Levi Draheim
Youth Activist
Levi is 14 years old (15 in July) and lives in Florida. He has been actively fighting climate change since he was just 8 years old. Levi goes sailing, volunteers at the zoo, and hangs out with friends at the beach. He loves animals and being outdoors so protecting the environment is very important to him.
Daniel Hinerfeld
Director at Rewrite the Future
Sarah Newman
Founder at Climate Mental Health Network
Sarah Newman is the founder of the Climate Mental Health Network. Previously, she worked for many years in the media impact space, including at Participant. She also worked in the nonprofit space as a community organizer and first outreach director at California Interfaith Power and Light. She has a BA from Barnard College, MPH from UCLA and a certificate in nonprofit management from Georgetown.
Dr. Britt Way
Author, Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Britt Wray is a Human and Planetary Health Fellow at Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where she researches the mental health impacts of climate change. She is also the author of the book Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis (Knopf 2022) and the Gen Dread newsletter which is about “staying sane in the climate crisis” (gendread.substack.com) Website www.brittwray.com. Organizational affiliations: Stanford Medicine Center for Innovation in Global Health, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health.
Layla Hasanzadah
Student at George Mason University
Layla is a 17-year-old freshman in college in Northern Virginia majoring in biology on the pre-med track. She has a strong interest in the intersections between climate change and both physical and mental health. She is currently working with a local pediatrician to further explore this cause-and-effect relationship and is also the lead plaintiff of a state-based lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia titled, “Layla H. v. the Commonwealth of Virginia,” brought against her state government due to their continued encouragement of the fossil fuel industry.
Niharika Elety
Designer and Founder of Tega Collective
Niha is a Founder and Co-creator at Tega Collective, a sustainable fashion enterprise that champions Adivasi communities from India and their textile traditions. With each clothing collection Tega co-creates with communities by highlighting their traditional colors, patterns and natural symbols.
VIRTUAL STAGE
Thursday, June 23
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM PST
Unpacking Climate Emotions
Eco-anxiety is on the rise, and young people worldwide are feeling a sense of environmental doom. It is important to remember we aren’t alone, and our experiences can be reflected on screen to help us collectively share our emotions and work towards action. Using resources from Paramount Global’s Mental Health Storytelling Guide, Good Energy Story’s Playbook, the Climate Mental Health Network, and NRDC Rewrite the Future, as well as advice from live experts, we will workshop potential storylines and characters with the goal of inspiring informed and reflective climate content.
In Partnership With:
Presented by:
Produced by:
Why Climate Psychology Matters On Screen
Rachel Bloom
Actor
Rachel Bloom is best known as the co-creator and star of the CW musical dramedy “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” For her acting work as “Rebecca Bunch,” she received a Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice Award and Television Critics’ Association award. Her songwriting work on the show recently earned her a 2019 Emmy Award for Original Music and Lyrics for the song, “Anti-Depressants are So Not a Big Deal.”In 2019, she headlined sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall and the London Palladium as well as a live tour called “What Am I Going to Do With My Life Now?” She recently appeared in Trolls World Tour as Barb and her first book, I Want To Be Where The Normal People Are, was published by Grand Central Publishing in November 2020. She will also be starring in the new Hulu show ""Reboot"" this fall.
Aishah-Nyeta Brown
Gen Z Advisor, Climate Mental Health Network
Aishah-Nyeta is a graduate of George Mason University B.A. Climate Change and Society. She studied climate change since the age of 17 and studied briefly at the University of Pretoria in South Africa while exploring geospatial technologies. Brown hopes to creatively bring awareness to environmental injustices to the world with the knowledge of sustainability. Using her musical and fine arts background as a springboard, Brown has a knack for innovation in the climate change field, which requires a transdisciplinary understanding of the world. She is diligent in making a global impact on communities and how they learn about our changing climate. This is only amplified through her work serving as a Gen-Z advisor for the Climate Mental Health Network. Finally, Aishah is an advocate in many rights for climate, race, and disability justice.
Reza Cristian
Founder & EIC, SUSTAIN THE MAG
SUSTAIN is an online media platform where eco-conscious warriors cultivate a healthy, planet-friendly lifestyle. We’re disrupting complacency and refusing the old habits of our over-consuming, throw-away society. Join us in the fight to normalize sustainability. It’s not just some trendy, disposable phase. We’re banding together to integrate an evergreen way of life into everyday culture.
McKenna Dunbar
Gen Z Board Advisor at CMHN | Building Electrification Lead | CEO of MOCOKONO
McKenna Dunbar acts as the Building Electrification Lead at Sierra Club Virginia Chapter and leads a team focused on building and home electrification developments, with a particular focus on net zero schools. Most of their work focuses on reducing dependence on fossil fuels in order to move the electric sector to clean energy. Dunbar is the Founder and President of Ecological Justice Initiative - an environmental advocacy non-profit organization focused on youth focused environmental research and engagement and is also the CEO of MOCOKONO, a social entrepreneurship development firm focused on reshaping the meaning of corporate social responsibility in ESG markets. Furthermore, Dunbar acts as a Gen Z Board Advisor for the Climate Mental Health Network. Dunbar is passionate about energy policy, environmental law, and has a background in environmental justice, clean energy finance, and solar research.
Daniel Hinerfeld
Director at Rewrite the Future
Daniel Hinerfeld, an Emmy-winning filmmaker, and award-winning journalist, oversees Rewrite the Future, an initiative to help Hollywood tell stories about the climate crisis. He founded NRDC's documentary unit and created films including Sonic Sea, narrated by Rachel McAdams; Acid Test, narrated by Sigourney Weaver; Stories from the Gulf, narrated by Robert Redford; and Wild Things.
Simone Johnson
Sr. Project Manager at Future Coalition
Simone Johnson (she/her) is a Project Manager from Denver, Colorado. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Simone organized on projects and movements including NO DAPL, Earth Day Live, #VoteWithUs and #FossilFreeFuture.
Simone had held a pivotal role in leading teams developing digital campaigns addressing social issues around climate change and civic engagement and devoted over 7 years to supporting the operational and fiscal infrastructure of start-up nonprofit organizations. Prior to working in social impact, Simone worked as a digital marketer implementing cross-functional marketing and account-based management initiatives for startups, Fortune 500s and nonprofit organizations in software consulting and telecommunications.
Dr. Benjamin Liu
Pyschiatrist, Steering Committee Member of Climate Psychiatry Alliance
Ben Liu, M.D. (he/him) is a psychiatrist in Portland OR who is a steering committee member of Climate Psychiatry Alliance. From doing outreach & arts with 350.org, to getting medical trainees oriented to climate & mental health actions, to lecturing at OHSU about climate change & human health, climate work has been the ideal extracurricular to complement clinical work on an inpatient psychiatry unit and clinic work with cancer patients.
Max Offerman
Gen Z Advisor, Climate Mental Health Network
Max is an artist and educator that believes in a future where humans have learned to live sustainably. His work focuses on creating bridges to that future by facilitating shifts in mindset through design, education, and other creative mediums. He is the co-founder of a modular slow fashion start-up, helps run the Queer Brown Vegan platform, serves as a Gen Z advisor to the Climate Mental Health Network, and helped Clover Hogan launch Force of Nature in 2020. He received his B.S. in Environmental Studies and Sustainability from Michigan State University.
Tamara Toles O'Laughlin
National Climate Strategist & Advocate for People and Planet
Tamara Toles O’Laughlin is an internationally recognized advocate and climate strategist, focused on people and planet. Her niche in environmental work is developing high impact programs and multimedia campaigns to dismantle privilege and increase opportunities for vulnerable
populations to access healthy air, clean energy, and a toxic free economy at the local, regional and national level. Tamara casts a wide net in service to the community. Among her activities, she is founder of Climate Critical.Earth a visionary new organization that is supporting the next generation of climate leadership.
Vanessa Villanueva
Gen Z Advisor, Climate Mental Health Network & Community Health Organizer for Unity Hope & Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance
Vanessa Villanueva is a recent graduate from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, having earned a Bachelor's in Natural Resource and Environmental Management with a specialization in Community and Cultural Resource Management. As the daughter of Mexican Immigrants and having grown up in Southern California, community resilience is the focal point in every project Vanessa takes on.
Georgia Welford-Tuitt
Gen Z Advisor at Climate Mental Health Network
Georgia has a professional background in healthcare communications and medical anthropology. She is currently completing a Master's degree in Public Health at École des hautes études en santé publique (France) and is the organiser of the 2021 edition of Paris WHO - an international student event that brought together attendees to tackle climate change and mental health by generating policy ideas.
Lauren Wright
Youth Climate Activist and plaintiff, Juliana vs United States
Lauren is an 18 year old activist, plaintiff, and organizer from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. She organizes on the national, provincial, and local levels as an activist, advocating for climate justice, youth representation, and mental health. She is passionate about art as a tool for change, and the importance of intersectionality.
Simone Johnson
Simone Johnson (she/her) is a Project Manager from Denver, Colorado. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Simone organized on projects and movements including NO DAPL, Earth Day Live, #VoteWithUs and #FossilFreeFuture. Simone had held a pivotal role in leading teams developing digital campaigns addressing social issues around climate change and civic engagement and devoted over 7 years to supporting the operational and fiscal infrastructure of start-up nonprofit organizations.
Simone Johnson
Sr. Project Manager
at Future Coalition
Lise Van Susteren
Lise Van Susteren, MD is a general and forensic psychiatrist in private practice in Washington DC, and an expert on the physical and psychological impacts of climate change. Van Susteren is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at George Washington University, and has been a consultant to the Executive Branch of the US government profiling world leaders. After receiving her medical degree from the University of Paris, she practiced medicine in West Africa, at community health centers and homeless shelters in the Washington DC area.
Dr. Lise Van Susteren
General and Forensic Psychiatrist
Tamara Toles O’Laughlin
Tamara Toles O’Laughlin is an internationally recognized advocate and climate strategist, focused on people and planet. Her niche in environmental work is developing high impact programs and multimedia campaigns to dismantle privilege and increase opportunities for vulnerable populations to access healthy air, clean energy, and a toxic free economy at the local, regional and national level. Tamara casts a wide net in service to the community. Among her activities, she is founder of Climate Critical. Earth a visionary new organization that is supporting the next generation of climate leadership.
Tamara Toles O’Laughlin
National Climate Strategist & Advocate at People and Planet
Dr. Britt Wray
Dr. Britt Wray is a Human and Planetary Health Fellow at Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where she researches the mental health impacts of climate change. She is also the author of the book Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis (Knopf 2022) and the Gen Dread newsletter which is about “staying sane in the climate crisis” (gendread.substack.com) Website www.brittwray.com. Organizational affiliations: Stanford Medicine Center for Innovation in Global Health, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health.
Dr. Britt Wray
Author, Postdoctoral Fellow
Gen Z Mental Health: Climate Stories
Produced by:
Aishah-Nyeta Brown
Aishah-Nyeta is a graduate of George Mason University B.A. Climate Change and Society. She studied climate change since the age of 17 and studied briefly at the University of Pretoria in South Africa while exploring geospatial technologies. Brown hopes to creatively bring awareness to environmental injustices to the world with the knowledge of sustainability. Using her musical and fine arts background as a springboard, Brown has a knack for innovation in the climate change field, which requires a transdisciplinary understanding of the world.
Aishah-Nyeta Brown
Gen Z Advisor at
Climate Mental Health Network
McKenna Dunbar
McKenna Dunbar acts as the Building Electrification Lead at Sierra Club Virginia Chapter and leads a team focused on building and home electrification developments, with a particular focus on net zero schools. Dunbar is the Founder and President of Ecological Justice Initiative - an environmental advocacy non-profit organization focused on youth focused environmental research and engagement and is also the CEO of MOCOKONO, a social entrepreneurship development firm focused on reshaping the meaning of corporate social responsibility in ESG markets. .
McKenna Dunbar
Gen Z Board Advisor at CMHN CEO of MOCOKONO
Cindy Pace
Cindy Pace is a youth climate activist and recently graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a B.S. in Sustainability Studies and a B.A. in Political Science. Cindy grew up in Los Angeles, loves the beach, and will serve as a climate resilience fellow at the RCD of Santa Monica Mountains this September.
Cindy Pace
Gen Z Advisor, Climate Mental Health Network
Vanessa Villanueva
Vanessa Villanueva is a recent graduate from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, having earned a Bachelor's in Natural Resource and Environmental Management with a specialization in Community and Cultural Resource Management. As the daughter of Mexican Immigrants and having grown up in Southern California, community resilience is the focal point in every project Vanessa takes on.
Vanessa Villanueva
Gen Z Advisor, Climate Mental Health Network
Reza Cristian
SUSTAIN is an online media platform where eco-conscious warriors cultivate a healthy, planet-friendly lifestyle. We’re disrupting complacency and refusing the old habits of our over-consuming, throw-away society. Join us in the fight to normalize sustainability. It’s not just some trendy, disposable phase. We’re banding together to integrate an evergreen way of life into everyday culture.
Reza Cristian
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
at Sustain The Mag
Niharika Elety
Niha is a Founder and Co-creator at Tega Collective, a sustainable fashion enterprise that champions Adivasi communities from India and their textile traditions. With each clothing collection Tega co-creates with communities by highlighting their traditional colors, patterns and natural symbols.
Niharika Elety
Designer and Founder
at Tega Collective
Abhay Singh Sachal
Abhay Singh Sachal is a 20-year old Canadian humanitarian whose work resides at the intersection of climate change, ecoanxiety, mental health, and spirituality. He is the founder of Break The Divide, a non-profit organization based on principles of environmentalism, sustainability, and reconciliation that focuses on fostering empathy and understanding to inspire action projects in communities.
Abhay Singh Sachal
Gen Z Advisor, Climate Mental Health Network
Georgia Welford-Tuitt
Georgia has a professional background in healthcare communications and medical anthropology. She is currently completing a Master's degree in Public Health at École des hautes études en santé publique (France) and is the organiser of the 2021 edition of Paris WHO - an international student event that brought together attendees to tackle climate change and mental health by generating policy ideas.
Georgia Welford-Tuitt
Climate Mental Health Network Gen Z Advisor
Levi Draheim
Levi is 14 years old (15 in July) and lives in Florida. He has been actively fighting climate change since he was just 8 years old. Levi goes sailing, volunteers at the zoo, and hangs out with friends at the beach. He loves animals and being outdoors so protecting the environment is very important to him.
Levi Draheim
Youth Activist
Max Offerman
Max is an artist and educator that believes in a future where humans have learned to live sustainably. His work focuses on creating bridges to that future by facilitating shifts in mindset through design, education, and other creative mediums. He is the co-founder of a modular slow fashion start-up, helps run the Queer Brown Vegan platform, serves as a Gen Z advisor to the Climate Mental Health Network, and helped Clover Hogan launch Force of Nature in 2020. He received his B.S. in Environmental Studies and Sustainability from Michigan State University.
Max Offerman
Gen Z Advisor at
Climate Mental Health Network
Laurel Tamayo
Laurel Tamayo was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and now resides in Los Angeles. She is passionate about environmental issues and educating people about them through the impact campaigns of films. She started as a fellow on the Can You Hear Us? campaign for Hulu’s I Am Greta documentary, co-produced the Pathways to Action workshop in the 2021 Hollywood Climate Summit, worked on the Good Energy Playbook, and is the Virtual Programming Coordinator for the Hollywood Climate Summit 2022. She graduated from Chapman University with a B.S. in Environmental Science & Policy and minor in Documentary Film.
Laurel Tamayo
Climate Impact Producer
Lauren Wright
Lauren is an 18 year old activist, plaintiff, and organizer from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. She organizes on the national, provincial, and local levels as an activist, advocating for climate justice, youth representation, and mental health. She is passionate about art as a tool for change, and the importance of intersectionality.
Lauren Wright
Youth Climate Activist and plaintiff, Juliana vs United States
Anna Jane Joyner
Founder and Director at Good Energy
Anna Jane Joyner is a climate story consultant and the founder and director of Good Energy. With over fifteen years of experience in climate communications, she is driven by a passion for storytelling - and helping people find courage in the face of climate change. Anna Jane has worked relentlessly to establish bridges between artists, musicians, faith communities, Southerners, young audiences, and the climate movement. As a strategist at the intersection of climate and entertainment, she produced film and music videos and organized over 300 global partners around a youth-mobilization campaign for the 2015 Paris Climate Summit.
Jessica Thurston
Senior Director, ESG at Paramount Global
Jessica Thurston (she/her) leads Paramount Global’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG), aka sustainability, strategy. She oversees the development and implementation of key ESG programs across the global company, including ESG reporting and engagement with rankers, raters, and investors. In addition to her work at Paramount, Jessica is a part-time faculty member at Columbia University, where she teaches sustainability reporting and strategy.
Dr. Lise Van Susteren
General and Forensic Psychiatrist
Lise Van Susteren, MD is a general and forensic psychiatrist in private practice in Washington DC, and an expert on the physical and psychological impacts of climate change. Van Susteren is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at George Washington University, and has been a consultant to the Executive Branch of the US government profiling world leaders. After receiving her medical degree from the University of Paris, she practiced medicine in West Africa, at community health centers and homeless shelters in the Washington DC area.
Cindy Pace
Gen Z Advisor, Climate Mental Health Network
Cindy Pace is a youth climate activist and recently graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a B.S. in Sustainability Studies and a B.A. in Political Science. Cindy grew up in Los Angeles, loves the beach, and will serve as a climate resilience fellow at the RCD of Santa Monica Mountains this September.
Sage Palmedo
Gen Z Advisor, Climate Mental Health Network
Sage Palmedo is a first-year medical student who aims to serve in her career as a bridge between the ecological sciences and healing arts. Inspired by her research experience in rainforest ecology and evolutionary acoustic neuroscience, Sage is pursuing a medical degree to promote the mindful interface between our environment and our nervous system as vital to restoring the collective health of our species and our Earth.
Abhay Singh Sachal
Founder and Executive Director, Break The Divide Foundation & Gen Z Advisor, Climate Mental Health Network
Abhay Singh Sachal is a 20-year old Canadian humanitarian whose work resides at the intersection of climate change, ecoanxiety, mental health, and spirituality. He is the founder of Break The Divide, a non-profit organization based on principles of environmentalism, sustainability, and reconciliation that focuses on fostering empathy and understanding to inspire action projects in communities. He created the framework “apathy to empathy to action” as he seeks to build ways in which young people can connect and learn from one another in an increasingly polarized world, allowing them to build empathy for realities that they have never faced, and empowering them to transform that empathy into concrete actions that advance the creation of harmonious and abundant futures. As a result of his work, Abhay has been recognised as one of Canada’s Top 25 Under 25 Environmentalists, featured as one of 10 International Youth Changemakers in Canada and listed amongst the 100 most influential Sikh from around the world. Outside of his activism, Abhay is a student at the University of Toronto, studying Global Health and Peace & Conflict Studies; a public speaker on environmental and climate issues; and, an avid ice hockey player and pianist.
Neurodivergence, Climate Activism and Storytelling
Aishah-Nyeta Brown
Aishah-Nyeta is a graduate of George Mason University B.A. Climate Change and Society. She studied climate change since the age of 17 and studied briefly at the University of Pretoria in South Africa while exploring geospatial technologies. Brown hopes to creatively bring awareness to environmental injustices to the world with the knowledge of sustainability. Using her musical and fine arts background as a springboard, Brown has a knack for innovation in the climate change field, which requires a transdisciplinary understanding of the world.
Aishah-Nyeta Brown
Gen Z Advisor, Climate Mental Health Network
Anna Jane Joyner
Anna Jane Joyner is a climate story consultant and the founder and director of Good Energy. With over fifteen years of experience in climate communications, she is driven by a passion for storytelling - and helping people find courage in the face of climate change. Anna Jane has worked relentlessly to establish bridges between artists, musicians, faith communities, Southerners, young audiences, and the climate movement. As a strategist at the intersection of climate and entertainment, she produced film and music videos and organized over 300 global partners around a youth-mobilization campaign for the 2015 Paris Climate Summit.
Anna Jane Joyner
Founder & Director
at Good Energy
Self-Care Tips for Emotional Resilience
Produced by:
