About Us

by Youth & for Youth

The Bay Area Youth Climate Summit is an entirely youth-led activism network that offers in-depth educational, environmental justice workshops and mobilizes local Bay Area high schoolers to create and implement Climate Action Plans (CAPs) in their communities and schools.

Our Story

The Bay Area Youth Climate Summit (BAYCS) was born out of a need for effective virtual activism during the pandemic. Originally created by leaders of Lick-Wilmerding's Environmental Club, they gathered together applications for the inaugural BAYCS Youth Advisory Council of 22 students from 15 Bay Area schools in May of 2020. Over the summer, the Youth Advisory Council worked tirelessly to plan the first ever Bay Area Youth Climate Summit on September 12, 2020. The summit brought together over 280 youth from 88 schools and 14 states for a day of workshops, discussions, and Climate Action Planning.

Since September, we have run monthly workshops on topics ranging from local air quality inequity, Indigenous climate activism, and an Environmental Science Career Expo. Learn more about our workshops here. BAYCS also continued to support students in achieving their Climate Action Plans. You can learn more about these student-led projects on this page. Additionally, BAYCS worked to support community mutual aid efforts in an environmentally friendly way. From December-February, we donated over $15,000 in hygiene kits that included socks, deodorant, menstrual supplies, toothbrushes, and reusable masks to local community fridges in Oakland, Marin, and San Francisco. On April 24, we hosted the Earth Day Bay Area Youth Climate Summit that focused on two key themes of policy and action, providing a way for youth to engage in tangible action on Earth Day.

The Bay Area Youth Climate Summit strives to foster a local community of high schoolers that is empowered to both learn deeply about different facets of the climate crisis and take action. If you are an interested young person, we encourage you to join us in the fight for climate justice!

By the Numbers

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Meet The Team

Amelia Fortgang

Amelia Fortgang

Chair
Amelia Fortgang is a senior at Lick-Wilmerding High School. She discovered her passion for climate justice and ocean conservation advocacy through participating in citizen science efforts and connecting with other youth around the world.

Amelia founded and chairs the Bay Area Youth Climate Summit, working on workshops, outreach, and climate action planning. Along the way, Amelia has had the opportunity to speak with everyone from San Francisco's Mayor Breed to youth from New York to students at her own school.

In addition to the Summit, Amelia also currently serves on EarthEcho's Youth Leadership Council, interns for the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, co-leads her school’s environmental club, and works on Fridays for Future Digital’s outreach and social media teams. When not thinking about the environment, she loves drawing, printmaking, dancing, and hiking. She is excited to continue to grow with BAYCS and advocate for our planet and its people!

Erika Tam

Vice-Chair & Newsletter
Ever since she was young, Erika has been passionate about issues such as zero-waste living, sustainable food production, sourcing renewable energy, and much more related to climate change. Erika helps co-lead Lick’s Environmental Club and also runs a plant-based food Instagram (@eat.w.erika). Recently, some of her favorite recipes have chia seed pudding and tofu fries! When not thinking about the environment, Erika can be found cooking, watching Netflix, making posts on Canva, or eating! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Lena Huang

Workshops & Website
Lena is a junior at Galileo High School in SF. She recently joined the climate movement and immediately wants to do everything to save our planet. She has started with small steps, by asking her family to use more reusable bags and water bottles. Now, she volunteers at Heron’s Head Park in the Bayview district doing habitat restoration and community outreach. In addition, she is also a water challenge ambassador at EarthEcho doing water monitoring and advocating for our oceans. I am passionate about environmental justice, ocean conservation, and many more topics. She loves being in nature. During her free time she goes hiking with family and friends often!

Dory Miller

Social Media
Dory is a senior at St. Ignatius College Preparatory. Whether it’s the beach, the woods, or a lake, Dory loves connecting with nature and its many wonders. For that reason, she wants to do everything in her ability to combat the dangers of climate change that our planet increasingly faces. As a passionate activist within her local and school community, she has focused her efforts on educating herself and others on issues like fossil fuel divestment, environmental justice, and how to live a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle. She hopes to pursue a career in journalism and science communication and is currently the president of St. Ignatius’s Green Team (@sigreenteam), as well as the co-host of a podcast called “She’s Up Next” (@shesupnextpodcast) that amplifies the voices of other activists. She can’t wait to organize the fall summit for a second year!

Alyssa Goldfield

Alyssa Goldfield

Newsletter & Outreach
Alyssa is a junior at Alameda High School. Her passion for climate change an activism started when she attended a YES (Youth for the Environment and Sustainability) in the third grade. Since then, she’s attended several other climate conferences, hosted a workshop at the 2017 YES Conference, was the youth keynote speaker at the 2018 YES Conference and spoke again later that year at the Global Climate Action Summit hosted by then Governor Jerry Brown. Alyssa took some time off with her family to travel the world and loves learning about new cultures. When not learning and advocating for the environment, she can be found reading, cooking, playing tennis, or having deep conversations with her friends about philosophical topics where answers are yet to be found.

Kyan Shlipak

Workshops & Website
Kyan is an environmental activist focused on air quality disparities. He co-founded the Particulates Matter project and has interned for AethLabs and UCSF sustainable health. He loves math, distance running, dogs, and the technical arts.

Hannah Merickel

Hannah Merickel

Vice-Chair & Logistics
Hannah is a co-leader of LWHS’s Environmental Club. She loves surfing, spending time at the beach, peering into tide pools, and studying aquatic ecosystems. She is most passionate about marine protection and waste reduction. From a young age, she has participated in many marches for the climate and loves watching nature and climate change-related documentaries. Hannah also loves to play soccer, softball, and enjoys baking and drawing. She is thrilled to be organizing the Summit and is excited for you to join!

Oona Clark

Logistics
Oona is a senior in high school at San Domenico School. They started getting involved with climate activism as a freshman, with their local Sunrise hub, and then became a member of the first YAC at BAYCS at the end of their sophomore year. Oona loves to read, write, and hopes to study climate science in college.

Faline Howard

Outreach
Faline is a senior at Half Moon Bay High School where she is an active member in their environmental club. She volunteered at the SF Zoo where she learned about the animals and how to inspire the conservation of their populations. Last summer, she participated in Pepperwood’s TeenNat program where she learned about the diverse, changing climate and how to document various species to share with the community. Girl Scouts has influenced her love of bees after developing bee gardens for the restoration of Sonoma County after the fires in 2017. This year, she is working on her Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouts.

Emily Lao

Emily is a Junior at Berkeley High School and has been a member of the Bay Area Youth Climate Summit since summer of 2020! She’s involved in her school’s Sunrise hub, and works with a group called the Climate Sleuths to create animated videos on climate change for kids. She loves spending time outdoors - beaches, forests, rivers, lakes, you name it! Anywhere she can swim or camp, really. Besides climate activism, Emily loves to draw, bake, and write. She’s so excited to help organize the summit again, and can’t wait to see everyone!

Natalie Heller

Workshops
Natalie is sixteen years old and a junior at Lick Wilmerding High School. She is very passionate about the environment whether it is thinking and talking about sustainable shopping or diving off the shore of Maui. From a young age, she has loved to have bake sales and host readathons to try to protect and preserve our planet. Outside of school, Natalie loves to go biking, hiking, backpacking, or just be outside!

Julia Musso

Workshops
Julia is a rising senior at Academy SF @ McAteer. She first joined BAYCS her junior year and is the founder and president of her high school's environmental club. Julia aspires to be an environmental scientist in the future.

Maleeha Iftekhar

Maleeha Iftekhar

Outreach & Website
Maleeha is a rising senior at Wallenberg high school. They are passionate about creating equality and making sure that we continue to care for our earth. In their free time, they enjoy crocheting, art, and cooking!

Caroline Wu

Climate Action Planning
Who would have thought that worms would be as interesting as they are! In a research project exploring socio-economic (SES) differences through soil quality and worm abundance in high and low SES areas in the Bay Area, Caroline discovered her passion for environmental justice. Additionally, in her spare time, Caroline loves running, especially in Golden Gate Park and the Presidio. She would love to provide green spaces for future generations to learn from and enjoy! She is super proud to be a member of BAYCS which is a team filled with positive changemakers!

Emily Sobel

Workshops
Emily is a rising senior at George Washington High School in San Francisco. She has always been interested in learning about ways to help the environment and BAYCS has helped give her the platform to do so. Emily also runs the Eco Club and the Women in STEM club at her school. She is a volleyball player and hopes to study biology in college.

Giovanni Ocon

Newsletter
Giovanni is a tenth grader who is passionate about intersectional climate justice, specifically focused on waste’s impact on climate. His interests include music, mathematics, coding, and basketball. He hopes to meet more activists passionate about bringing restorative justice to Earth’s climate. Giovanni has been with BAYCS since January 2021 and hopes to write more articles, attend new events, and help others’ CAPs.

Shima Konishi-Gray

Shima Konishi-Gray

Social Media
Shima is a Bay Area native passionate about climate justice. More specifically water and food waste, spreading awareness, and being conscious of her carbon footprint. She is the social media and communications manager of the Neptune Project. In her free time, she loves to dance, run, travel, and spend time with her family and friends. Shima strives to create a positive impact in our community.

Aarya Chowdhry

Social Media
Aarya is currently a 10th-grade student starting her academic year at San Domenico School. She is a keen learner and a writer. Aarya is enthusiastic about her career in literature and wants to explore the world of literature and language. She is also a debater and a social media motivational writer. She likes music, absolutely loves to sing, and believes that the good you pass on to the world brings you back the same amount of good in your life. The world can only be a better place if you decide to be good and do something good hence to be good is the new motivation.

Bruno Kai Ong

Workshops
Bruno is a rising junior at Lick-Wilmerding High School. His passions include environmental justice and sustainable urban planning. Outside of school, Bruno enjoys biking, reading, painting, and running cross country.

Ella Lewallen

Social Media
Ella is a junior at SOTA. She is a team lead at SOTA Sunrise and a member of Sunrise SF Youth. She loves to enjoy nature and strives to help preserve our natural world. She is very interested in the politics involving climate justice. In her free time she likes to draw and cook.

Alexis DeBusschere

Alexis DeBusschere

Social Media & Website
A rising junior at Miramonte High School, Alexis is a part of an environmental club at Miramonte where her and her club members, help reduce plastic waste through their project HEART and went to city council to propose a ban for styrofoam with a few other club members. Alexis has been interested in animals since she was young and her passion for the environment grew even more as she got older. Other activities Alexis enjoys are shopping second-hand, trying new vegetarian recipes, and spending time making art. She is very excited to work with other students who are also passionate about the environment as a BAYCS member!

Aliyah Miller

Social Media & Outreach
Aliyah Miller is a junior at Jesse Bethel High School. She is very passionate about injustice and climate change since Elementary school. Her hobbies is taking photos of wildlife and volunteering to help her community. Still she continues to learn about variety of climate change issues.

Meredith Foster

Meredith Foster

Newsletter
Meredith is a junior at St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco and is a member of her school’s Green Team. She serves on her town’s Climate Action Committee as head of student outreach. In this role, she leads a team of student ambassadors at local schools who help the Committee promote climate campaigns in their school communities. Meredith enjoys running, hiking, and exploring the outdoors, as well as singing and playing the piano and guitar. She’s excited to be involved with the Summit and collaborate with fellow young people for climate action.

Partners

Wild Center Youth Climate Program

Youth.ify

Ocean Heroes Network

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Urban Green Team

GWHS Eco Club

San Domenico JSA