Westchester Youth Climate Summit

By Oona Spaeth

I created the first ever Westchester Youth Climate Summit on October 26, 2024, with a grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Youth Climate Action Fund.

I organized this event over the course of five months with help from Mayor Nicola Armacost, Hastings Schools Superintendent Dr. McKersie, Hastings High School Science Department Chair Melissa Shandroff, school facilities staff, the Jane Goodall Roots & Shoots Youth Council USA, and my family. 

Students from over 25 high schools across NYS joined us, with a total of around 100 attendees. 

The summit began with keynote speaker author Seth Godin, who gave an overview of the history of climate change and how we got here. He also generously gifted 100 copies of his book, Carbon Almanac, to the first 100 registered attendees. 

Following our keynote, there was an inspiring panel discussion of youth student activists: Lucy Whitney from NYU of the New Roots Institute; Sofia Choudhri from Columbia University and Sunrise Columbia; and Mae de Villemejane from NYU and Sunrise NYU. After the panel discussion, Leo Bachinger of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation led students on a climate mitigation and adaptation workshop. The workshop helped students connect and brainstorm environmental projects they might want to implement in their communities to address climate change. Students were excited about their projects and loved connecting with like-minded peers. Finally, there was an opportunity to speak with other awardees of the Bloomberg Grant, see their projects, and connect with other Westchester high school students who have similar passions. 

Students were excited about the three local environmental organizations that tabled: Sustainable Westchester, Bedford 2030's Greenlight Award, and Groundwork Hudson Valley. Many students signed up to join these organizations. Michael Bloomberg acknowledged our efforts with a personal letter to the summit. 

What had the most impact on me personally was all the students who came up to me after the event and thanked me. That was the most special thing I've ever experienced. Creating the Summit was about bringing people together to learn and connect and to find inspiration in each other. I am so grateful I was able to do that. 

Press: Our local newspaper, The Rivertowns Dispatch, wrote an article about the event. The The November 1st edition of the school's Hastings Happenings also posted an article about the summit. Finally, the Youth Climate Summit was posted on our local TV station, WHOH-TV, which is linked here and embedded below. 

Throughout this process I learned so much about event planning, email writing, and how to engage people. I also learned a lot about outreach and advertising. 

Mission Statement

Join students, youth activists and other leaders of the climate movement for an inspiring day of action and education! Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from local environmental community leaders, organizers, and professionals on climate science, education, and advocacy. At the Summit, students will leave ready to accelerate change and the tools to become leaders of change working towards a more sustainable future in their schools, communities, and beyond.

Panel Discussion Questions

1. Can you tell us a little bit about your climate work and organizations you're working with? 

2. Could you share what inspired you to get involved in climate activism and how old you were when you first started getting involved? 

3. Can you talk about how you got involved in climate work at your college and what were some of the challenges? 

4. Why do you think youth leadership in the climate movement is so important? 5. Can you talk about some successes you’ve had through your climate work? 6. What keeps you motivated to fight for climate justice? 

7. With so many teens getting their information from social media and other sources, how do you decide what is reliable? Can you tell us your favorite podcasts, newsletters, and book recommendations, related to climate action that you would recommend. 

8. For highschool students wanting to get involved with climate work, do you have any recommendations on starting out? 

9. The majority of young people feel anxious and scared about the climate crisis – how do you cope with this stress and stay hopeful? 

10. Who are your climate heroes and why? 

Agenda

12:00 - Welcome 

12:10 - Keynote 

12:35 - Panel discussion 

1:20 - Climate workshop 

2:05 - Closing notes 

2:20 - Grant project presentations and snacks