Caralee graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.S. in Society and Environment and a minor in Food Systems. During her studies, she held leadership roles in multiple student organizations focused on environmental and social justice. Caralee joined Turning Green as a lead intern on the Conscious Kitchen team in 2021 and quickly advanced to a fellowship position, where she contributed to initiatives like Project Cereal and conducted a comprehensive cost analysis of organic school meals for her senior capstone project.
After wearing many hats as Program Coordinator for a year, Caralee now serves a more focused role as Procurement & Special Projects Manager. Directly supporting connections between schools and farmers to facilitate organic procurement, she manages weekly produce availability lists, coordinates direct orders, and offers general support for schools in securing fresh, local ingredients. Caralee also leads the organization of events, like the local organic culinary workshops hosted in collaboration with The Alice Waters Institute, and oversees various special projects as they develop. Organized, adaptable, and driven, Caralee is dedicated to protecting the health of the planet and all those who inhabit it.
Grace is a junior at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she is studying History and Political Science. She is passionate about youth activism and has been involved in sustainability efforts and activism on her campus. She has been a part of the Turning Green family since May when she started as a summer intern, and then in August, she became a Teaching Assistant for Project Green Course, where she has gotten to work with some of the most incredible students in the world. She loves being a part of Turning Green, and can’t wait to see how the journey continues! In her free time, Grace loves to cook plant-based food, hike, and swim, and she is learning how to surf.
As a senior at the University of Oregon, Lena has always known that her passions around environmental justice would be the biggest influence in her life. From Portland, Oregon, Lena has spent all her time nurturing her passion, whether it be hiking in the Columbia River Gorge, exploring in her backyard, or taking trips exploring the pacific northwest she always had to be outside in some capacity and this led to her constantly growing love and wonder of nature and the environment. As an Environmental Studies major, Lena uses her passion in hopes to begin her lifelong career of fighting against the injustices of environmental racism. Lena dreams of a world filled with unified communities who work together to not only protect the environment, but who love and feel compassion for it as well.
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Lucas is a Junior attending Jericho High School in Long Island, New York. He represents Team Atmospheric Litter Stoppers, including members Andrés deGrasse and Shiv Mohan, in PGC 2021. Lucas is a hardworking student who embraces his Brazilian heritage and loves to spend time with family and friends. Lucas enjoys participating in sports, as well as reading scientific literature in his free time. He always enjoys a challenge and pushes himself to reach great achievement. Lucas not only hopes to raise awareness about the environment, but also to help aid in solving environmental issues.
“We not only want to help the environment, but also future generations as well. The earth we live on is sacred and we need to protect it, as we take so much from it to aid us in our everyday lives. With the wisdom, knowledge, and problem solving skills we learned from PGC, we hope to inspire others to make change in their lives and work.”
Five words to the PGC experience:
Exciting, Insightful, Eye-Opening, Strenuous, Relationship-Building
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Myah is a freshman at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. She has a lifelong passion for wildlife and the environment, and is currently majoring in Environmental Policy with a likely switch to specialize in Wildlife and Forestry. She was the president of the Conservation Club at her high school for three years and competed in the Envirothon Competitions at the state level in Pennsylvania for all four years.
“I’ve learned that sustainability is something that is best shared and getting to learn about it with others is the best way to do that. I’m going to start using my voice more often. I’m going to keep working on projects at my school and my community to create a more sustainable world.”
Five words to describe the PGC experience:
Passionate, Community, Review, Dedication, Joy
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A junior attending the Meadows School, Amy hopes to bring climate reform to Las Vegas, Nevada. She enjoys hiking with her friends and family, singing music and playing instruments, such as the guitar, ukulele and piano. Additionally, she enjoys writing short stories, articles, and to a lesser extent, poetry. Amy strongly believes in finding intersections between climate change and different aspects of people’s lives, and using their talents to further the climate campaign. For her, this means maintaining a balance between pursuing climate advocacy through politics and researching climate solutions through STEM. She hopes to accomplish this through the FXB climate advocacy program, her local Citizen’s Climate Lobby chapter, and engaging in research at her local college regarding the effectiveness of different bioremediation techniques. Lastly, as the president of her school’s Green Club, Amy wishes to bring about educational reform to incorporate climate education, initiate a composting system, reform the current recycling program, and involve her school more in local political action.
“I’ve learned to use my voice. I’ve learned how to be more outspoken for an issue that has been silenced for too long. While I was aware of the different ways in which climate injustice affects different sectors of one’s life, my mindset, rather than the world around me, was really the thing that changed.”
Five words to describe the PGC experience:
Thought-provoking, Innovative, Engaging, Comprehensive, Collaborative
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Ilay is a 16-year-old Turkmen girl born in Gonbad-e Kavus in the Golestan province of Iran and studying science at Farzanegan NODET High School. Her mother taught her about the problems Mother Nature faces and she began observing changes in her surroundings: no snowy winters, hotter summers, dry lakes in which she used to play, and water shortages. These obvious changes, along with the fact that few people care, led her to dedicate time and energy to tackle the problems, but she did not know how until Project Green Challenge. When she signed up, she did not expect it to raise her awareness to such an extent that she now feels like she knew nothing about the environment before participating in PGC. November 1st Ilay is much more knowledgeable, aspiring, motivated, and conscious than October 1st Ilay, as the knowledge she gained regarding nature in that single month exceeds all others in her entire life. Moreover, she knows that majoring in Environmental Sciences would be a great choice to fulfill her soul.
“I always knew that when I grew up, I would create big positive change in this world, to give it back to the universe, but PGC made me find out that I do not need to reach a certain age to be able to make change! I found the power of one.”
Five words to describe the PGC experience:
Surprised, Educated, Persevered, Connected, Supported
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Promise is from Anambra State in Nigeria. He is a second year student at the Nigerian Maritime University in Okerenkoko, Delta State, studying Marine Environment and Pollution Control. He was born and brought up in Rivers State, where he developed passion for the marine environment because of the harm he observed crude oil and natural gas exploitation in the Niger Delta region causing the people and their beloved home. He is presently seeking ways to stop the exploration of fossil fuels through his course of study, and solutions to help curb marine pollution. In his free time, Promise enjoys meeting new friends, reading articles, listening to music, and playing football.
“I learned that I could do anything I am determined to do, despite my disadvantages. I learned that I possess great potential in making a difference, and that’s a huge discovery. We’re all in this together, and no voice is too little to make an impact.”
Five words to describe the PGC experience:
Extraordinary, Inquisitive, Enticing, Exciting, Fantabulous
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Vincent is a junior at Bloomington High School North in Bloomington, Indiana. Vincent currently serves as captain of the Science Olympiad team and a leader of the Environmental Club. He is enthralled by the sciences and has a strong passion for math. In the future, Vincent hopes to study chemistry with an emphasis on green chemistry solutions. Vincent enjoys playing the piano and making music with the school’s Jazz Band. He also enjoys competing with his hockey team, currently serving as the JV captain. Vincent is a bilingual French and American citizen and an active member of Surf Rider Foundation Europe. Vincent enjoys spending his free time with friends, family, and a good manga.
“I know that climate change is a massive global issue that my generation will have to address, but I did not know that I could start addressing it now. I have learned that I can have a ripple effect and influence more than just my local network.”
Five words to describe the PGC experience:
Challenging, Uniting, Inspiring, Educational, Powerful
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Will is a senior at Alexandria City High School in Alexandria, Virginia. He is passionate about protecting nature and saving the environment from negative human impacts. He’s particularly interested in the ocean and strives to find solutions to marine pollution and ocean acidification. Because of these interests, he wants to pursue either marine biology or oceanography in college so that he can study his passion, while also finding ways to save it. Will participated in Project Green Challenge because he believes that raising awareness and educating people is a great way to ensure sustainable solutions and concrete change.
“I was interested in sustainability, but I had no real ideas on concrete changes that I could make in my own life. PGC has emphasized that communication and outreach are two great ways to battle climate change. I will be a changemaker by continuing to educate myself about environmental issues and spreading that information.”
Five words to describe the PGC experience:
Fun, Educational, Interesting, Beneficial, Important
