Alexandria Villaseñor

Back to the list
Back to the list Youth

Alexandria Villaseñor

The Optimist

The way terms like “activist burnout” and “climate anxiety” roll off the tongue of 14-year-old Alexandria Villaseñor is a worrying but telling insight into what it’s like to be a face of the global youth climate change movement. Pulling 12-hour days in the halls of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, founding her own advocacy organization Earth Uprising, and unfailingly spending every Friday in front of the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan as part of the Fridays for Future movement have become Villaseñor’s norm. Media often approach her in the streets; the likes of Patagonia and Teen Vogue have featured her in profiles. There’s little doubt that she’s headed toward a leadership role of her choosing.

Yet the poised New York native takes it in impressive stride, educating herself by reading IPCC reports alongside experts like Michael Mann, Katherine Heyhoe or Kate Marvel to inform the addresses she now regularly gives, forming friendships with the global community of other young climate activists, and taking time off when she needs it.

“It’s important that you take care of yourself, because we’re in this for the long haul,” she says. “Once you get involved in climate activism, there really is no way to go back, because you see what is happening to our planet, and you can’t ignore it.”

Jennifer Morris

The Conservationist Food & Livelihoods

Janene Yazzie

The Activist Rights

Annette Pensel

The Connector

Catherine Nakalembe

The Innovator

Autumn Peltier

The Protector Youth

Samantha Power

The Idealist

Ridhima Pandey

The Activist

Vera Songwe

The Financier

Juma Xipaia

The Activist

Margaret Kim

The Accelerator

Célia Xakriabá

The Lawmaker

Jyotsna Puri

The Evaluator Measuring Progress

Dia Mirza

The Role Model

Wanjira Mathai

The Legacy Restoration

Julie Becker

The Inventor Finance

Ottilie Bälz

The Philanthropist