Youth Rep Kavi Reddy, Senior at the Athenian School in CA spoke at the Youth Empowerment Summit last week. This is her speech. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KU5k4ZSue8&feature=youtu.be

Hello fellow Greenies! Alright, so I’m up here right now to prove to you guys that being young means we CAN make a difference. Teachers, adults, and professionals might all try to claim otherwise, but truth is every single one of you out there has the ability to be activists of change in this world. All you need is a few things… So let me hear you answer these questions:

1) Do you care about stopping climate change?
2) Are you willing to work together and be a force of change for this movement?
3) Are you ready to show the world with passion, ambition, and dedication, we CAN be leaders of
change in this world?

I personally became inspired, once I realized it wasn’t just humans being effected by climate change, but trillions of animals world wide that now face the effects of our action. Polar bears have been doing nothing to contribute to climate change, yet they have been hit hard by our actions. The beautiful corals aren’t doing anything bad, but because of us coral reefs and all the species they sustain are being destroyed. Here I am, trying to use less energy, emit less carbon, and be more green, however even with those actions these animals still are suffering. I decided enough is enough and now is the time for me to stand up and make a difference. I watched an ACE presentation my freshman year, and almost like a calling, I joined forces with them to begin my path as a leader of change.

My story begins with becoming the president of my school’s green action team as a freshman! We received multiple ACE grants and started on several projects ranging from developing biodiesel for our buses to run on, to designing and building 30 ft bio swales as an alternative to an intense irrigation system that would cost tons of money and carbon output to manufacture and install. From those initial actions, I began to receive more attention and support, and was asked by sustainable schools Danville to lead the contra costa country green schools alliance. Suddenly my impact had expanded from me and my small family of four, to my entire county’s school district. Together we pushed the green movement in our high schools and made going green a reality.

Now you might think everything just clicked, but I too had to face many rejections. Everyone from my own school maintenance team, to principals of other schools told me what I wanted to do was not possible and they could not offer me any support.

Yet here I am, standing here today as having accomplished not only those projects, but many many more, and finally today I do have the support of every one of those adults, including the ones that said I was too young to make a difference.

So when it all comes down to it, you don’t have to be an adult with a job and house and college education with a masters in environmental science to make a difference. Instead, any ordinary kid like me with passion, ambition, and dedication does have what it takes to be an activist of change in this world. Thank You.