How Young People Make Change
In middle school, I was consumed by my anger and fear about the climate crisis, craving an outlet to channel my frustration into action. Every Friday, my sister and I stood on the sidewalk with our “School Strike for Climate” signs, trying desperately to harness hope and start some kind of change. Without the skills or support to build something impactful at the time, my efforts dissipated each day as the cars passed by. By the end of eighth grade, I was exhausted from wanting to change the world but not knowing how. I read books about youth activism and searched for organizations to join. I went to countless events and took action with different groups, but I was still left craving more. I wanted to feel empowered and supported.
About three years later, I found the Sunrise Movement, a home for young people who are ready to bring big and bold change to their communities. Now, I am a senior in high school in Boulder, Colorado, where I lead a local Sunrise Movement hub. As part of a national movement of young people demanding bold action to stop the climate crisis, I work to ensure that Black, brown, and working-class communities receive the investments they need to thrive while pushing for millions of well-paying, green, union jobs. I have built a network of seventy students across my school district, mobilizing them to take statewide action in our fight for climate justice.
Young people have always been at the forefront of change. From the Civil Rights Movement to anti-war protests, students and youth hold a crucial role in bringing about political shifts.
To harness the power of youth organizing, Sunrise is equipping thousands of young people with the skills and resources to build power and win real, legislative changes. Our support network keeps members from across the country connected to one another, providing training on how to run a hub, financial support for hubs and working-class Sunrisers, and the tools needed to sustain long-term organizing.
But beyond these resources, what makes Sunrise truly powerful is our bold and honest vision of how we will transform every aspect of society to face the climate crisis. The Green New Deal isn’t just policy; it’s a blueprint for transforming our society. It envisions a United States powered by 100 percent renewable energy, where our government invests in racial and economic justice, and where people are prioritized over profit.
As a community organizer, I have spoken with hundreds of young people, both in my local communities and communities across the country. One thing is clear: Our generation has a desire to be at the forefront of change and the courage to try. Yet too often, we become lost and discouraged, wondering where to channel our energy. We are told that individual actions—recycling, turning off lights—are the solution. But these steps are frankly not nearly enough to address the crises we face. In fact, they are exactly the kind of distractions that the fossil fuel industry wants us to focus on rather than dismantling the oppressive systems that pollute our communities and sow division. When young people are taught how to make change, we are always told to start small and to take simple actions that take little time or effort. However, creating change requires massive amounts of time and effort. This is not about doing what is easy; this is about doing what is necessary.
That is why Sunrise activates young people nationwide to organize in their own communities, building mass movements to push for governmental action and shift the public narrative. Our generation will be the most impacted by the climate crisis, and we have the unique energy and perspective to drive political change. Youth organizing is crucial to political progress on this front because we have a singular understanding of the urgency, growing up in the midst of climate chaos with most of our lives ahead of us at risk.
While the political world is often disillusioning, taking action can be a remedy to apathy. In my experience working with young people, getting involved with campaigns and community organizing has turned many of my peers from feeling hopeless to feeling powerful. This is not to say that engaging in activism breeds optimism. I still feel pessimistic about many issues that we face. The difference is that as an organizer, I choose to turn toward these issues. It is an active decision I make every day to fight for the world we deserve. In doing so, I have learned that I hold the power to transform the people and places around me. I have chosen bravery over apathy.
A few years ago, I started a Green New Deal for Schools campaign in my school district. The nationwide effort by the Sunrise Movement is a bold vision to transform our schools to face the climate crisis by installing solar panels on school buildings, electrifying school buses, teaching a comprehensive climate justice curriculum, and providing students with pathways to green jobs. After months of campaigning in our district, collecting petition signatures, giving public comment at school board meetings, and galvanizing hundreds of students at meetings and events to support our vision, we won a Green New Deal for Schools resolution. What started with just two other students and me became a district-wide policy. Now, we are working to win similar changes for the entirety of Colorado through our state legislature and state board of education.
In this turbulent political climate, youth organizing is more important than ever. Tens of thousands of federal employees have been let go or put on leave by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, after another 75,000 workers took the offered buyouts. Critical programs and agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Science Foundation, the National Park Service, and the Department of Education are facing the loss of millions of dollars in funding, all in the name of allegedly decreasing the federal deficit. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is approving billions of dollars to fund mass deportations, which attempt to turn us against our neighbors and classmates. The programs and agencies being defunded are not only popular but also critical to U.S. public life. In 2023, the Department of Education provided $18 billion for Title I, a program funding schools in low-income areas, and, in 2024, it distributed another $15 billion to serve students with disabilities through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Along with these programs, the Department of Education manages $1.6 trillion in student loans and oversees the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) program. Lastly, it provides schools with resources for climate disaster recovery, which are especially critical when dealing with disasters like the recent fires in Los Angeles.
Mass federal layoffs and budget cuts demonstrate the current administration’s lack of concern for young people, working-class people, the environment, and public education. It is essential that our generation stands up for what we deserve. Protests have erupted in response nationwide—including youth protests.
In February, I organized a rally at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver for climate justice and public education, specifically to support four bills we are advocating for this legislative session. Students and teachers from around the state mobilized in response to the recent attacks on public education and in support of our vision for our schools. The rally was coordinated entirely by high school students; its success in energizing our community and signaling Coloradans’ priorities to legislators reinforced my belief in student organizing.
Even amid political chaos federally, movements for change can thrive. While opposing national decisions, we can achieve local success and absorb hundreds of new members. We are demonstrating every day that young people will not sit back and let our futures be taken from us. No matter who is in power, our fight will continue.
Young people are capable of so much more than we are taught to believe. There is often an assumption that youth should let adults lead the way and wait to get involved in structures of power. Yet when it comes to so many political issues, young people are disproportionately bearing the impact of policy, and our viewpoints must be prioritized.
History shows that when young people organize, we don’t just participate; we make change. We have the power to shape the world around us right now. That’s why despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges, the hopelessness, and being seventeen years old, I won’t stop fighting for my community, the people I love, and the places I call home. And I want you to join me.