Here at ACE, we pride ourselves on being rockstar presenters. Most of us are college graduates with plenty of experience under our belts. We’ve traveled the world, worked as lawyers, gotten masters degrees, and much much more. Overall, we are an impressive bunch.

One day back in 2013, the LA ACE team met Pablo. He was a senior at Van Nuys High and saw our award-winning assembly. Afterward he attended the club meeting during lunch. He wanted to do more, so he attended the following Youth Action Lab and proved to be a leader early on. He developed a close relationship with our team, and was soon after invited to become a Senior Climate Action Fellow as freshman in college.

As Pablo says about his own journey:

"There were no huge metaphorical road signs in my life pointing toward a passion for environmental affairs (food justice, wildlife preservation, public awareness, etc.). I didn’t grow up on a farm, and my dad isn’t a scientist. However, I’ve come to realize that a major theme in my life revolves around the search for truth." Read more about Pablo's story here.

Early on, it occurred to us that it could be fun for Pablo to present to his alma mater, Van Nuys High. We certainly wouldn’t make it a requirement; just one of many ways to step up into leadership in his position. He was stoked about the opportunity and learned the presentation in three weeks (it takes most ACE staff a month to get it down!).

Pablo getting the crowd fired up at King Drew High

Since then, Pablo has blown our expectations out of the water. He has presented to 4,300 students, being the youngest person in ACE history to do this. He has a keen ability to convey climate science through the assembly in a way that we've never seen before. His ability to connect with an audience so close in age goes a long way in activating that critical spark of interest. He identifies with how the audience is feeling throughout – using tone, humor and personal stories to capture their interest and emotional investment in the issue.

Book the ACE assembly today. It truly is at the heart of our mission and vision to achieve a safe and stable climate in our lifetime with the breakthrough ideas, action and influence of young people. And Pablo is one example of how that can be manifested in an exceptional way.

Read more about Pablo on his PowerShift blog here. See him rocking the ACE Assembly here. See him on VICE news here.