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Program

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 will 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 will 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 will 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 will be a graduation event for students to present on their impact project. 

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

See YCA Program requirements, outcomes, timeline, and structure below:

requirementsRequirements

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
outcomesOutcomes

Over the course of the program, Youth Climate Ambassadors will

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

Complete other required activities, such as:

  • Attending YCA retreats and workshops
  • Completing the YCA tasks and assignments
  • Completing a final case study report
  • Completing a community impact project
  • Presenting their project at a graduation capstone event
timeline and structureTimeline & 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)

YCA Workshops, Retreats, & Impact Project

people connecting with nature

MONTHLY WORKSHOPS

There will be 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 will research and explore current climate science, community practices, and culture of their school/communities and conduct interviews in the community. This research will help identify local problems and issues that will become the central focus of the community impact project.

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RETREATS

Climate Ambassadors will attend three separate full-day experiences throughout their cohort year. 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 around deeper skill building, taking collective action, and building awareness of local environmental issues and solutions.

  • Opening Retreat: Saturday, October 12, 2024 – Location TBD
  • Mid-Point Retreat: Saturday, January 25, 2025 – Location TBD
  • Closing Retreat: Saturday, April 26, 2025 – Location TBD
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COMMUNITY IMPACT PROJECT & GRADUATION EVENT

Climate Ambassadors will 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 will receive support and guidance on developing their CIP action plan at monthly workshops and mentorship calls.
  • Implementation: Students will be supported to implement their projects. Students will also be able to utilize a budget of up to $1,000 per project for project implementation!
  • Capstone Event: Students will 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.

Apply for Cohort 6 of the Youth Climate Ambassador program starting August 1st! Applications for the upcoming cohort of the program will close on Thursday, September 5th at 10pm (deadline extended from September 2nd).

Have questions about the program? Please contact youthclimateambassadors@smcgov.org.

Empowering youth to take action on climate change in their local community
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