OneUpAction International

OneUpAction International will leverage Elevate Prize’s funding to support three key verticals: (1) the Youth Innovators Fund; (2) Youth Climate Commissions; and (3) the international Action Chapters program. OneUpAction has worked tirelessly the past 18 months to develop, iterate, and build out the central team infrastructure that will oversee these programs, each of which has achieved critical early successes.

 With each program ready to scale — along with key staff to oversee each — OneUpAction is now seeking funding to seed the first cohort of Youth Innovators, replicate the Youth Climate Commission model successfully implemented in Los Angeles County, California, and significantly expand the Chapters program on each continent. The aggregate effect of scaling the footprint of each program will be to engage BIPOC youth activists in the climate movement from early awareness to direct action in their local communities.

Growing up in South-Central Los Angeles, I was introduced to the environmental movement as a means for survival. When I was 12, I discovered that I have health issues resulting from the air and smog pollution in my community. This, along with my community being a food desert, inspired me to take action. Additionally, my identity as a South-Asain American has bound me to the intersectional fight. From experiencing hatred from trolls online to overt racism from companies, I am constantly battling against the domination of whiteness and classism in the environmental movement. Despite the racism, health struggles, and constant exclusion, I have stuck with my activism for this cause to support communities like mine. 

In September of 2019, I started OneUpAction International, an organization that supports and empowers marginalized youth by providing them with the resources they need to be agents of change within their communities and to address the concerns that they are facing due to the long-lasting effects of the climate crisis, which I know personally. If chosen, I would further fund resources for those communities most affected by the climate crisis and continue to provide support for the issues I stand behind.

The word marginalized defines groups of people who are treated as insignificant or peripheral. It is an unfortunate reality that, within the climate movement, marginalized groups have historically been isolated from the mainstream. Although the work of white pioneers has been instrumental to the climate movement and created a platform for changemakers of today, it is past time to refocus the narrative and uplift marginalized voices. People of color are 75% more likely to live in frontline communities. Globally, billions of marginalized youth are being affected by the climate crisis everyday.

OneUpAction addresses this issue by providing resources for marginalized young people to get involved in the climate movement at a scalable and sustainable level through our three programs. Our Chapter Program enables marginalized youth in 30+ countries to take direct action in their local communities by working on inclusive initiatives such as campaigning to save national parks. The Youth Climate Commission Program develops bodies of youth in local governments in order to incorporate the voices of young people in the legislative process and enact direct change in their communities. The Youth Innovators Fund provides financial support and mentorship to young people of color to catalyze their unique nature-based solutions. 

OneUpAction has staffed a central management team to lead program development while also engaging a sizable group of youth through our general membership base. Generating support and engagement with our 200+ volunteers worldwide grows the pie of young people taking climate action while equipping OneUpAction with a megaphone to amplify our voice, our values, and our cause. Becoming a volunteer offers an entry point for youth who share our values but struggle to move beyond the expanse of social media and join a unified group. Our communication channels are open and accessible to offer insight to our organizational strategy, including how we are approaching growing our action chapters and expanding the work of the Youth Innovators Fund and Youth Climate Commissions.

Our directors are constantly learning as well, and OneUpAction offers the opportunity to gain deep experience guiding the development of a startup nonprofit. These positions acknowledge the value and ingenuity youth can offer while creating alternative structures to internship programs. For many of us, leading OneUpAction’s departments and operations is a full-time job alongside our class schedules — we cannot afford to wait until we graduate to meet the urgency of the climate crisis.

Article one of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Unfortunately, the reality of the climate crisis is the antithesis to this idea. This crisis disproportionately impacts people of color and low-income communities, including the displacement of over 20 million today, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. likewise, Communities of color are more likely to be plagued by water and air pollution. Climate injustice has been predominant for decades, yet, the climate movement remains white and wealthy. The climate issue is inherently a humanitarian issue, which is why all of us have the right to be part of the solution. 

OneUpAction goes beyond raising climate awareness, through direct work with solutionists. When we succeed in fundraising, our programs have the opportunity to take root and expand. Our Action Chapters have organized dozens of conservation projects across three continents. Our Youth Climate Commissions galvanize political organizing and embed youth voices and perspectives in local governments. Finally, our Youth Innovators Fund is providing direct financial support to youth-led research and field work. The sum of these efforts is to empower marginalized youth to take direct action.