Kayla Riker is a senior at Boston Latin School who lives in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. She has always been passionate about the environment and enjoys spending a lot of time outdoors at summer camp, hiking, biking, and skiing. In large part due to her love of the outdoors, she has been motivated to take environmental science her senior year, stop eating beef, and take steps to reduce energy waste at home and work.

After reading An Inconvenient Truth in fifth grade, Kayla began to see the world in a new light. She gained a newfound awareness for how everyday decisions impact the environment. Kayla believes that one of the most important aspects of climate action is new environmental legislation and incentivizing environmentally friendly practices. She believes that as green industry grows, major companies will take steps to be more environmentally conscious.

Through the ACE Action Fellowship, she hopes to gain all the knowledge and skills she can in order to spark a passion in her generation to take action on climate change. She believes that everyone can take steps to better the planet and looks forward to lobbying and rallying so that future generations can have mountains to hike and ski on, rainforests to admire, and lakes to swim in. Kayla plans to study environmental science in college and to find a career in the environmental field.

In her free time she plays softball, skis, and plays guitar. At school, she is involved with a model UN-like club, YouthCAN (an environmental group), and the Junior Classical League. Kayla is also involved with the Topol Peace and Nonviolence Fellowship, where she takes steps with a team to improve her school and her city through campaigns, teach-ins, and outreach.