Our Cohort

2023-2025

Aaditi Lele

she/her ☀︎ USA

  • At the time of the fellowship, Aaditi Lele (she/her) was a junior at Vanderbilt University, studying Climate Studies & International Politics, and serves as the Policy Director at Zero Hour, a youth-led climate justice nonprofit. Born in Pune, India and based in Cupertino, California, she organizes for climate justice policy with a focus on fossil fuels campaigns. Aaditi is also active in the university-based fossil fuel divestment movement and has written for The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Truthout, and more.

Adriana Calderon

She/her ☀︎ Mexico

Alicia Amancio

She/her ☀︎ Brazil

  • Alicia Amancio is a climate and racial activist from Brazil. She is the founder of the Latin American Youth Climate Scholarship, an initiative that aims to increase the participation of Black, Indigenous and People of Color in the climate talks. Alicia believes that meaningful participation of BIPoC youth means breaking barriers of language so that each person can tell their own stories, in their own words.

Aliya Hirji

they/them ☀︎ Canada

  • Aliya Hirji is an Indian-Canadian intersectional environmentalist in pursuit of a socially inclusive response to the climate crisis through divesting from fossil fuels and equipping marginalized youth with climate resources. They are very passionate about ensuring the climate justice movement is anti-racist, anti-patriarchal, and anti-colonial. In 2021, Aliya was recognized by Corporate Knights as one of Canada’s top 30 under 30 sustainability leaders. They love making environmental TikToks, looking at old maps, and listening to very loud music!

Darren Namatovu

she/her ☀︎ Uganda

  • My name is  Darren Namatovu from Kampala Uganda . I am the founding Executive Director of Phoenix Children Foundation ,a community based non-profit organization that is working towards transforming and  Advancing Children’s rights in Uganda . I am a Rotarian at Rotary International and also a Human rights and child-rights Defender and intersectional Environmental Advocate. I serve as a member of the East African and National Youth Parliament and a radical advocate for Democracy having membership with different organisations in that sphere.I am a Peace Ambassador at the Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassadors Network.

Disha Ravi

she/her ☀︎ India

  • Disha Ravi is a climate and environmental justice activist who founded Fridays For Future India in 2018. After seing her family impacted by the water crisis she became an activist advocating for better policies and governance for the climate and environmental sector. Disha is a writer, and her work focuses on ensuring the rights of environmental defenders are protected. She is passionate about making sure the voices of MAPA (the Most Affected People and Areas) are heard in climate conversations.

Farzana Faruk
Jhumu

she/her ☀︎ Bangladesh

  • Farzana Faruk Jhumu (She/Her) is a climate activist from Fridays for Future, Bangladesh. She is a youth currently living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She is also a co-founder of Kaathpencil, an organization for teaching the unprivileged children of her area. Farzana's journey against the climate crisis started in 2017. But she joined Fridays for Future, Bangladesh, in 2019. Bangladesh is a severely affected country, and Dhaka is one of the most densely polluted cities, so she has to engage in climate activism. She is the youth advocate of UNICEF Bangladesh. She coordinates with Fridays for Future MAPA(Most Affected People and Areas) and Fridays for Future International. She is also working on coordinating Fossil fuel non-proliferation Treaty. She is a member of the feminist action coalition for climate justice with UN women. She is currently working with 350 Bangladesh to campaign for a green new deal in Bangladesh.

Federico Pellegrino

he/him ☀︎ Argentina

  • Federico Pellegrino is the co-founder of the Energy Transition Lab, where he focuses on developing new narratives to communicate climate change with real impact across Latin America. Through innovative content, his campaigns have reached over 2 million views, aiming to connect the energy transition with tangible opportunities for society.

Grace Vegesana

she/they ☀︎ Australia

  • Grace Vegesana (she/they) is a woman-of-colour fighting for climate, economic & racial justice on stolen Dharug, Gundungurra and Tharawal land across Australia. She is pioneering an intersectional portfolio as the Climate & Racial Justice Director for the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC), and was previously the first Western Sydney Organiser. She sits on the Boards of the Foundation for Young Australians, the Australian Conservation Foundation and Sweltering Cities. Grace has previously worked with Future Super, Australia's first fossil fuel free superfund, to instigate the Not Business as Usual Alliance where 3000+ businesses striked for the September 20 2019 Climate Strike in the largest protest in Australian history.

    She recently completed a double degree of Environmental & Climate Science and Law, and loves bringing her background as a geophysicist and (soon to be!) admitted lawyer to reimagining disaster adaptation and finding creative ways to end fossil fuel expansion. Grace is passionate about working in the intersection of climate and racial justice to build the power of young people in culturally, linguistically, and religiously diverse and climate-affected communities in Australia to forge generation-wide solutions to intersecting crises at a systemic level.

Hilda Flavia
Nakabuye

she/her ☀︎ Uganda

  • Hilda Flavia Nakabuye is a Ugandan climate and environmental rights activist who founded Uganda's Fridays for Future movement. She is a recipient of the Women Have Wings 2022 Award. She advocates for greater gender equality and racial diversity in the climate change movement. One of her environmental concerns is saving Lake Victoria, which connects Uganda to neighboring countries. As part of her activism, Nakabuye is a sustainable farmer who visits schools and communities to empower more women to join the fight against climate change.

Holly Hudson

they/them ☀︎ UK

  • Holly Hudson is a climate and grassroots migrant justice organiser from the UK, focussing on anti-colonial climate justice. They are one of the co-founders of WeSmellGas, a pan-European collective of researchers, activists and film-makers researching and resisting the (neo)colonialism of European fossil gas/hydrogen policies and projects. With WeSmellGas, they are currently working on leveraging the collective's Gas Industrial Complex theory through intersectional movement building, theatrical campaigning and political education.

Kalo Afeaki

she/her/ia
☀︎ Kingdom of Tonga

  • Kalo Afeaki is of Tongan (Tofoa, Tongatapu & Haatou, Haapai), Maori (Ngati Kahungunu ki te Wairoa) and Palangi (Northern Ireland & United Kingdom) descent. She is currently the Co-Coordinator of Pacific Climate Warriors - Te Whanganui a Tara (Wellington, New Zealand). Growing up in Tonga, she witnessed firsthand the impacts of climate change. Through her work with PCW, she is able to amplify the voices of those on the frontlines of climate change. She is a proud daughter, wife, sister and aunty - with all of her climate work guided by her loved ones, especially those who live in Tonga! Her favourite Tongan adage underpins all she does, oua lau e kafo, lau e lava - do not dwell on your mistakes, strive instead for success.

Naro Alonzo

they/them ☀︎ Philippines

  • Naro Alonzo is a tagahabi (storyweaver) or psychosocial support provider for KERI: Caring for Activists, a collective caring for the mental health of environmental and Indigenous peoples rights defenders.

Nicki Becker

she/her ☀︎ Argentina

  • Nicki Becker is an Argentine climate activist and co-founder of Youth for Climate Argentina (Jóvenes Por El Clima). She was recognized by the Argentine Congress for her fight against climate change in 2020. With a background in environmental communication, she previously co-hosted the podcast "Permitido Pisar el Pasto" and currently contributes articles to various media outlets. Nicki is also a co-author of a chapter in Greta Thunberg's book and is a law student at the University of Buenos Aires.

Max Han

he/him ☀︎ Malaysia

  • Growing up in Malaysia, Max witnessed the devastating effects of deforestation and haze on his family and local communities. Struck by the lack of action surrounding local environmentalism, Max co-founded Youths United For Earth (YUFE), Malaysia’s leading grassroots nonprofit mobilizing youth for nationwide climate and environmental action. Living in the region bearing the brunt of climate change, Max believes in the power of local action, decolonial environmentalism, and aspires to bring Southeast Asian environmentalism to the global stage.  

    Since 2019, Max has been leading youths to spearhead environmental campaigns supporting youth and marginalized groups. He has since engaged local UN agencies, the Central Bank of Malaysia, and Malaysia’s Ministry of the Environment. Max was personally awarded by the UN Messenger of Peace, Dr. Jane Goodall, and was chosen to represent Malaysia as a YSEALI Fellow by the U.S. Department of State. Internationally, he has highlighted Malaysia’s environmentalism at the United Nations Headquarters, ASEAN Youth Forum, Yale, Princeton’s Youth Climate and Conservation Summit, and is a working group member of drafting ASEAN’s first-ever Environmental Rights Framework. He is also the recipient of the Diana Award, an award established in memory of Princess Diana of Wales that recognizes humanitarian work.

Patsy Islam-Parsons

she/her ☀︎ Australia

Raini Sydney

they/them ☀︎ Kenya

  • Raini Sydney is a gardener, storyteller, and educator from Kenya, living in Kigali - Rwanda. 

    He's one of the 2022 Future Rising Fellows with Girl Rising and works at the nexus of nature, science,education, storytelling and Social Justice.

    Raini currently facilitates Foundation Studies at the African Leadership University and mostly collaborates with/supports student storytellers to amplify stories of climate change, and conservation social justice within their community.

Ruben Herrera

he/him ☀︎ Cuba

  • Rubén is an environmentalist from Cuba. Growing up in the countryside and living with his grandparents who were farmers, he always felt a deep sense of connection to the natural world. He’s been working and collaborating with organizations and initiatives on climate action and youth empowerment specially in the Caribbean region where the devastating effects of climate change have been having an impact on communities and ecosystems. He’s passionate about history and loves camping.

Saoi O’connor

they/them ☀︎ Ireland

  • Saoi O’Connor is a climate justice organiser, writer and poet from rural Ireland. They work with the international Climate Strike movement, and are the current Global North coordinator of the Alliance of Non-Governmental Radical Youth (ANGRY).

Tunaimati’a
Jacob Netzler

he/him ☀︎ Samoa

  • Tunaimati’a Jacob Netzler is an Indigenous young Pacific climate activist from Samoa. Rooted on traditional Samoan practices and storytelling, he strategises for community centred advocacy calling for a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific. He is specialised on providing logistical support and delegation management to make international spaces more accessible for Pacific advocates, as well as organising ministerial meetings and government briefings for advancing intergovernmental support for a Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty, intersecting on issues like ocean conservation, plastics and Just Transition from a Pacific perspective.

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