My name’s Maanit, and I’m a rising sophomore from Sammamish, Washington. This is my second year with Project Green Schools, and I’m excited to be part of the Youth Council Leadership Team!

Through my work on the council this past year, I was able to connect with environmental change makers from across the continent, prepare a sustainability overview report for a plant-based milk business on the other side of the world, and represent the Youth Council at national and international events such as Climate Week 2020. Outside of Project Green Schools, I lead and am involved with a number of environmental initiatives and movements in my own region, including an effort to establish a city environmental advisory board, the tristate movement to free the Lower Snake River to restore natural salmon flow to critical ecosystems such as the Columbia River and the Salish Sea, and guiding and empowering youth in the Greater Seattle Area to start their own sustainability impact projects. In my free time, I like to photograph my lifelong home, the Pacific Northwest, and capture its dramatic and diverse natural scenery to the best of my ability, which has certainly reinforced my drive to conserve such landscapes and ecosystems worldwide.

This next year, I aim to make the most of my position as Outreach Coordinator for the PGS National Youth Council by bringing guests and speakers with novel, impactful ideas and perspectives on environmental action to our meetings, to push councilmembers to view pressing environmental issues from new angles.