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The Case for a Youth Advisory Council: Young Leaders Guiding Climate Action
The Climate Equity Collaborative (CEC) was created by a group of leaders in nonprofit, government, and business organizations in late 2022 to engage youth and underserved communities in accelerating equitable climate actions and solutions. As the groups’ strategies and ways of working together began to take shape, we sought to connect directly with active youth climate leaders to ensure that CEC’s governance and actions are youth-informed and youth-centered.
In early 2024, CEC launched our inaugural Youth Advisory Council (YAC) to contribute to an internal review and revision process. The YAC is comprised of 14 individuals ranging from 19-28 years old, and these council members are playing a crucial role in shaping the immediate and near-term strategies for CEC.
“The inauguration of the Youth Advisory Council marks a pivotal milestone in our commitment to fostering a youth-centric approach,” says Marley Hauser, Senior Coordinator at CEC. “This dynamic cohort, committed to driving meaningful change in our world, embodies a wealth of diverse perspectives and insights that will prove invaluable in guiding CEC’s strategies and actions moving forward. We extend our heartfelt appreciation for their dedication, passion, and expertise in shaping a more equitable and just future for all.”
Why a Youth Advisory Council?
Below, we outline five points of consideration regarding youth advisory councils as central players in decision-making spaces.
1. Introducing Formal Processes of Representation
As a governing mechanism, CEC’s Youth Advisory Council critically accounts for and implements youth-inspired perspectives. The council ensures that youth voices are formally recognized in CEC’s governance and partnership-building processes.
Given that young people are more likely to be overlooked or excluded from organizational governance and strategy conversations, youth climate leaders face significant obstacles in accessing tangible modes of change on a systems-basis.
Advisory councils’ formal structures and decision-making strategies allow senior members in the climate movement to properly consider and collaborate with youth voices, perspectives, and decisions. Youth councils also present climate partnerships with a robust diversity of young people, reflecting the complexity and demographic richness of young leaders across movements.
2. Longer-term Visions
Considering that climate change will more significantly affect younger generations as natural disasters and other climate impacts continue to unfold across the globe, youth advisory councils are grounded in developing long-term sustainability and resiliency strategies. Youth perspectives account for the durability and equity of climate decisions: How will they hold up for present and future generations? Do these decisions reflect the needs of the near- and far-term futures?
According to the Yale Program on Climate Communication, younger Americans—specifically Gen Z and Millennial generations—are more likely than older generations to be alarmed about global warming. Given their upbringing amidst greater awareness and dialogues on climate, youth climate leaders are acutely aware of the social repercussions of climate change—recognizing the disproportionate burdens faced by underserved communities and minorities.
According to Victoria Wang—a member of CEC’s inaugural YAC—young peoples’ awarenesses around rapidly changing climates and (un)natural disasters have been formulated at an incredibly early age:
“From my earliest memories, I can recollect so much snow every winter. We almost always had a ‘white Christmas.’ But the older I’ve gotten, the more of a rarity snow has become—it’s disappeared and become more of a-once-in-a-season phenomenon. This alone has served as such a visual reminder of how climate change has translated into my daily life and into the lives of my peers. The climate crisis has been a consistent backdrop throughout my core adolescent memories.
My generation is at a critical junction—we are aware of how we have been brought up and will grow up amidst a crisis, but we connect with each other to practice embodied hope and imagine life beyond climate catastrophe. We see how climate change is just as much a justice issue as a science one, and we choose to build relationships and support each other through our communities.”
Importantly, young people also often have greater capacities to imagine how new technologies and communication systems—especially social media—can serve as powerful conveners among diverse and geographically varied populations in the era of the climate crisis.
3. Education, Networking, and Career-Building
Involving young people in advisory councils provides an educational opportunity for youth to formulate more nuanced understandings of policy and governance processes, social and environmental issues, partnership-building, and advocacy. These councils cultivate links between youth and more seasoned professionals, bolstering leadership outlets and allowing young people to develop intergenerational mentor-peer relationships.
Youth councils also can serve as pathways for youth to interact with professionals across a variety of fields; thus, young leaders can formulate a deeper understanding of their own career interests and passions. Advisory councils prepare youth members with the communication, critical analysis, and collaboration skillsets necessary to navigating their future careers.
4. Youth Leadership Development
In contrast to many organizational and professional spaces, which often marginalize and exclude youth voices in favor of more “established” professional figures, youth councils are intentionally structured to garner input directly from young people in a fair, communicative manner. Youth councils empower young leaders with support, accountability, and attentiveness to incorporate their considerations in organizational and societal governance.
Participation in advisory councils serves as a critical learning opportunity for young climate leaders. Through negotiation, collaboration, and civil debate, youth members acquire necessary leadership skills to translate into their other roles in decision-making settings.
5. Solidarity and Action Across Communities
Advisory councils can serve as a platform for young leaders and activists to inspire action and mobilize their peers, communities, and decision-makers to take meaningful steps toward addressing climate change among their respective networks. By acquiring more experience in strategic partnership building and collaboration, council members are well-equipped to lead inclusive climate actions in other networks and organizations.
These opportunities can cultivate camaraderie and cohesion among youth members, convening a diverse range of young leaders in a formal, structured decision-making setting. In addition to reinforcing members’ decision-making skills, leadership outlets, and networking with professionals, participation in an advisory council can solidify lasting relationships among the members themselves.
Partnership building on a “micro” level—on a peer-to-peer scale—empowers youth leaders to share experiences and ideas with each other, securing the development of longstanding and interdisciplinary friendships at the heart of the climate movement.
What is the Climate Equity Collaborative?
The Climate Equity Collaborative (CEC) is a public-private partnership that engages nontraditional partners through climate innovation and action, with an emphasis on youth and underserved communities. At the system level, CEC partners are focused on initiatives representing climate education, children’s environmental health, and environmental justice. One of CEC’s core tenets revolves around constructing more robust on-ramps to the global climate conversation for youth.
What is the CEC Youth Advisory Council?
The CEC YAC members will participate in council convenings remotely and contribute to the formation of CEC’s future initiatives and opportunities, such as a global youth climate network. The YAC priorities have thus far included:
- Reviewing and providing feedback on CEC’s governance and strategy
- Envisioning how to achieve the goals and needs of existing and future youth participants, e.g., a planned Climate Equity Youth Network (CEYN)
- Contributing to the long-term vision of the CEC and CEC’s Youth Advisory Council
- Serving as a liaison with peers and/or colleagues on CEC activities and initiatives
CEC’s 2024 council members bring diverse knowledge and experiences to CEC’s network. Throughout their early careers, YAC participants have advocated for community-based solar projects, engaged with urban green space restoration, researched restorative and sustainable agriculture methods, and liaised in federal climate policy spaces, among other projects.
Read blogs written by members of the 2024 Youth Advisory Council:
- Learning in the Environment: The Importance of Expanding Outdoor Education Across the United States
- So Last Season: The Environmental Impact of Fast Fashion and Textile Waste Exports
- Concurrent Crises: Cancer Alley & the Fight for Environmental Justice
- Intergenerational Solidarity Ignites Lasting Change