was that EVERYONE got a standing ovation. We did this for two other events as well — when we were telling everyone about our action plan (what we wanted to do with our IOI after camp) and when we were doing a public speaking activity. How amazing it feels to be only a senior in high school and have already received three standing ovations in my life. There is nothing that boosts your confidence more than that! The staff also made sure that we accepted the applause, because even though it may not seem like it, learning to embrace people’s appreciation for you is just as crucial as anything we learned in a workshop.

The food was exceptional, and it was incredibly exciting to find out that several campers, who had come to the camp for issues other than animal rights, decided to go vegan after camp! It definitely demonstrated that many people will find that vegan food is amazing and that maintaining a vegan lifestyle is totally possible, if they are just presented with some good vegan food to try!

Some breakfast foods included French toast, breakfast sandwiches, and pancakes; some examples of snacks were watermelon, popcorn, and hummus; lunches were anything from veggie burgers to pizza to grilled cheese; our amazing dinners were usually some sort of ethnic food — Mexican, Indian, and Chinese to name a few; and every night ended with a dessert such as brownies, cookies, or cupcakes.

Plus, our cooks were especially talented in accommodating dietary needs people had, like gluten-free, berry-free, and soy-free. They also pride themselves in cooking with organic and local ingredients as much as possible. No one ever went hungry that week!

We were very fortunate at our camp specifically because we had the opportunity to stay on the new location of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. Almost every day we had the chance to spend some time with the sweet rescued creatures. There were cows, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys, guinea hens, and ducks. I had never been to a sanctuary before, and it was deeply beautiful to be able to pet — or even snuggle up with — the animals that I am dedicating my life to saving. Several of us even got to volunteer for a bit by cleaning out pens and brushing the goats and sheep!

Reading this account of Amanda’s experience at YEA Camp was so inspiring to us! If you feel the same and you’re 12-17, or you know someone who is and would love YEA Camp, now is the time to get registered! Find out all the dates and details at www.YEACamp.org.

The post “What Is the Coolest Thing You’ve Ever Done?” Read This Teen’s Answer appeared first on YEA Camp.

Avalon is an incredible activist. She started an environmental nonprofit organization, Conserve It Forward, when she was just 9 years old(!), she gave a TEDx talk when she was just 12(!), she has spoken about climate change at the White House(!) and won many awards, and was recently featured in this fantastic article from the Unbound Project. In short, Avalon is one of the most dedicated environmentalists we know at any age.

As part of her role with the Green Schools Project as a National Green Student Leadership Council Officer, Avalon attended the “COP21” Climate Change Conference in Paris. We are grateful for her sharing her personal story about her experience. Reading it, we almost feel like we were there! We are so glad that she could advocate on behalf of our planet and speak on behalf of young people at this important event.

A personal narrative by Avalon Theisen

I arrived in Paris on a cold winter day. A nervous excitement bubbled inside me as I stared into the clouds, hidden by the sun. Signs advertising COP21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, dotted the landscape from the tall buildings near the airport to the city signs on the Champs-Élysées.

With only an hour’s sleep the night before, I was exhausted, and was powered only by my imminent anticipation. Just a few short weeks before, I had been invited by Green Schools to make a video about the importance of youth at COP 21 events. I am a Green Schools National Youth Council Delegate, as well as the founder of a small environmental non-profit organization, Conserve It Forward. Shortly after the videos, Green Schools invited 5 teens to go to Paris. I was so happy to be representing Green Schools and Conserve It Forward at COP21 and related events. I started a GoFundMe page right away, including the video I made and a letter I wrote. Thanks to many very supportive people, I quickly raised enough money for both my expenses and some amazing thank you gifts to give out to donors.

Once we arrived in Paris, we headed to the Cité des Sciences et de l’industrie for the Youth for Climate event, which was organized by the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC). Coincidentally, I had sat on the first ever youth panel at the ASTC Annual Conference a year ago.

Upon arriving at the event, I met Jen Kretser, Director of Programs at The Wild Center and the lead organizer of its annual Adirondack Youth Climate Summit, and Gina Fiorile, an intern at the science center who has been recognized by the White House for her commitment to environmental causes.

Avalon with Jen and Gina

I had met both of these ladies when we were all at a climate event at the White House in February 2015. I was happy to see some familiar faces right from the start. During the evening, we heard from many other young people from across the globe with similar environmental goals. I was happy to hear that teens from India and Finland also supported and included some form of a plant-based diet in their presentations and speeches. I strongly believe that what we eat affects climate change, so this was exciting for me.

Avalon with Frank Niepold

We heard from several science, environmental, and COP21 leaders. Some of them included Walter Staveloz, the Director of International Relations at ASTC; Frank Niepold, Climate Education Coordinator at NOAA; Karuna Singh, Country Director for Earth Day India; Owen Gaffney, Communications Consultant of “Future Earth,” and Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, Climatologist and Former Vice-Chair of the International Panel on Climate Change. There were also interviews by Frederic Castel directly from Bourget of people, including Pierre-Henri Guignard, Secretary General for COP21, and Celine Ramestein, Project Manager for COP21. After the event was over, I had the chance to speak with Solene Dengler from CliMates.

The next day was Friday, and, though tired, I was very excited to start our day. We went to Le Bourget where the main conference was being held.

UN Flagpoles

For those without credentials, there was an enormous conference area full of exhibits, booths, activities, media, and so much more. The event was huge, and almost all of the decorations were made of recycled materials. It was amazing how many people were there, how many languages spoken, and how many people and organizations were represented in a single venue.

Some of the booths and organizations we visited were the Climate Reality Project where we met David Ellenberger, the World Wildlife Fund, Youngo, and even an entire section dedicated to agriculture affecting the world. My mother and I raced on stationary bicycles to power common appliances at the WWF booth. I loved this idea of exercise to create the energy we need.

Avalon with David Ellenberger

Later, I participated in “The Climate Ribbon art installation: a Tree of Life whose leaves are ribbons from around the world” where we wrote messages on ribbons about things we never want to lose due to climate change. Then we tied the ribbons to the tree. I found out later that 2 of my friends from Youth Empowered Action Camp (YEA Camp), Ananya Singh and Amanda Houdeschell, had organized a collection of ribbons from their schools in the United States to send over as part of the exhibit. This activity was organized by 350.org and hosted by several other organizations.

Climate ribbon exhibit

Our next stop was the Marymount International School, a beautiful school on the outskirts of Paris. Inside an entryway was a theatre, in which waited some of Marymount’s students along with many speakers and guests. A few signs advertised this event as Mini COP21, and I was happy to be included in the lineup of keynote speakers they were hosting over their two-day event.

Avalon and Yoca

On day one, we heard from an artist by the name of Asher Jay, who uses her work to illustrate the unethical trade of animal parts. Next was Yoca Arditi-Rocha, the Executive Director of No Planeta B, a woman who had lived in Puerto Rico, the United States, and Peru. She talked about how we must take climate action now, because there is no other option…there is “No Planeta B.”

I woke up on Saturday, excitement rushing through my fingertips. This was the day I would give my presentation. I packed my notes and multiple USB drives meticulously, checking at least 3 times to make sure I had not misplaced them.The sun was shining brilliantly despite the cold, and I practically ran out the hotel doors.

The trip to Marymount International School was short, and the man at the iron gate buzzed us in immediately. Once past security, my mother and I entered the building where the auditorium was. There were students representing a multitude of schools worldwide. Other guests and speakers were present, and as a whole, we all represented many parts of the world.

I was incredibly excited. I was more happily anxious there than in almost any other speech I had ever given. The event started, and there were two presentations before mine. Hearing multiple references to the issue of food choices affecting the environment throughout my time in Paris really gave me hope. This is a new subject for many people, and I want to do what I can to make it common knowledge. It made me feel great to know others are doing the same.

Avalon presenting

At 10:00, I handed a USB drive to the technician, who uploaded my PowerPoint to a laptop. By 10:15, it was my time to talk. Waving happily to my mother, I strode down the shallow steps and made my way to the stage. Two Marymount students introduced me before handing off the microphone. I held it, my palms slightly sticky, and began my speech. I loved the sensation of so many eyes on me, everyone attentively listening, hearing my voice resonate along the walls. I hope to have a link to the video of my presentation soon at the Conserve It Forward YouTube channel.

Food slide

I talked briefly about how I got started with environmental work at age 8, then described what I love most about our beautiful, “common home” (the theme of the day), all things that people could relate to and that are found all over the globe. I spoke of ways that people could get involved and help in their everyday lives, and spent a lot of time talking about the importance of our food choices on the environment. Food choices are a great, simple way to help our world and all living things. Every time we eat, we have the chance to make change for the entire planet by using fewer resources; that means eating more plant-based foods and less animal-based foods.

I led everyone in the Human Frog Chorus, which is an interactive demonstration I created in 2012 to show the power of all of us using our voices together.

My takeaway messages for everyone were:

– Reconnect with nature so that you remember why you love it and want to take care of it

– Together, our small acts equal BIG change

– Think and act with kindness and compassion

– Ordinary people of all ages must feel empowered to make positive change

Avalon with Madison and Rhiannon

My hope is that I left my receptive audience with something they can use at home. I had a great time connecting with people who came to talk with me afterwards. Soon after, the audience split into working groups. I was happy to get to work with some of the other speakers, students and attendees, including students from Peru and Bali.

Our group discussed four problems our local communities and schools faced, and we chose the topic of destruction associated with palm oil. I mentioned Project Orang, a project that was started by two youth, Madison and Rhiannon, with whom I had been part of different programs in the past. A couple of our group members knew about Project Orang already, which was really neat.

Lunch with new and old friends

When the forum came back together, group representatives, including me, took turns speaking about each topic. We had a fun time working and enjoying lunch together.

The afternoon brought new speakers, including Kip Anderson, co-director of one of my favorite documentaries, Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret. For Earth Day 2015, I gave away almost 80 copies of the movie through my organization’s Facebook page, and I had also communicated with Kip over the past many months.

Avalon with Kip Anderson of “Cowspiracy”

His presentation was full of facts, dotted with a few personal opinions. Some of the information was as follows: animal agriculture accounts for 51% of global greenhouse gasses, those who eat entirely plant-based can save up to 18 times the amount of land a typical American consumes, and the agriculture sector is one of the leading causes of deforestation and water pollution. I was thrilled, again, to have someone else talking about this very important topic.

Our last stop for the night was a visit to the free, interactive rides along the Champs-Élysées sponsored by IKEA, in honor of COP21.

Ikea exhibit

Their exhibit included playground-like equipment that you could ride to show the power of people to create energy. I thought this was a great way for everyone to take part and have fun.

Sunday was our last full day in Paris. We no longer had any events to attend, and while I was excited to get one full day to experience the culture of the city, it also made me sad. I longed to attend more events, to learn more, to see more, and to meet more people. I found it so inspirational hearing the stories and experiences of other people.

Ice Exhibit

During events of the day, we visited a public square where gigantic blocks of ice had been placed for COP21 to demonstrate global warming and climate change.

We also visited Place de la République, or Republic Square, home of the memorial to those who lost their lives in the November 13 terrorist attacks. Darting through city skateboarders, we found ourselves under a monument, where candles, peace signs, and all kinds of tributes sat. There were still a surprising amount of shoes, left to symbolically represent the demonstrators who were supposed to gather for a march for climate change, but which had been canceled due to the attacks. Looking down at my feet, I spotted two origami peace cranes painted on the ground, and this gave me an idea.

Republic Square

A current personal project of mine is creating 1,000 origami cranes within the course of a single year to bring eternal peace and wellbeing. I felt this was a sign of something meaningful and personal that I could leave as part of the diverse memorial, so I wrote a small message of peace on a scrap piece of paper, signed it on behalf of the organizations I was representing (Green Schools and Conserve It Forward), and folded it into a crane. I studied the items left by caring people from all parts of the world, found just the spot, and placed the crane. I knew I had done my part at this beautiful, solemn memorial.

I was reluctant to leave in the morning. At the airport, statues hung from the ceiling, looking like circles gathering around each other, until the smallest circle hugged the oversized water drop at the center. I cannot help but think of this ripple effect, and how our planet Earth is at the center of all of our combined actions and efforts.

As I reflect on my time in Paris, I realize how much I enjoyed the COP21 events, the people who gathered there to do good for the world, and of course the beauty and history of the host city itself. I loved the way the city smelled of old stone and sweet dew, combined with the modernity of the shops and people. I especially loved Le Bourget and interacting with the other students at the Mini COP event.

 I feel that my journey to Paris and involvement with COP21 were complete successes. I sincerely hope I can take what I learned from this year’s’ experience with me to COP22 in 2016 in Morocco. My goals would include staying longer, having more interactive opportunities, giving more presentations, and having more time to take part in activities that you do not even know about until you are there. Being part of an event like this is emotional. There are parts that remind me of so many challenges we face, yet there are so many more parts that give me hope and happiness for a brighter future. Reflection of all I have seen, felt, and learned is very important.The entire experience has been beautiful, and I look forward to doing it all again.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this entire journey possible. Thank you to Green Schools for inviting me. Thank you to the people and organizations who helped ensure I was part of different events. Thank you to every single person and organization who shared my social media and GoFundMe posts and links. Thank you to those who donated. All of your support means so much to me. Thank you, everyone, for believing in me, and the voice of all youth.

Peace & love,

Avalon

A note from the editor: Avalon is a recent alum of Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp, a life-changing camp for world-changing teens. At this week-long summer camp, teens aged 12-17 learn the critical skills needed to develop their passions into activism. Some are already very active, like Avalon was, and others know they want to get started making a difference but need help figuring out how. If you know of a teen who is interested in gaining the skills and knowledge to become a world-changing activist, whether it be environmental activism like Avalon or another form of social change, visit yeacamp.org.

The post Teen Environmentalist Shares Her Story Speaking at International Climate Change Conference appeared first on YEA Camp.