Youth Climate Ambassadors Program Overview

The Youth Climate Ambassadors (YCA) Leadership Program provides 9-12th grade students in San Mateo County with the opportunity to dive into social and environmental issues contributing to the global climate crisis. During this 7 month-long program, students attend monthly online workshops that cover a variety of topics to strengthen their knowledge in climate change, build individual skills, and support regional capacity among youth to lead action on climate change.

Students work towards developing and implementing an impact project that addresses local climate and sustainability issues based on foundational knowledge learned throughout the program. While developing their impact project, students gain experience in a variety of skills including observations, data collection, interviews, survey design, problem-solving, and more, based on student interest and the project. At the end of the program, there is a graduation and showcase event for students to present their impact projects.

Participants who successfully complete all program requirements are eligible for a YCA graduate stipend. An additional stipend is available to qualifying low-income students.

YCA Program Requirements, Outcomes, Timeline, and Structure

Eligibility and Requirements

In order to be accepted into the YCA Program, the applicant must

Live or go to school in San Mateo County
Be in 9th-12th grade when applying to the program
Be available on designated workshop and retreat dates

Upon completing all requirements of the program and graduating as a Youth Climate Ambassador, students are eligible to receive a stipend of $570 for their work on promoting climate action in San Mateo County.

Requirements for students:

Attend all in-person retreats and virtual workshops
Complete all YCA tasks and assignments
Complete a final case study report
Complete a community impact project, with a group or individually
Present about their experience in the program and their project at a graduation capstone event

Local Environmental Issues

Throughout the program, students will gain knowledge and skills to prepare them for being community leaders in climate action and advocacy.

Attend workshop sessions and acquire knowledge in:

Climate Change Science
Environmental Sustainability
Resource Conservation
Environmental Advocacy
Environmental Justice
Climate Solutions

Receive mentorship and develop leadership skills including:

Communication and public speaking
Identifying and defining a problem
Problem solving
Observation and data collection
Interviewing and surveys
Leadership and collaboration

Timeline & Structure

The 2024 – 2025 YCA program will begin in early October, 2024. The program consists of:

Program Opening Retreat on October 12th, 2024 from 9am to 3pm (IN PERSON)
1 – 2 Monthly YCA cohort meetings (Thursdays from 7:00-9:00pm) (ONLINE)
Mentorship calls with YCA staff (ONLINE)
Mid-point retreat on January 25th, 2025 from 9am to 3pm (IN PERSON)
Closing Retreat on April 26th, 2025 from 9am to 3pm (IN PERSON)

Workshops, Retreats, and Impact Projects

students in Youth Climate Associates program working on poster project at opening retreat

Workshops

There are one to two online workshops each month with the full YCA cohort. These workshops serve as the cornerstone of this program and provide ongoing opportunities for learning, skills development, community building, connecting with guest speakers, exploring green careers, and impact project support. Workshops typically take place on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month from 7:00-9:00pm. Specific workshops dates will be shared in the program application and confirmed upon acceptance into the program.

In between workshops, Ambassadors research and explore current climate science, community practices, and culture of their school/communities and conduct interviews in the community. This research helps students identify local problems and issues that will become the central focus of the community impact project.

Youth Climate Ambassador Leadership Program retreat group photo with 54 students plus staff posing in front of building

Retreats

Youth Climate Ambassadors will attend three separate full-day experiences throughout the program. These retreats will be on Saturdays at a pre-selected at locations within San Mateo County. Each retreat will serve as a benchmark event in the program and will focus on deeper skill building, taking collective action, and building awareness of local environmental issues and solutions.

Opening Retreat: Saturday, October 12, 2024
Mid-Point Retreat: Saturday, January 25, 2025
Closing Retreat: Saturday, April 26, 2025

three Youth Climate Ambassador Leadership Program students display their Community Impact Project titled Help Save the Environment by Spreading Awareness with Knowledge

Impact Projects

Climate Ambassadors work individually or in teams to design and implement a Community Impact Project (CIP) that addresses a local climate topic in their school or community.

Action Plan: Students receive support and guidance on developing their CIP action plan during workshops, retreats, and mentorship calls.

Implementation: Students are supported to implement their projects. Students also have a budget of up to $1,000 per project for project implementation!

Capstone Event: Students present on their projects to community members, peers, friends, and family at the Capstone Event, which will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2025. The event will also serve as a final graduation to the program.

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