Marcia is a 17 year old activist based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has been a driving force in climate activism with Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE), leading impactful actions such as lobbying congressional representatives in DC and state officials in Madison. She has also recruited students for major protests to save the planet. Her unapologetic passion and tireless dedication make climate action approachable and engaging. Marcia’s energy and leadership consistently unite and inspire students, both during lobbying efforts and ACE’s influencer training.

Hakim Evans (HE): What influenced your decision to take action on the climate crisis? Any personal experiences?

I went through a phase in early high school where I felt very angry and wanted to do something but I didn’t know how and I had so many life experiences that just made me feel very confused and I had so many strong opinions and no outlet for them. One day, Marco came to my school and he spoke and that’s when it kind of clicked that all of the things I’ve experienced in my life are connected to climate change.Being born in China during the one child policy, I was able to connect this to climate issues, such as food insecurity and overpopulation. I was adopted by a single mother and came to the US as a young child, we weren’t exactly poor, but we experienced some financial insecurity. Despite that, my mom worked extremely hard to make. sure I had so many opportunities. I go to a school with a predominantly low income student body and I was later able to connect experiences at my school, such as lack of green spaces, and lack of renewable energy in our school to climate issues and the fact that we don’t have the funding to get air conditioners. This impacted us during heat waves where we would have to cancel classes.

HE: So tell me about the  Milwaukee Green Student of the Year Awards

HE: Yeah, I was this year but this was my third Green & Healthy Schools Conference, it was really cool. The past two years seeing nominees give their speeches and win awards, it was really great being able to be one of the nominees this year and be able to win!

HE: When was a time you felt proud of the impact you had made through your climate activism?

I truly felt proud and I felt like I made a difference on my first event with Ace when we went to Madison and I got the chance to lobby at the state capital advocating for a Native American rights and against fossil fuels. That was such an impactful experience where there were so many people who were so opinionated and passionate about the climate emergency and making change.That’s when I decided that I really love doing this and felt very passionate about making a difference with my voice. Another moment that stuck with me is when I got to go to Washington DC and lobby in DC about line 5, which was also a really great experience where I got to meet so many passionate people and in that moment I really felt like I was making a difference and I want to do this in the future .

Why is local climate activism important?

Local climate activism is important because it’s more rooted in your community. It connects you to the broader movement where you’ll find that everything is connected and is intersectional. So local activism is really helping on a broader scale.

 HE: What’s your advice to other young People who want to get involved? But don’t know how

My advice honestly is to join Ace and to not be afraid of speaking and just taking those chances and opportunities that you get, because they are so incredible. And so once in a lifetime and you’re gonna grow so much as a person, And just experience so many things and meet so many interesting and passionate people and it’s just a really great experience.

HE: How do you cope with the fear and anxiety that the climate crisis induces?

HE: I used to feel very anxious and fearful of the climate crisis and still am in a way, but I was able to turn that fear, anxiety and anger into action and it became a really great weapon and a really great way for me to find a way to process my emotions and feel like I was making a difference. Everyone’s voice is so powerful and they should use it to be able to help people instead of just be angry and fearful like I used to be.

HE: Why did you get involved with the Action for the Climate Emergency?

I got involved with ACE because I’ve needed an outlet and a space where I could get involved and feel like I was making a difference. And I went through a small identity crisis, my freshman year of high school where I was just joining a bunch of clubs and organizations trying to figure out who I was as a person and where I could find my space, that I felt like I was making a difference and then I found ACE with Marco presented at her school and I just got more and more involved because Ace is just such an incredible organization for young people.

HE: Why is it important for adults to support young activists? And how can we, Make that possible.

HE: It’s important for adults to support young activists because we are the future and we have strong opinions that matter, and they as adults can help support us by giving us the space and the resources to be able to speak. There’s a lot of times when adults kind of shut out young voices from being heard, despite the fact that we are the future and that is the world that they’re leaving to us. I think that we deserve a say in what’s happening and to the pessimist adults I would say that we, as young people, are children, but we are also the future and we are just as opinionated as them and we deserve just as much room to speak as they do.

IH: Thank you so much for participating in this interview!

All photos courtesy of Marcia Olson and ACE

Answers may have been edited for length

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