Meet our former fellows

Ana is an economist, researcher, and painter who blends evidence-based insights with everyday experiences to inspire and mobilize people in the fight for climate and social justice. She has been building a group of parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts in Quito, Ecuador all united in their vision for the well-being of Ecuadorian children and their sustainable future. Motivated by her three-year-old daughter and a deep concern for Ecuador’s environmental and social issues, her activism is geared towards promoting sustainable consumption and environmentally responsible behaviors. She aims to leverage both evidence and the power of art to expand her group into a more inclusive and diverse collective of Ecuadorian families.

Anne is a parent, an advocate for climate justice, and an independent scholar. She is a key organizer with For Our Kids Toronto – a group of parents and caregivers who advocate for climate justice. She also serves on the Toronto School Board’s Environment Committee, the Toronto Climate Action Network, and the Board of Environmental Education Ontario. Anne is using these networks to find ways for schools to engage with Toronto’s climate action plan. She is focusing on stimulating diverse climate conversations in school communities. Anne is also currently supporting a key climate court case against Ontario in which her daughter is one of the young plaintiffs.

Beree is a teacher, social worker, and art therapist from Mongolia. After growing up in a nomadic family as an orphan alongside eight other siblings, she is determined to help others overcome challenges. She brings expertise working in child’s rights organizations, such as Save the Children and World Vision, and the experience of founding multiple projects to her current climate engagement work. Mongolia is extremely vulnerable to climate impacts and nomadic communities are particularly impacted. Beree is working with families to increase climate knowledge and provides eco-art therapy programs for children and adults who experience flooding, severe air pollution, and other climate impacts.

Chévanni is an indigenous father, writer, and planetary activist, who founded the Reimagined Learning Community in South Africa. Their work, rooted in indigenous practices, integrates restorative parenting, community, and indigenous imaginations to inform our sacred climate responsibility. Chévanni conceives parenting as extending beyond caring for young people to encompass the well-being of the living planet. During the Fellowship, they will be focused on growing Reimagined Learning Communities, which serves as a transformative hub, fostering holistic education and nurturing connections with learning, community, and the Earth.

A writing professor based in Austin, Texas, Eileen founded The Parents’ Climate Community in 2019 to connect with other local caregivers worried about climate change. She works to create accessible forms of activism for busy parents and her group is currently focused on connecting families to a campaign against a mega-highway expansion through the city. Her group has created a film as a tool to communicate the health and climate impacts of the project. Eileen believes that in coming together to protect our kids’ futures, we can also address our isolation as parents, strengthen relationships within our families and in our communities, and nurture our own agency and well-being.

Erika is a mother and fiction writer from Sweden. When the Rebellmammorna (Rebel Moms) movement formed in Sweden, Erika got involved at an early stage, drawn by the simplicity of the movement’s circle protests. The movement, which started out with a handful of mothers, now exists in over 25 countries on all major continents. During the Fellowship, Erika will be focused on how to strengthen the size and impact of Mothers* Rebellion, their international network, and their coordinated circles.. Erika wants to help make the group’s circles a prominent voice in the call for climate action.

Ernst John is a musician and events coordinator from Amsterdam. He has been organizing on sustainability issues and European cooperation since the mid-nineties. Over the past three years he has played a critical role in bringing national and local elders and grandparent groups together into what is now the official association European Grandparents for Climate. During the Fellowship, he will be working to strengthen and expand this coalition and will focus on internal and external capacity building, as well as exchanging good practices and inspiring intergenerational actions.

Liat is a climate organizer and early childhood educator based in Brooklyn, New York. A long-time activist focused on education, democracy, and climate, she is now the co-founder and co-chair of Climate Families NYC. She has helped to grow Climate Families from a small group of moms to a movement of over a thousand parents across the city. In the coming year, she hopes to double their active members, build out a distributed schools-based organizing structure, and move the needle on legislative and finance campaigns through powerful, kid-friendly, and effective direct actions. She is a parent to an almost two-year-old who loves to protest and yell about how fossil fuels have got to go!

Lisa Maria is a mother, writer, and educator who serves as community weaver and riverkeeper for the Colectivo Rescate del Rio San Pedro, a group that creates intergenerational Mingas to clean and rescue the San Pedro River in Quito, Ecuador. Made famous by the Inca, Mingas bring together allies across generations to clean the river while providing an educational, art-filled eco-festival. Over the past two years, the Colectivo Rescate del Río San Pedro has hosted 15 Mingas, harnessing over 8500+ volunteer hours to remove over 12 tonnes of garbage. Lisa Maria is a member of the advisory board for the collective and Director of the Minga Mundial Foundation.

Niya is a young indigenous Idu Mishmi woman from Arunachal Pradesh, in India. The Idu Mishmi are known for their deep cultural understanding of the interdependency between people and nature and for protecting their uniquely biodiverse region. Niya’s project engages mothers working on communal land to revive ancestral knowledge and traditional crops for climate resilience, while also educating mothers on climate and recognizing the key role they play in society. She is a member of the Management Committee of Elopa Etugu Community Eco Cultural Preserve, working to strengthen inter-generational knowledge transfer and improve the socio-economic wellbeing and health of their members.

Miriam is a mother, environmentalist, farmer, and climate advocate from Kisumu, Kenya. Miriam was inspired to get involved in climate solutions by her daughter Rahmina Paullete, a young Fridays For Future activist and founder of Kisumu Environmental Champions. Miriam currently manages Kisumu Environmental Champions and is active in the Let Lake Victoria Breathe Again campaign. Through this work, she has developed a network of parents and children active in environmental conservation and climate action. During her Fellowship, she aims to expand the group’s diverse campaigns to include more parents working to empower children in climate advocacy.

Shristi is an environmental and animal rights activist from Nepal committed to finding solutions that will help protect our natural environment for future generations. She believes that we need to take a holistic approach to our interactions with animals to ensure they are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. She campaigns to protect the natural environment through People’s Alliance for Nature Nepal and Women in Nature network. Working in collaboration with others, she has created urban pocket forests to tackle air pollution and water shortages and uses theater and storytelling to pass on the conversation messages to the next generation.

Thabo is a social worker and climate activist who works with communities in climate-affected regions of Manicaland, Zimbabwe. Her work is centered on climate resilience and adaptation to protect the rights of vulnerable groups such as women, children, and the less privileged. She initiated a project in her community – the Chipinge Crocheting Group – which brings different generations together to tackle plastic waste and generate income for climate resilience. Thabo is working to further develop this model and expand the project to other communities in Zimbabwe. In 2023, Thabo was also a delegate for the Climate Youth Summit in Tanzania, Unleash Rwanda, and the Climate Reality training in Ghana.

Valinda is a passionate human-centered design lead, organizer, and community leader who works at the intersection between environmental, racial, economic, health, and housing justice. Valinda brings extensive experience to their work exploring how communities of color and immigrant communities can challenge systemic injustice. Recently Valinda’s work has focused on air pollution and founding the Logan Community Clean Air Coalition. Through practical interventions such as installing air quality sensors to collect data and air purifiers in home daycare centers, Valinda takes an intersectional approach to addressing the impacts of air pollution beyond climate and environmental spaces. Valinda also is a Team Co-Coordinator with Mothers Out Front and is on the Core Team of Mutual Aid Eastie.

Aphrodice is an environmental communicator based in Rwanda. He facilitates climate action and environmental conservation work in grassroots communities. He believes awareness raising and advocacy can support communities’ mindset and behavior change. He has established a network of parents, teachers, and caregivers in Rwanda who are interested in working across generations with children to share climate knowledge and push for a brighter future.

Astrid is a mother, lawyer, and gardener, born in Colombia and now living in Mexico. She is one of the founders of Mamás y Papás por el Clima in Mexico, a network of parents working collaboratively to address the climate crisis. Astrid brings more than 25 years experience in environmental law, human rights, and indigenous rights to her community and the global movement. She aims to grow her group to become a larger, more inclusive, and diverse movement of Mexican parents working together for climate justice.

Aydah is from Solomon Islands and her passion is social services and community development. Through her voluntary role as Coordinator of the Network for the Indigenous Peoples Solomon (NIPS) she works with rural communities in provinces of Solomon Islands. She facilitates workshops as well as documents and learns about traditional knowledge and practices including: conserving and restoring forests, mangroves, streams, reefs, marine resources, and climate resilience. Aydah is also working on ways to share the voices of children from Solomon Islands in policy spaces.

Bhavreen is an inspiring and experienced campaigner who is pushing for clean air in India and beyond. She is a co-founder of Warrior Moms, which brings mothers together across India to call for clean air for the sake of their children’s health. Bhavreen has spearheaded other public movements and campaigns in India to call for action on environmental justice issues, such as ‘My Right To Breathe’ and ‘Delhi Trees SOS’. Her campaigning is motivated by her twin daughters and her concerns about Delhi’s excessively polluted air.

​​Chandra is an artist and animator who uses creativity and joy to bring people into the climate movement. A lead organizer with Sunrise Kids NYC and Climate Families NYC for the past two years, she has been working to build the group’s strategy and to promote visibility for multiple campaigns. She has helped stage highly creative, family friendly climate actions, including a recent demonstration outside of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s country home. Her mission is to use creative methods and materials to foster hope and momentum for a brighter, more sustainable future.

Chryso is co-founder of UK climate group, Mothers Rise Up. A freelance prop-maker by profession, she uses her skills and creativity to drive climate campaigns. She has created a wind farm outside Number 10 Downing Street, a giant phoenix for the parent delegation at COP26, and most recently a Mary Poppins inspired climate flashmob outside Lloyd’s of London, which went viral on Twitter. She is looking forward to sharing ideas about how art and music can shape bold and colorful climate actions and grow the visibility of parent climate organizing.

Dora is an activist and maker with a background in anthropology, public health, and indigenous rights. In 2016, she started Zurciendo el planeta, a collective that uses artivism, mending, and urban agriculture to engage people in discussions around a regenerative and equitable future. Through community meetings, workshops, and their ‘Forest of Hope’ embroidery project, the collective now connects women in Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. Through the Fellowship, Dora will focus on expanding the collective and its impact through the touring of the ‘Forest of Hope’ mural.

Herbert is a husband, father, environment scientist, and social entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Rural Environmental Sustainability Initiative-RESI, a social enterprise promoting clean cooking, environment, and climate education in remote rural communities of Uganda, East Africa. He is also the writer of a series of children’s books – ‘James the Steward’, ‘Keeper of the Forest’, and ‘Powerful Queens of Gando’ – which aim to educate children about climate and nature stewardship. He is passionate about intergenerational climate change activism.

Leanne is a co-founder of Australian Parents for Climate Action and a key coordinator within Parents for Future Global. She is also a member of the Knitting Nannas – a collective using knitting and artivism to campaign for the preservation of Australia’s land, air, and water. Leanne has deep knowledge of using creative campaigning and legal processes to stop gas projects in her region and works on fossil fuel campaigning globally. She is passionate about intergenerational climate justice and leaving a better world for those who come after us.

Kelo is an inspiring Nigerian youth advocate for sustainable development and climate action. He is the founder of Gray2Green Movement and campaign coordinator for Mock COP as well as policy co-lead for the Global Coordination Team at YOUNGO and Director of Students Organising for Sustainability International. Kelo has been actively involved in intergenerational climate organizing through Parents for Future Global and Parents for Future Nigeria. He is experienced in high level policy spaces and his focus is strengthening youth engagement and intergenerational influence in climate governance.

Maren is a psychologist from Hamburg working on management, marketing, and science. For the past several years, Maren has played a central role in helping to build Parents for Future Germany. She is involved in local activism and serves as the national delegate of the local Parents For Future group in Hamburg. Maren was raised in a family strongly engaged in environmental issues and is mother to a teenage daughter. She is passionate about working towards a livable future for all our children.

Marji is a research scientist studying the impacts of tropical cyclones and climate change on the world’s coral reefs. Combining her love for coral reefs and growing concerns for the climate, she founded Kids Care About Climate, a major public engagement project that includes an international drawing contest, educational workshops, a touring exhibit, and colorful costumes. Marji believes that fun, creative educational programming can engage young children and open up pathways of involvement for their parents, grandparents, and teachers in climate solutions.

Rayana is a young Brazilian and political scientist working to achieve climate justice. She is Umbandista, an Afro-Brazilian religion, and believes that faith and the environment are connected, because she finds her spirituality in nature. Rayana is a Youth Climate Leaders Fellow and Care about Climate volunteer. Her work through the Fellowship will strengthen conversations and dialogue on climate change between religious leaders and youth in Brazil.

Rose is a community climate advocate, promoting gender friendly climate
resilience initiatives in Kenya and across East Africa. She co-founded two women led
organizations – Women in Water and Natural Resources Conservation in Kenya
and Women’s Climate Centers International across East Africa. Through the two
organizations Rose has mobilized and formed a network of women climate accelerators
through the establishment of community climate centers. These centers bring men, women, boys, girls, and families together to address climate related challenges and build a sustainable future.

Yasmina founded the organization PERI BUMI in 2021 to empower mothers across Indonesia to act on climate change. She believes that environmental problems start at home and parenting with connection is a key. With a background in early years education and social work, Yasmina’s work combines education, parenting, and nature connection. One of her goals is to help guide mothers to understand the holistic way of parenting based on connection and to link this with zero waste and sustainability.

Alicia founded Parents for Climate Aotearoa in 2019 to empower parents across New Zealand to act on climate change. A strong advocate for climate justice, she is working to ensure local parent-led climate groups embed equity, social justice, and racial justice in their foundations. She is passionate about ensuring all children will have a livable climate.

Amuche has been using art to educate people about environmental concepts and sustainable lifestyles for over a decade. She is a member of Parents For Future Nigeria and is actively involved both in expanding the movement in Nigeria and as an organizer in Parents For Future Global. Amuche is also a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, where she teaches sculpture and cultural and creative arts.

Gargi is the outreach lead of the Bengal Clean Air Network, the co-founder of Kolkata Clean Air, and an active member of the Warrior Moms network. Gargi is passionate about her love of her city of Kolkata, about cycling, and about getting out into nature. Her early work on mother and child health in the rural districts of Bengal continues to inspire her work today.

Kamila is a documentary filmmaker and one of the central organizers in Rodzice dla Klimatu (Parents For Future Poland). She is developing a short film series called Fumes of the Black Gold, which features people whose lives are deeply affected by coal and the climate crisis. She is working closely with ex-miners, youth, and families on the film project, including those living in the shadow of the Bełchatów power plant.

Le Nguyet has inspired and has been inspired by her daughter, who is now a key voice for youth climate engagement in Vietnam. For the last three years, Nguyet has been establishing an active environmental family engagement program with support from local NGOs. Her work combines education and connection to nature, and she is looking forward to growing her program with support from the Fellowship.

Mariana is the co-founder of Familias pelo Clima in Brazil, an active climate-parent group that works closely with Fridays For Future Brazil. The group has had success with litigation and has delivered some eye-catching creative actions. The Fellowship will enable Mariana to strengthen Familias pelo Clima, engage new volunteers, and tell the stories of parent activism in Brazil.

In 2019, Natalie co-founded the community organization For Our Kids Montréal, which mobilizes and supports parents, grandparents, and their families to take collective action on the climate crisis. Bringing a background as a facilitator, organizer, and manager, Natalie strives to create welcoming and empowering spaces for activism and justice movements that are more accessible, effective, and sustainable for the long haul.

Patience leads policy-level advocacy at the Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND), working to ensure that the voices of young people are heard and included in Ghana’s climate plans. As a Climate Parent Fellow, she will lead her team in the expansion of parent engagement and intergenerational work on climate change.

Sandra’s climate engagement began after she found herself and her family surrounded by bushfires in her home country of Sweden. Sandra supported the first youth climate strikes in the UK and has spent the last two years building Parents For Future UK. A photographer with a background in fashion and arts, she is passionate about telling the stories of parent climate activists in new and creative ways.

Thingreiphi is a leader from the Tangkhul community of the Naga people in remote Northeast India. She is passionate about raising the voices of indigenous women in decision-making spaces. Through the Fellowship, Thingreiphi aims to engage indigenous women to ensure that their concerns are included in state-wide climate action plans and build stronger connections between indigenous communities and the climate-parent movement.

Winona leads Families for a Livable Climate in Missoula, Montana. Her group is focused on bringing more families into the climate movement, reaching out across differences, and engaging in one-on-one conversations to build community will for climate action. With a background in communications, Winona sees climate art and storytelling as a regenerative practice, a way to make connections with each other and create meaning in our lives.

Xoli has been working with schools and intergenerational groups in South Africa on environmental awareness for over 10 years. She has worked in-depth with children from townships, inspiring them to live sustainability and supporting them to be climate activists. Through the Fellowship, she will expand and connect her work across generations, from youth to grandparents.