INtroducing Intersections:
a student-designed initiative Transforming How High School Students see themselves in the climate movement.
The mission:
reimagine climate education with a solutions, wellness, and interdisciplinary focus, ultimately enabling high school students to see how their skills, passions, careers, and lives can intersect with climate action for the better.
The Problems:
Youth see climate action as separate from their careers and personal lives
Climate Conversations are overwhelmingly Problem-Oriented, not solution-focused.
Youth are experiencing high levels of eco anxiety with minimal resources to cope.
The solution:
adaptable, wellness-oriented climate courses that provide students with the knowledge and skills to engage in climate conversations and empower them to explore climate career pathways.
The Three Intersections initiatives:
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (2023 - 2025)
A solutions-based program that grounds California youth in the realities of climate change through expert-taught lectures and student-led discussions. The Sage Initiative functions in a wellness context that empowers students to implement solutions that interweave their skills, passions, and community’s climate needs.
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SOUTHERN INDIA (2025-2026)
Through solutions-focused video conversations between unlikely figures, The Jasmine Initiative empowers South Indian youth to reimagine the climate movement as an interdisciplinary issue, framed within the context of wellness, identity, and community. While also inspiring them to search for career connections.
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GLOBAL (2026 - 2028)
A third iteration of Intersections, The TigerLily Initiative, will be an activating, modular animated climate education course that can be used in classrooms globally. It will feature core conversations important for all students and a set of “electives” which can be combined depending on regional relevance.
The Values that guide us:
some of our Successes:
2024: The first Intersection Initiative, The Sage Initiative, is created from UC’s Bending the Curve
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June 2024: Survey of 235+ CA Youth
Feb 2025: Presented at CRC2 Conference
Feb 2025: LAUSD–UCOP MOU signed
Mar 2025: Geffen Academy pilot starts
Apr 2025: First LAUSD educator training
Apr 2025: LAUSD launches Intersections
June 2025: Green Sakthi partnership begins to develop The Jasmine Initiative
Aug 2025: New Jasmine Initiative course materials in development
The partnerships bringing intersections to life:
Partnering with the Bending the Curve Course to develop course material
Partnering with the University of California, Office of the President, to establish an MOU
Partnering with Geffen Academy on piloting and hosting a climate educator conference
Advised by leaders of TenStrands
Partnering with the Los Angeles Unified School District to bring the curriculum to students city-wide
Partnering with Green Sakthi to bring the Jasmine Initiative to South India