ABOUT THIS PROJECT
This list recognizes content creators who are producing original, entertaining, and educational content that’s reshaping the climate narrative, combating misinformation, and empowering people to take climate action.
Pique Action is a new media startup that aims to change the conversation around climate by producing content that elevates solutions and drives action. Since 2022, Pique has released over 700 videos with creators, including it’s YouTube show, UnF*cking the Planet, as well as 50 micro-documentaries on climate innovators through its series NextNow.
The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health delivers cutting-edge research and informs climate actions to protect our most vulnerable populations like children, seniors, and environmental justice communities from the impacts of climate change. The Center writes The Climate Optimist, a monthly newsletter sharing stories of climate hope and action.
Read the full press release here.
4.2M Followers
For educating audiences on the intersectional nature of the climate crisis and advancing the conversation around climate change
For bringing evidenced-based hope and ocean-climate action to the environmental education space
For showing how low-waste living and individual action can create systematic change
dave borlace
Dave Borlace is a YouTuber. His ‘Just Have a Think’ channel seeks to understand the issues that face our civilization in the 21st Century, focussing on the potential solutions that will save as many lives as possible and hopefully bring about a greater level of equality in the world. That sounds quite heavy, but there is a good measure of British self-deprecation and sharp humour in there too, to keep the videos entertaining as well as informative.
Simon clark
Simon Clark is a science communicator and author from Bath, UK. He completed his undergraduate studies in physics at the University of Oxford, and his PhD in atmospheric physics at the University of Exeter.
His YouTube videos have focused on atmospheric science and climate, with other topics such as the history of science, machine learning, science fiction, and mental health also making appearances. In 2022 his first book Firmament, a history of and introduction to atmospheric science, was published by Hodder & Stoughton.
sumak helena gualinga
Helena Gualinga, 22, is an Indigenous land and human rights defender from Kichwa people of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Gualinga is a member of the Indigenous Youth Collective of Amazon Defenders. She has attended several conferences such as COP 27, UN summits and the World Economic Forum to establish mechanisms to protect the Amazon rainforest from extractivism.
In October of 2023, Helena along with her sister Nina, graced the cover of Forbes Ecuador for their crucial work for the Amazon and Indigenous peoples’ rights.
elise joshi
Elise Joshi is a 21-year-old organizer and recent graduate of UC Berkeley, where she finished first in her major of Environmental Economics and Policy.
Through her role as Executive Director at Gen-Z for Change and her own TikTok platform of 160,000 people, Joshi mobilizes people across the country to take action in labor, climate, and health. Joshi is part of the firewall against both climate nihilism and climate denial, generating millions of views monthly towards combating both narratives and amplifying on-the-ground efforts for a sustainable and just future.
jessica kleczka
Jessica is a climate psychologist, storyteller and campaigner. She has contributed to groundbreaking research in the areas of climate communication and eco-anxiety and is a leading voice against fossil fuel expansion. Jessica runs the popular "Positive Climate News" series with Earthly Education, which has garnered millions of views and inspired thousands to take climate action. In her recently built sustainable van conversion, she is now slow-travelling across Europe, documenting environmental projects with Earthly Explore.
joycelyn longdon
Joycelyn is an award winning environmental justice researcher and educator, currently completing a PhD at Cambridge University on the design of justice-led technologies for biodiversity conservation. As the founder of ClimateInColour, an online education platform and community for the climate curious, making climate conversations more accessible, diverse and hopeful, Joycelyn has worked with a wide range of organizations. She is a TEDx Alumni and was 2022’s winner of the Emerging Designer London Design Medal. Most recently she was featured in British Vogue’s December 2023 ‘Forces for Change’ Issue.
michael mezzatesta
Michael Mezzatesta is an economist and educator using social media to spread ideas for a better future.
Michael’s videos analyze sustainability through the lenses of economics, finance, and culture. By highlighting intersectional issues and pushing for systemic solutions, Michael encourages people to think differently about climate change – and to imagine utopian possibilities.
Veronica Mulenga
Veronica Mulenga is a Climate & Environmental Justice Activist from Zambia in south-central Africa. Her work raises awareness about the climate crisis, environmental injustice and the disproportionate impacts of climate on the most vulnerable communities.
She is also part of the @YouthClimateSave movement, which is a global youth-led organization addressing the link between animal agriculture and the climate crisis. Mulenga organizes the @YouthClimateSaveZambia chapter.
shelby orme
Shelby is a renowned sustainability expert, speaker, and community activist based in Austin, Texas. Through her platform, she educates and inspires others to embrace sustainable living and become advocates in their own communities. Embodying her motto, "do your best and advocate for the rest," Shelby leads by example, demonstrating the power of individual action in driving collective change towards a more sustainable future.
Shelby also founded ATX Cares Collective which aims to bridge the gap between existing organizations and communities existing in Austin, Texas that support people and planet.
bodhi patil
Bodhi Patil is a UN-recognized, award-winning GenZ ocean-climate “Solutionist” dedicated to improving the interconnectedness between ocean health and human health. He is the Founder & CEO of Inner Light, empowering a generation to build resilience from the inside out for people and planetary wellbeing. He is co-creator/cofounder of Ocean Uprise and SeaDragon Studios and advises several love-based climate organizations on a mission to protect our blue planet.
Bodhi has been featured by the United Nations and Forbes, and has also presented to world leaders at over 10 global climate conferences.
maya penn
Maya Penn is a gen z environmental justice activist, award-winning founder, multidisciplinary artist, animator, filmmaker, 3 time TEDTalk speaker, and author. She's the CEO of award-winning global eco-fashion brand Maya’s Ideas which she started in 2008 at just 8 years old.
Maya made history with her animation that she created for the opening of the first ever digital report presented to US Congress. Maya received a commendation from President Obama for Outstanding Achievement in Environmental Stewardship, and she is certified in Circular Economies and Sustainable Strategies by Cambridge Business School.
anna sacks
elizabeth sherr
Elizabeth (Liz) is an ocean conservationist and science communicator using storytelling to scale education, action and impact. Liz engages her online by simplifying ocean and climate news, sharing marine science facts, promoting sustainable habits, and encouraging local actions to tackle plastic pollution. In 2021, Liz created a viral campaign with the European Parliament that motivated a global and virtual cleanup for World Ocean Day known as the #TrashChallenge.
Elizabeth holds an Erasmus Mundus scholar MSc. in Marine Environment Resources from universities in Spain, France, and Belgium and a BSc. in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of Florida.
jacob simon
Jacob Simon is a climate educator & creator, former internationally ranked Team USA pairs figure skater, and the creator of Jacobsimonsays — a platform telling positive stories to replace dread with hope while sparking effective action. He inspires his audience of half a million people across social media and a newsletter (Climativity) to overcome eco-anxiety and get involved with tackling the climate crisis through optimism and action. Living in Brooklyn, NY, he's spread hope to 40+ million people taking 20,000+ individual actions, and accelerates a better future through impactful collaborations with the UN, NRDC, EPA, DOT, Clean Creatives, and more.
navya singh
Navya Singh is a climate action journalist and founder of 'News With Navya' (Fact Forth LLP). She holds a bachelor’s degree in Media, Economics and Political Science that motivated her to enter journalism. After having worked with media houses in India, Singh started her own news venture to talk about climate change, solutions to fight the crisis and how it affects people and the planet. As a young sustainability enthusiast, she believes it is extremely imperative to understand the impact of our actions, choices and how they affect climate change. News With Navya prioritizes presenting solutions to mitigate the crisis, driven by the belief that inspiration is all around us. As a team, they inspire change and have successfully built a community of eco-conscious citizens.
meg haywood sulLilvan
Meg Haywood Sullivan is a sustainability strategist and a third-generation creative. With over fourteen years of experience in the non-profit and photography industries, she’s dedicated her life's work to the convergence of art and science, aiming to inspire action through meaningful steps toward a more sustainable future. Her work helps brands and non-profits create and implement sustainability programs while finding innovative ways to engage their target audience.
Outside of her commercial work, she is a co-founder of the Plastic Free Fridays movement, an ambassador for Conservation International, Surfrider Foundation, and Protect Our Winters.
franziska trautmann
Over 6 million more pounds of glass would be in landfills if not for Franziska and her team at Glass Half Full. Started in a backyard in New Orleans, Glass Half Full recycles glass into sand for coastal restoration, disaster relief, construction, and more.
Franziska graduated with a degree in chemical engineering, which has helped her lead a research team backed by the National Science Foundation, conducting novel research on the use of recycled glass sand for coastal restoration. They have completed four coastal restoration projects, restoring acres of coastline and counting.
