Generation of Environmental Leaders Program
The 2024 Generation of Environmental Leaders Program (GELP), hosted by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, invited North American youth aged 18 to 35 to make a lasting impact on North America’s environmental future by submitting innovative solutions to support North American communities and preserve our shared waters, lands and air.
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation is no longer accepting submissions for the 2024 Generation of Environmental Leaders Program. Stay tuned for program updates.
Meet the 2024 GELP Evaluation Committee
We would like to thank our multidisciplinary Evaluation Committee for volunteering their time and expertise to review the amazing solutions received this year!
Victoria Thân
Conseillère - Assemblée nationale du Québec
Victoria Thân
Conseillère - Assemblée nationale du Québec
Very active in social entrepreneurship and philanthropy, Victoria Thân, MBA, is recognized for her inspiring leadership and multiple skills, having led a number of organizations and social entrepreneurship projects. The recipient of several awards, including the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal (Youth category), the Forces Avenir University Personality Award, the Le Soleil/Radio-Canada Prize, and named an HSBC Woman Leader of Tomorrow, Victoria is a young professional concerned with the economic and social health of her community. She sits on several boards of directors in the management, philanthropy and education sectors. Her motto, which guides her in daily life, is entreprendre le bien (Undertake the Good). Victoria is currently an advisor at the Quebec National Assembly and the Jean-Charles-Bonenfant Foundation.
Natasha Blanchet-Cohen
Associate Professor - Concordia University
Co-Director - Quebec Youth Research Network Chair
Natasha Blanchet-Cohen
Associate Professor - Concordia University
Co-Director - Quebec Youth Research Network Chair
Natasha Blanchet-Cohen is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences at Concordia University. She is co-director of the Quebec Youth Research Network Chair. Her research focuses on community youth development, child rights and participation, ecocitizenship, and developmental evaluation. As an interdisciplinary scholar, she explores the opportunities and limitations for youth in being agents of change in their schools, homes, and communities. She holds a particular interest in the voices of Indigenous and immigrant youth and the provision of rights-based and culturally-safe services and programs.
Steve DeRoy
CEO and Director - The Firelight Group
Steve DeRoy
CEO and Director - The Firelight Group
Steve DeRoy is from the Buffalo Clan, is Anishinaabe/Saulteaux and from the Ebb and Flow First Nation, and Lake Manitoba First Nation in Treaty 2 territory. He is the co-founder, director and CEO of The Firelight Group and founder of the Indigenous Mapping Collective. Steve is an award-winning Indigenous professional and entrepreneur, with expertise in mapping and geographic information sciences, business development, natural resources management, and project management. He has applied his expertise to lead Indigenous knowledge and use studies for numerous Indigenous groups affected by large-scale energy developments. Since 1998, Steve has mentored Indigenous practitioners, conducted risk assessments, built decision-support systems and monitoring tools, supported land claims, developed best practices, established consultation processes, facilitated community engagement and planning approaches, and supported negotiations between Indigenous communities, governments and industries.
Adriana Franco
Profesora de la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales - UNAM
Adriana Franco
Profesora de la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales - UNAM
Holder of a PhD from the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and an M.A. in Asian and African studies from Colegio de México (Colmex), Adriana Franco is a professor at said UNAM faculty, as well at Rosario Castellanos University in Mexico City. Franco is Technical Secretary of the Regional Studies Department at UNAM’s International Relations Center. In addition, she is a member of the Latin American Observatory of Geopolitics, of UNAM’s Asian and African Studies Program (PUEAA) and of the Mexican Council for International Affairs (COMEXI). Her areas of research interest are: regional studies, social movements and resistance, complexity and geopolitics.
Emiliano Reyes Galindo
[Asesor Técnico de Cambio Climático - Cooperación Técnica Alemana]
Emiliano Reyes Galindo
[Asesor Técnico de Cambio Climático - Cooperación Técnica Alemana]
A youth member of Mexico’s delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Emiliano participated as a young negotiator on climate change adaptation at COP27 and at the 58th session of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB 58). At the G20 summit in 2021, he was selected as a youth delegate of the Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (Sherpa Track). Emiliano has participated as an expert in activities organized by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). Currently a technical advisor on climate change with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), he participates in projects and policies oriented towards supporting climate action at different levels by promoting a vision informed by youth perspectives, intersectional realities, gender, a just transition and climate justice.
Perseida Tenorio Toledo
2023 CEC Mexican Youth Innovation Challenge winner
Co-founder – Escuela Itinerante de agua y artes
Perseida Tenorio Toledo
2023 CEC Mexican Youth Innovation Challenge winner
Co-founder – Escuela Itinerante de agua y artes
A Binniyaati Zapotec woman from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the State of Oaxaca, Perseida Tenorio Toledo accompanies community processes for land regeneration and good water resources management through local dissemination of water technologies. Perseida graduated as a scholarship student in Food Industries Engineering at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (Querétaro Campus). She subsequently studied at the University of Buenos Aires, where she majored in production and processing of fruits and vegetables. Ever since, she has been passionate about finding creative solutions for socio-environmental problems. In 2019, working with the organization Una Mano para Oaxaca, A.C. (A Hand for Oaxaca), she created the program “Mi fruta, mi pueblo” (My fruit, my village) to make good use of mango waste by teaching groups of women how to process and market this waste fruit. In 2020, this initiative was recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations as an alternative for avoiding food waste in Latin America. In keeping with her roots, Perseida developed an interest in promoting people’s connection with their land and territory. In 2021, she created the Mobile School of Water and Arts, which trains youth in rural communities in Mexico and Latin America on the use of water and soil ecotechnologies. This initiative was recently selected as a winner in the CEC’s Youth Innovation Challenge, a North America-wide contest. It was also one of the five winning projects of Desafío Agua en Positivo (the Water Solutions Challenge), a contest organized by makesense americas, Young Water Solutions, Procter and Gamble (P&G) and United Way Mexico. Perseida has represented Mexico in various international meetings in Latin America, where she advocated access to water in rural and Indigenous communities and adequate sanitation systems to ensure the revitalization of water courses.
Angela Kariuki
Programme Officer - United Nations Environment Programme
Angela Kariuki
Programme Officer - United Nations Environment Programme
Angela Kariuki is a programme officer at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), based in New York. She has a background in programme management and legal expertise and, in her current role, she focuses primarily on UNEP’s intergovernmental affairs efforts in New York.
Previously, Angela served as a Programme Management Officer (Legal) within UNEP’s Law Division in its Headquarters (Nairobi), where she spearheaded initiatives focusing on human rights and environmental issues. Her responsibilities included collaborating with state and non-state stakeholders, including civil society organizations and networks of environmental human rights defenders. Angela’s expertise also extends to the governance of mineral resources and environmental aspects of minerals and metals management, where she served as a technical focal point for implementing United Nations Environment Assembly resolutions.
Prior to joining UNEP, Angela was a Legal Researcher at the South African Human Rights Commission, focusing on environmental, natural resource management, and rural development issues. Her work particularly centered on investigating the environmental and human rights impacts of mining operations in South Africa’s goldfields, and more generally on advancing environmental protection and human rights on both local and global scales.
Elaine Fiore
Environmental Educator and Founder - Food Conservation Alliance
Elaine Fiore
Environmental Educator and Founder - Food Conservation Alliance
Elaine Fiore is an environmental educator with Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) in South Florida and founder of the Food Conservation Alliance. Ms. Fiore led her school to earn the US DOE Green Ribbon Award for reducing the school’s carbon footprint. Additionally, she created and taught a Sustainability course for youth, partnered with national organizations to coordinate Climate and Sports Student Summits, and has been recognized by the EPA as an exceptional environmental educator.
Recognizing the sacredness of food, her passion is inspiring action around a sustainable food system. Elaine piloted a food recovery program for BCPS, and spearheads the Food Waste Prevention Week in collaboration with organizations across the country to shine a light on this important issue. Elaine is energized by sharing her love of growing food, offering children access to healthy foods, and guiding students to see the benefits of food forests at the community level and beyond.
Jessica Li
Vice President - International Youth Conference
Jessica Li
Vice President - International Youth Conference
As the Vice President of the International Youth Conference, Jessica supports conference and operational functions, assists team members and youth advocates so they may reach their potential and thrive, coordinates team activities, reviews and secures collaborations, expands connections, and strengthens youth engagement. She serves on the Advisory Board of the United Nations Association of the United States of America, San Francisco Chapter. She serves as a youth advisory member of the #GenerationRestoration Youth Hub that is co-convened by 1t.org and the Youth in Landscapes Initiative of the Global Landscapes Forum. She is a contact point for the Children and Youth Constituency of the UNFCCC’s Arts, Culture, and Heritage Working Group. She served as a Co-Chair of the World Food Forum Youth Action Track Focal Points Group and is now part of the Youth Action Track Focal Points alumni, continuing her support for sustainable and transformational agrifood systems leading toward a food-secure, sustainable, and stable future. She is also a member of UNITE2030, the Youth Leaders and Young Professionals Community of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, NY (NGO CSW/NY), and the YouthForesight Community Forum hosted by the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth and Generation Unlimited.
More information on the GELP
Solutions will be judged according to the following criteria:
- Impact and Community Engagement (40%)
- Feasibility (25%)
- Alignment with the CEC’s strategic pillars and the program theme (15%)
- Identification of problem/issue (10%)
- Innovation (10%)
How to Apply
- Open to participants aged 18-35 residing in Canada, Mexico, or the United States.
- Teams such as, but not exclusively, youth-led organizations, youth-led associations, nongovernmental organizations, and not-for-profit youth-led organizations, teams of youth innovators, or entrepreneurs interested in building their businesses.
- Demonstrate how your solution channels a strong impact on communities and facilitates substantial long-term sustainability.
- Demonstrate how your solution addresses critical issues related to support North American communities and preserve our shared waters, lands and air.
The 2024 GELP call for solutions is now closed
Contact
Julie Amina Jacquemin
Lead, Outreach, Partnerships and Youth Engagement