Our Team

The Youth Climate Leadership Program

The Youth Climate Leadership Program (YCLP) is a youth-led organization whose goal is to empower students to add their voices to the climate conversation. Through our work, we help equip students with the skills needed to become experienced climate activists. With the support of Mass Audubon Hitchcock Center for the Environment staff, local experts, and mentors, students from various schools are guided through the process of starting their own innovative climate initiatives. Our main mission is to give students the opportunity and the autonomy to envision, plan, and be environmental leaders! Students are given the materials and connections needed to cultivate their passion and bring their ideas to fruition. Through planning these climate events, we are catalysts for environmental change and action.

Ollie Perrault

Ollie is a fifteen year old climate activist from Easthampton. She has been a leading member of the SYCLP since she was 11 and is now the founder and director of Youth Climate Action Now. She is committed to fighting for environmental justice, advocating for an intersectional system change, and working to get more young people involved in direct climate action.

Morgan Brown-McNeil

Morgan Brown-McNeil is a fifteen year old sophomore at Northampton High School. They have been on the YCLP for almost 2 years. In their free time, they enjoy writing music and modern poetry.

Sasha Kracauer

Sasha Kracauer is a senior at Northfield Mount Hermon and is thrilled to be part of the planning team for the second year in a row. She attended the Youth Climate Summit in 2019, which inspired her to run a workshop at her school on youth climate action. Now, she is an Ecoleader at NMH, where she works to incite sustainable action through environmental initiatives such as creating NMH’s first annual Climate Action Week.

Keila Silva

A 15 year old women with a passion for environmental justice. She is an ambassador at the Natural Resources and Conservation Academy at the University of Connecticut and a leader of the Suffield Sustainability Council. She is determined to the environmental cause and will not stop until everyone is recognized and provided with the resources to make change happen.

Liv Stack

Liv is a 15 year old climate activist from Springfield. They are a member of YCLP and YCAN, as well as SCJC. She also recently created the YSCJC, a group dedicated to amplifying youth voices in Springfield. Liv is an Environmental Justice advocate, and actively participates in the Stop the Toxic Pipeline Campaign.

Brittany Gutermuth

Hi, I'm Brittany. I'm the Climate Change Education Program Manager at Mass Audubon where I endeavor to engage youth in climate change issues and inspire them to take action. My favorite part of my job is working with the amazing students on the Western Mass Youth Climate Leadership Team. I have been an environmental educator for over 20 years; working in nature centers, zoos, formal school classrooms, a national forest, the Boston Museum of Science, and a fish elevator. I earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from Smith College and hold a license in secondary Earth Science. I love to spend time recharging outdoors with my family and our dog, quilting, crocheting funny creatures, and trying new vegan recipes. I serve on my town’s Conservation Commission with the goal of certifying every single vernal pool in town.

Monya Relles

Monya Relles (they/them) is an adult ally, activist and educator at the Hitchcock Center for the environment. Monya loves to play outside, deconstruct human/nature dichotomies, and sing off key at the Connecticut River. They are excited to work with YCLP activists to create an intersectional anti-racist future where humans cultivate positive reciprocal relationships with the environment around them.

Colleen Kelley

Colleen has been teaching Environmental Education for over 40 years- many of those years at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment. She loves to play and learn outdoors and thinks this is an awesome planet to live on. She is passionate about keeping the planet healthy for all - the last 5 years she has dedicated focused time on creating the Western Mass Climate Summit in partnership with Brittany and a wonderful youth leadership team! When she is not teaching she loves to bike, swim, paddle board, hike, climb trees, ski, snowshoe… just about anything moving outdoors!!

Join Our Team!

The YCLP has always been fueled by the power and importance of youth voices. If you are interested in being a part of a youth-directed climate group with a mission to spread awareness about environmental justice and climate change solutions both big and small, then Mass Audubon’s SYCLP might be the perfect group for you!

Visit https://www.massaudubon.org/our-conservation-work/climate-change/engage-educate/youth-climate-leadership-program to learn more!

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