There has never been a more critical time in our history for young people to be developing a sense of themselves as changemakers—fighting for social justice, human rights, natural resource protection and climate change mitigation—and understanding their role in guiding and participating in the democratic system.

Young Voices for the Planet (YVFP) empowers youth, through inspiring success stories, to take an essential role in informing themselves, their peers and communities, challenging decision-makers, and catalyzing change. YVFP’s award-winning films document youth solutions to the climate crisis and other environmental and social justice issues and feature diverse young role models, reducing the carbon footprint of their homes, schools and communities—while saving money and improving health. These films along with its civic engagement resources, give young people hope and the tools they need to change minds, change laws and change the world—even though they are still too young to vote.

In this workshop, YVFP Founder and Director, Lynne Cherry and Youth Ambassador, Jaysa Hunter-Mellers, will share the ‘Words Have Power’ film that features Jaysa, and engage participants in how to take action around issues that matter to them, using YVFP’s A.C.T.I.O.N Plan (Assess & Analyze, Collaborate, Create a Timetable, Identify, Organize & Share the News). This plan guides young people on how to find their team, passion and power and develop the skills they need to organize and engage their community and speak to their local and state officials to get the change they want to see. The plan is the preliminary lesson in YVFP’s free Civic Engagement & Democracy Curriculum, which features 12 lessons for students grades 3-12 based on the films.

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