Alexandria Villaseñor

Alexandria Villaseñor (born 2005) is an American climate activist living in New York. A follower of the Fridays for Future movement and of fellow climate activist Greta Thunberg,[1] Villaseñor is a co-founder of U.S. Youth Climate Strike and the founder of Earth Uprising.[2]

Alexandria Villaseñor
Villaseñor receiving 2019 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation award
Born2005 (age 17–18)
Davis, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Student
  • Environmental activist
Known forSchool strike for climate

Biography

Villaseñor was born in 2005 in Davis, California, where she grew up.[3][4] The family moved from northern California to New York in 2018.[5] Villaseñor is Latina.[6] Her ambition is to work for the United Nations.[7]

Activism

Villaseñor's fight for climate action was sparked when she was caught in a smoke cloud from the November 2018 Camp Fire in California, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history, while visiting her hometown for Thanksgiving.[8][9] As an asthma sufferer, she became physically ill, during which time she researched the climate change and temperature rises which contributed to the fire's severity.[4] Her mother, Kristin Hogue, was enrolled in the M.A. in Climate and Society program at Columbia University[4] and Villaseñor would occasionally attend class with her mother, where she learned about the underlying science of climate change.[10] Soon afterward, she joined New York's chapter of Zero Hour, a group of American youth climate activists.[4]

Villaseñor has taken similar climate action to Thunberg, who inspired her with her December 4, 2018 talk at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland. Since December 14, 2018 (while COP24 was still held),[4] she skips school every Friday in order to protest against lack of climate action in front of the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York.[11][9][12] She is no longer involved with the US Youth Climate Strike group[13] and founded the climate change education group Earth Uprising.[14]

When Thunberg arrived in New York City from her transatlantic sailboat voyage in August 2019, Villaseñor, Xiye Bastida, and other climate activists greeted Thunberg upon arrival.[15] By that time, they had already established contact with each other over social media.[16]

In September 2019, she spoke at the Global Citizen Festival in New York along with Bastida and Selina Neirok Leem.[17]

On September 23, 2019, Villaseñor, along with 15 other youth activists including Greta Thunberg, Catarina Lorenzo, and Carl Smith, filed a legal complaint with the United Nations accusing five countries, namely France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Turkey of failing to uphold their reduction targets to which they committed in their Paris Agreement pledges.[18][19]

In mid-October 2019, she attended the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.[20]

In mid-January 2020, she attended the World Economic Forum as a youth speaker and then participated in the School strike for climate in Davos, Switzerland alongside Greta Thunberg on January 24, 2020.[21]

On August 19, 2020, Alexandria addressed the Democratic National Convention as part of their segment on climate change.[22]

Awards & recognition

In May 2019, Villaseñor was the recipient of the Disruptor Award from the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards (TDIA),[23] received a scholarship from The Common Good public advocacy organization,[24][25] and was awarded a Youth Climate Leadership prize from Earth Day Network.[26]

On December 1, 2020, she was named by Seventeen magazine as one of their 2020 Voices of the Year.[27]

See also

References
  1. Kaplan, Sarah (February 16, 2019). "How a 7th-grader's strike against climate change exploded into a movement". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  2. "Alexandria Villaseñor". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  3. Milman, Oliver (March 12, 2019). "'We won't stop striking': the New York 13 year-old taking a stand over climate change". The Guardian. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  4. Kaplan, Sarah (February 16, 2019). "How a 7th-grader's strike against climate change exploded into a movement". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  5. Piven, Ben (March 15, 2019). "Beware the kids: US youth to join strike for climate". Al Jazeera. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  6. "Meet Alexandria Villaseñor, the Young Woman Inspiring People to Take Action on the Climate Change Crisis". Glitter Magazine. June 24, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  7. Minutaglio, Rose (March 14, 2019). "The World Is Burning. These Girls Are Fighting to Save It". Elle. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  8. DeBenedetti, Katie (December 9, 2019). "Alexandria Villaseñor: Davis' climate change activist". The Aggie. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  9. Harris, Margot (February 23, 2019). "15-year-old Alexandria Villaseñor watched the deadliest fire in California's history burn through entire towns. Now she's leading a 'battle cry' for global action on climate change". Insider. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  10. Borunda, Alejandra (March 13, 2019). "These young activists are striking to save their planet from climate change". National Geographic. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  11. Berardelli, Jeff; Ott, Haley (February 22, 2019). "Meet the teens leading a global movement to ditch school and fight climate change". CBS News. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  12. Diavolo, Lucy (March 1, 2019). "Meet the Teen Who's Been Striking for the Climate Outside the U.N. for Three Months". Teen Vogue. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  13. "Our Co Executive Directors & National Co-Directors". US Youth Climate Strike. Archived from the original on March 17, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  14. Stuart, Tessa (April 26, 2019). "A New Generation of Activists Is Taking the Lead on Climate Change". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  15. Lela Nargi (September 9, 2019). "Greta Thunberg's New York visit inspires young climate activists". Washington Post. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  16. Lela Nargi (September 22, 2019). "14-åriga klimataktivisten Alexandria Villaseñor om vänskapen med Greta Thunberg". Expressen. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
  17. "10 Artists, Activists & Leaders Who Stood Up for Climate Justice at Global Citizen Festivals". Global Citizen. September 9, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  18. "Why Teen Climate Activist Alexandria Villaseñor Is Suing the World For Violating Her Rights". Earther. September 23, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  19. "16 children, including Greta Thunberg, file landmark complaint to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child". www.unicef.org. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  20. "Press Conferences". C40 World Mayors Summit. October 10, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  21. "'We Have So Much More to Do,' Youth Climate Activists Declare as Global Elite Close Out Davos Forum". www.commondreams.org. January 24, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  22. "Youth Climate Activists to Speak at Democratic National Convention". www.huffpost.com. August 19, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  23. "Tribeca Film Festival and Disruptor Foundation announce 10th anniversary awards and youngest recipient in TDIA history" (Press release). New York: Disruptor Foundation. April 2, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  24. "The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards – May 10, 2019". The Common Good. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  25. "Alexandria Villaseñor". The Common Good. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  26. "14-Year-Old Alexandria Villaseñor Has Been Striking Outside UN Headquarters for 5 Months. Here's Why". Earth Day Network. May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  27. "15 Teens Who Changed the World". www.seventeen.com. December 1, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
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