Empowering the Next Generation of Environmental Leaders in South LA

Pour construire un avenir plus durable, l'accès à l'éducation et au leadership environnemental est essentiel. Lorsque la prochaine génération reçoit les outils nécessaires pour diriger – en particulier ceux qui sont les plus proches des défis – l'impact peut être transformateur.

Pourtant, une lacune critique existe : les communautés noires sont touchées de manière disproportionnée par l'injustice environnementale, mais elles restent sous-représentées dans le leadership climatique et les domaines STIAM connexes. Nulle part cela n'est plus évident qu'à South Los Angeles, où des décennies de politiques discriminatoires ont conduit à une exposition accrue à la pollution de l'air, aux sols toxiques et aux risques sanitaires associés – rendant l'accès et la représentation d'autant plus urgents.

Notre partenaire VB Gives Back, Women’s Earth Alliance, travaille à combler cette lacune grâce à son initiative Black Girls, Green Futures. Lancé en partenariat avec Environmental Charter Schools (ECS) et Seeds of Carver Urban Farm Collective, le programme donne aux jeunes filles de tout le sud de Los Angeles les moyens de devenir des agents de changement environnemental dans leurs communautés. Grâce à une expérience pratique et au mentorat du réseau de femmes leaders de WEA, les participantes renforcent leur confiance, élargissent leurs perspectives et commencent à entrevoir ce qui est possible pour leur avenir.

“Without the knowledge and lived experiences required to think critically about environmental issues, young people won’t possess the skills needed for a future green economy. Providing them with equitable access and early exposure to this work helps build that foundation intentionally.”

— Tashanda Giles-Jones, ECS Environmental Education Program Lead

In its first year, students engaged directly with the challenges shaping their communities—testing soil, grafting trees, preserving wetlands, exploring eco-entrepreneurship, and more—connecting science to lived experience. This approach was especially urgent in the wake of California’s 2025 wildfires, which had lasting impacts on environmental and public health in the area. Through bioremediation, a natural process that detoxifies soil, students gained tools to support recovery in real, tangible ways. 

“At the heart of the program are three key elements: building trust and community, sharing knowledge and expanding access, and creating space to listen. This comes through in how we support the girls as they dream and cast a vision for themselves.”

— Kiya Leake - WEA Program Manager of Learning, Events & Alliance

The program culminated in a summer apprenticeship, where students were guided by mentors to apply their learning across fields such as environmental mapping, conservation, and eco-literacy. The result was not only skill-building, but also a deeper sense of agency—the ability not only to imagine, but to actively shape a more sustainable future.

“It starts with a passion. It starts with a dream. And when you steward that in girls, especially in Black girls, you're stewarding the future.”

— Kiya Leake - WEA Program Manager of Learning, Events & Alliance

Now through the end of June, a portion of every online order will be donated to Women’s Earth Alliance, helping further its mission through training, funding, and amplifying grassroots efforts.

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