Youth-Led Policy Change: Advocating for a Just,Peaceful & Sustainable Future
BCCIC hosted an inspiring online discussion with youth and youth-led movements advocating for transformative policy change rooted in global solidarity and feminist, decolonial, and anti-racist principles.
Held in collaboration with UBC Sustainability Hub and Young Politicians of Canada as part of SDG Month, this event convened IBPOC, 2SLGBTQIA++, and women youth leaders to learn from their struggles and strategies for advancing climate justice, peace, and gender equality in often colonial, racist, capitalist, patriarchal and heteronormative spaces. They share how folks in Canada can take mobilize in shaping policies for a better world.
Join Us to Learn From
Skw’akw’as (Sunshine) Lillian, Junior Policy Analyst, Assembly of First Nations
Hen̓łeʔ I am Skw’akw’as, I use the pronouns she/her. I am of Nlakapamux, Stl’atl’imx, and Yakima and of Irish descent from Tlekemstin, also known as Lytton, British Columbia. Skw’akw’as translates to Sunshine in nɬeʔkepmxcín I proudly uses both names, and encourage all Indigenous Peoples to use their ‘hard to pronounce’ names.
Striving to inspire and support BIPOC youth to take up space within colonial structures. Calling on to rethink how we write, teach, and think about policy. From an anti-colonial, anti-racist perspective that ensures policies bridge and fill gaps. Not create more barriers and are unsustainable for our and future generations.
My focus and passions are in International Climate Policy, Climate Justice, and Indigenous Rights. Having four years of international experience it is critical to ensure Indigenous voices are within the rooms and tables on climate, environment, and Human Right policy creation.
Having grassroots & non-profit to Federal Government & Legislative to UNEP & UNFCC experience. Provides me a unique perspective on working within community, National, and International settings. Continually advocating for our Inherent Rights as Indigenous Peoples, bridging gaps felt by rural and remote communities, and climate justice.
Outside of work I love art, myself being a painter and pianist. When I’m back home being outside, paddle boarding and getting lost in the mountains. I also love Taylor Swift and frequently listen to ‘You’re on your own kid’ in colonial spaces
Cameron Armstrong, Program Specialist, Youth Climate Lab
Cameron Armstrong (she/her) is a third-generation, mixed Filipina environmentalist and youth advocate from Winnipeg, Manitoba/Treaty 1 Territory. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Environmental Science at the University of Manitoba.
Recognized as one of 2023’s Top 25 Environmentalists Under 25 by the Starfish, Cameron currently serves as the Senior Program Specialist at Youth Climate Lab, where she runs From Root to Sky, a program for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) youth focussed on anti-racist climate action and deconstructing systems of oppression within environmental work. Cameron also works as a Research Assistant at the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Human Rights Research and is working on Just Waters, an interdisciplinary project focussed on hydro-social relations. She is on the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada’s Youth Advisory Council and Finance, Engage, Sustain’s Youth Steering Committee. She has also worked on the Consider Climate, Manitoba campaign, advocating for climate-centered policy decisions in Manitoba. Cameron is a Commissioner on Manitoba’s Clean Environment Commission, which is an arms-length provincial government agency that provides a forum for the public to engage in environmental assessment and decision-making.
Her interests lie in environmental justice, water protection, and empowering BIPOC youth in environmental spaces. In her free time, you can find Cameron in a coffee shop or dancing to Carly Rae Jepsen.
Muzhda Akbari, Founder of CodeGreenAfg
Muzhda Akbari is a youth advocate for girls’ education and refugee rights, recipient of the Diana Award, and the founder of CodeGreenAfg, an initiative focused on providing educational resources and opportunities to girls in Afghanistan and refugees.
Muzhda is also involved in youth empowerment and activism in Canada with her roles as a youth policymaker with the Ontario Council for International Cooperation, Unicef Canada’s youth advocate and a member of the Aga Khan Foundation’s Youth Advisory Board.
Juliana Janot, Climate Organizer
Juliana, a passionate socio-environmental advocate from Brazil, has been developing socio-environmental initiatives since age 11, having represented Brazil in international climate campaigns, and spoken at climate justice panels with the UN and several organizations.
At age 15, she co-founded the organization Construindo o Futuro, empowering youth across Brazil and internationally for SDGs-oriented community transformation. Now an International Leader of Tomorrow Scholar at UBC and a Top 25 Environmentalist Under 25 in Canada awardee, she has been leading climate action, organizing a Climate Education for All campaign, lobbying for climate policies, and producing an independent socio-environmental documentary in the Bolivian Amazon.
Moderated by
Angelo Aguilar Maurer, Youth & Intergenerational Initiatives Project Officer, BCCIC
This event was undertaken with financial support from the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada.
