For the first time, California Environmental Voters Education Fund hosted our ambassadors for a mid-year campaign retreat and Legislative Day!
Our Ambassadors Program identifies, cultivates, and supports young leaders from marginalized communities in the Central Valley, Inland Empire, and Sierra–areas of California that are at the forefront of air quality and water equity issues. Normally, ambassador programming takes place remotely, with a few in-person meetings at the beginning and end of the season – this year, we did something different. Gathering all the ambassadors in the middle of their program is a brand new initiative to give them opportunities to meet with legislators and other youth organizations in person as they work toward their local campaign goals.
At the retreat, ambassadors established goals for the Water Equity and Clean Air Now (WECAN) campaign. This campaign tackles water equity and clean air in the Central Valley and Inland Empire, with the ultimate aim to create a youth climate commission in both Fresno and Riverside counties to build youth power. This year, the ambassador cohort has a clear plan: to secure a commitment of support from one supervisor in each of their respective counties.
From now until June, the ambassadors will focus on digital organizing, hosting educational workshops, and planning events around Earth Day to expand their reach and recruit more young volunteers.
The ambassador cohort had the chance to engage directly with legislative staff and Assemblymembers Robert Garcia, Celeste Rodriguez, and Corey Jackson over the course of the weekend they spent in Sacramento. In total, we had 11 meetings with 13 legislators and their offices that were focused on discussing urgent climate issues and the importance of youth involvement in shaping the future of these policies. The meetings aimed to strengthen our collective impact and foster relationships that will lead to meaningful change in climate legislation.
One important takeaway? None of the offices had a policy regarding youth engagement and advocacy for climate change. This goes to show how important the WECAN campaign and Ambassadors Program really are in opening doors for youth-led climate action in state politics.
Although meeting legislators and exploring the capitol is an exciting new experience, this trip also provided other highlights for our climate ambassadors. Many of the cohort had never been to Sacramento, and others had never boarded a plane or a train before this trip. Providing this opportunity for them was not only rewarding for our team, but it also showcased how valuable the ambassador program can be for young people in our battleground regions.
This event was a huge success and deeply meaningful for our cohort, so we’re working on creating more spaces like this. We’re planning to host a statewide youth climate action summit in the near future to expand on these opportunities for young climate champions to learn and succeed.
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