Last month, we celebrated the graduation of Climate Crew Cohort V, adding to the growing movement of local youth climate leaders across Hawaii. This was our largest and widest-reaching cohort to date with 25 students from four islands, representing communities from the rural town of Volcano to the heart of Honolulu.
Over the 7-month-long program, students participated in workshops received on climate science, environmental justice, climate policy and advocacy, and the human health implications of climate change with local experts from each respective field. They also completed over 118 Climate Actions. These self-directed actions reached over 2,250 local residents, and included home energy audits, testimony on climate policies, engagement with state legislators, media appearances, social media content creation, and climate awareness-building and community outreach events across Hawaii.
The students also had the opportunity to work with mentors from 6 local organizations — Shifted Energy, Hoʻāhu Energy Cooperative Molokai, Hawaiʻi Bicycling League, L.E.I. Foundation, Hawaiʻi EV, and Sea Grant University of Hawaiʻi — to create solutions to real-world challenges. In one project with the Hawaiʻi Bicycling League, crew members outlined a social media strategy to better engage youth on biking in Hawaiʻi. They conducted a survey to learn more about barriers to biking, and took what they discovered to create graphics, flyers, and a timeline for engaging local youth on biking through various social media platforms.
Climate activism doesn’t end at the completion of the program. Climate Crew alumni continue to make positive impacts in their lives as they go off to college, join the workforce, and make new connections beyond Hawaiʻi. Kawika Pegram, a graduate from Cohort 1, went on to lead the local 2019 Climate Strike, serve on the Hawaiʻi State Youth Commission, graduate from American University with two degrees, and intern with the Energy Futures Initiative with former U.S. Secretary of Energy, Ernest J. Moniz. Kawika is now hoping to come back home to continue to fight for climate justice, earn his law degree, and serve as a public defender right here in Hawaiʻi.
Since launching the program in 2019, Blue Planet has graduated a total of 69 members from 5 cohorts across 6 islands. These climate leaders have taken 275 Climate Actions in their communities that have affected over 3,750 community members through education, events, and testimony. We are proud of the important role our Climate Crew students and other local youth-led coalitions, like the Navahine youth fighting for climate action, are taking action on climate. . They are an example of how the next generation is already stepping up to create an equitable and resilient climate future for all — and we’re here for it!
If you know a high school student who is interested in being considered for a future Climate Crew cohort, have them sign up here to be notified when applications open!