• Translating Climate Awareness into Climate Action
• Translating Climate Awareness into Climate Action
Partnerships and Recognition
The YCAA translates climate awareness into action by empowering students with the resources, skills, and collaborative environment to lead climate action initiatives in their schools.
Translating Climate Awareness into Climate Action
Our Partner Schools
Founders have attended Avenues The World School and The Chapin School
Berkeley Carroll School
Brooklyn Friends School
The Dalton School
Dwight School
Fordham Preparatory School
Friends Seminary
Grace Church School
Hackley School
Horace Mann School
The Hewitt School
The Masters School
The Nightingale-Bamford School
United Nations International School
The Spence School
YCAA Ambassadors
Effective, sustained, and equitable climate action is desperately needed to combat anthropogenic climate change.
This is why the YCAA empowers its Student Ambassadors to become global leaders of climate action.
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Schools are uniquely positioned to cultivate students as social impact leaders because they are institutions built around learning, leadership, and community participation. They provide students with both the knowledge and the relationships needed to identify problems and implement change.
Students already have access to key stakeholders.
Students regularly interact with faculty, administrators, facilities teams, and other members of their school community. Because these relationships already exist, students have clearer pathways for proposing and implementing initiatives than they might in unfamiliar institutions.Schools can teach sustainability through practice.
Schools do more than teach students about sustainability in the classroom; their own practices can demonstrate what sustainable action looks like. When a school adopts renewable energy, reduces waste, or changes its environmental practices, students can observe those changes firsthand and learn from an institution putting its values into practice.Schools can extend their impact beyond their campuses.
Schools are embedded within local communities and often have relationships with families, community organizations, local governments, and other institutions. As a result, student-led initiatives that begin at school can influence practices and conversations beyond the campus itself.
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Each of our student ambassador teams takes on a school-based Climate Action Initiative (CAI) in one of three categories: renewable energy, zero waste, or climate education. Current CAIs include community solar subscriptions, rooftop solar installations, single use plastic elimination, green roof buildouts, community gardens, zero waste cafes, Terracycle, e-waste recycling, and more.
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Our annual YCAA Interscholastic Conference brings New York City student activists together to:
Hear from climate professionals through panels, keynotes, and more.
Meet student activists across our 17-school network
Attend educational workshops
Collaborate interscholastic climate initiatives
Showcase Climate Action Initiative (CAI) achievements and receive commendation
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Representatives from the YCAA have spoken at UN High-Level Political Forum and General Assembly side events, as well as the Nest Campus, the United States’ largest climate-focused convening. YCAA leaders and ambassadors have also enacted community partnerships with both local and global organizations to develop the scope of their CAIs.
Featured Ambassador Teams
The Hewitt School YCAA team is led by Elle E. ‘27, Eliza M. ‘27, and Eliza M. ‘28. They joined the YCAA because of their passion for environmental activism and dedication to sustainability projects. Some past CAIs include re-wilding the Hewitt Roof, redesigning the Upper School curriculum, programming an Earth Day celebration, and piloting a zero-waste cafe. Their current CAI focuses on renewable energy by installing solar panels on the Hewitt roof.
The Masters School YCAA ambassadors are Gabriela L. ‘28, Helen G. ‘28, and Emily M. ‘28. These students joined the YCAA to share their passion for developing and applying environmental solutions with their school and the world at large. This year, Gabriela, Helen, and Emily are implementing a CAI that will greatly reduce single-use plastic waste both at their school and in their larger community of Dobbs Ferry, NY. They also hope to educate others about what they can do to prevent plastic pollution and mitigate its impact.
Nightingale-Bamford ambassadors Ash W. '27, Jenna E. '27, and Aima W. '28 have all been prominent members of Nightingale’s Environmental Board, which organizes school-wide events, fundraisers, panels, keynotes, clothing swaps Earth Day celebrations, and more. Through the YCAA, they plan to create a digital, interactive platform to educate students on the local impacts of climate change and raise awareness about environmental initiatives that are taking place both within Nightingale and the broader New York City community.
Join the Alliance
Want to become an ambassador, faculty advisor, or community partner?