We are very excited to announce the launch of Synchronicity Earth’s new fund to support the emerging leaders of the youth movement pioneering action for the environment: the Chrysalis Youth Fund.
“Whenever I talk to people who want to support youth, I tell them: We already did all the work. We already organised. We already brought people out. We already changed minds.
“What we need is the support to stay consistent and to be able to do this as part of our lives and who we are and not ever have to choose between protecting the planet or being able to pay rent, being able to fund ourselves, fund our work or help our families.”
Xiye Bastida at the Chrysalis Youth Fund Launch
Xiye Bastida is a 21-year-old climate justice activist based in New York City, born in Mexico and raised as part of the Otomi-Toltec Indigenous community.
She is an organiser with Fridays For Future, a movement inspired by the Swedish school strike which has brought more than 14 million people in 7,500 cities across all continents onto the streets to demand action for the environment. For the first climate strike in March 2019, she mobilised 600 students from her school and has taken a citywide leadership role in organising climate strikes.
Are youth being taken for granted?
Willow Defebaugh (Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Atmos), Alice Aedy (Co-founder and CEO of Earthrise), and Xiye Bastida (organiser with Fridays For Future and the co-founder of Re-Earth Initiative). © Leandro Justen / Atmos
The work Xiye has been involved with represents some of the achievements the global youth movement can put to its name. But despite how much momentum young people have brought to action for the environment on the global stage, they are still facing closed doors to funding and opportunities.
“I find myself justifying [youth activism] time and time again,” said Ayisha Siddiqa, a Pakistani American climate justice advocate who is the co-founder of Fossil Free University and