EJ Changemakers must partner with their community, listen to its values, and support its priorities.

EJ Changemakers intentionally include multiple perspectives from members of communities who are historically oppressed or disadvantaged to include them in the work of restoring justice. 

EJ Changemakers must be strong leaders who set priorities, inspire change, support their team, and manage work, but they must do so without hierarchy or competition.  They must lead in the service of their communities and ecosystems. 

I helped organize Cleveland's 2024 Youth Climate Summit, the first of its kind, with breakout rooms and student engagement. My breakout room focused on public health inequities related to zip code, housing, redlining, pollution, etc. The summit brought together over 100 teenage students in grades 8-12 from the Cleveland metropolitan area. We are actively working on the 2025 Youth Climate Summit which will be held in April at the Cleveland Main Public Library. 

My favorite field trip this semester was to Rid-All Green Partnership where we learned about the work they’ve done in Cleveland to transform a largely forgotten, run-down area into a hub for sustainable urban agriculture. Using composting and the ecological benefits of fish, Rid-All creates very fertile soil, allowing them to grow plants for most of the year. Through this, they provide their nearby communities with healthy produce and farm-raised tilapia. Although the science behind their strategies for urban farming is fascinating, their community outreach efforts are equally impressive. They've partnered with local schools and created a comic book to educate youth, organized cooking workshops for community members to get involved, opened a kitchen for the public to access healthy, affordable meals, and built a weekly farmer’s market for families to purchase fruits and vegetables. As I have wrapped up my EJ experience, I hope to be able to volunteer at Rid-All in the future to learn more about their positive influence and contribute to their life-changing mission. 

Early on in the semester, I gave a presentation on the history and continuous legacy of racist redlining systems. As EJ students, it's critical to recognize how historically marginalized communities, such as Black Americans, face increased adversity and discrimination which results in heavier impacts of environmental justice concerns, including lead poisoning, asthma, etc. Our presentation demonstrated leadership qualities as we prompted productive conversation within our cohort and educated our peers on an issue we felt strongly about.

I was recently selected to be a part of Congresswoman Shontel Brown's Youth Advisory Council for the 2024-2025 school year. As a member of this council, I will educate myself on injustices in the following sectors: the environment, healthcare, and K-12 education. In addition, I will engage in civil debate and discussion with peers and mentors, and brainstorm creative ideas and real-world solutions to issues directly affecting Ohio's 11th district.

Another important field trip that I went on was to the Environmental Health Watch to learn more about the work being done to address the large influence of lead poisoning in low-income Black families in Cleveland. Lead Safe, another organization with a mission to prevent children from becoming lead poisoned by educating families on what they can do to keep their homes lead-free. 

In order to share our experiences with the broader Laurel community with hopes of a successful Environmental Justice Semester for years to come, we all organized an informative and engaging presentation. We covered field trips, curriculum content, community building, action projects, and more.

Following the completion of the semester and throughout the 2024-2025 school year, a few of the Environmental Justice Semester graduates, joined together to build LEAF, a club focused on environmental advocacy and education in our community. We meet regularly throughout the year to advocate for sustainable practices at our school. For example, we put together educational posters advertising composting in the school cafeteria. Since, we have since successfuly organized a composting system that allows everyone at breakfast and lunch to properly dispose of biodegradable leftovers in compost containers. 

My experiences in the Environmental Justice Semester educated me on the importance of showing up for my local community, honoring the legacies of others', and encouraging my peers to do the same. In 2020, beloved Laurel student, volleyball player, and avid reader Natalie Tobin unexpectedly passed away. Though I never knew her directly, I know from my peers that she was an incredibly kind and passionate individual who deeply cared about her team, school, and community. To this day, I'm inspired by her, despite never having the opportunity to meet her, so this past autumn, I organized a book drive in partnership with the volleyball program in Natalie's memory. All books were donated to the Cleveland Kids' Book Drive.

At the end of the 2023 Environmental Justice Semester, we held a symposium for school faculty and staff, families, peers, and partners to attend. I gave a summary on my experience at Rid-All Green Partnership, its signifiance as an urban farm in tackling the effects of climate change in urban environments, and the role it plays in the lives of Cleveland families. Following the symposium, a friend and fellow EJ graduate, Ivey, and I were given the opportunity to highlight our action project partnerships with WKYC.