Green New Year: Looking Back and Moving Forward
Photos Courtesy of Chris Cassell, ProBonoPhoto.org
Earlier this year, SVYCA held a green new year event to recap the accomplishments of each team, discuss some goals for the future, and to celebrate our efforts bringing us closer to a pristine earth. This year marks five years since the organization has been founded, let’s recap the events of this celebration.
We started with some team bonding, our organization split into three teams, and the goal was to repurpose recyclable material or so called “waste”. Some of us created models of sustainable solutions, others created art displaying the after effects of climate change and how they have affected wildlife, and there was even a model of solutions for Pasadena High School addressing the issue of the fires in Los Angeles. Together as an organization we exercised our creativity, and some much was achieved just by collaborating for thirty minutes.
During the event we had the privilege to hear from two keynote speakers, Andrea Mackenzie the General Manager of the Open Space Authority; and State Senator Josh Becker. Andrea elaborated on nature-based solutions, and showed us the magnanimity of their contribution to climate solutions, she elucidated on the nature-based solutions, preservation, and utilization of the land in Coyote Valley. She also told us more about the Coyote Valley Conservation Program. Senator Josh Becker was able to give us some insight into how our teams can get more involved with climate activism and advocacy, he also shared a little on how we can take action to prompt our involvement in green careers.
Later we heard noteworthy accomplishments from nine SVYCA action teams, and learnt more about each team’s plans for this year. It is inspiring and empowering to hear accomplishments from other teams, it shows how far our organization has come over the years and preserves hopes to solve climate issues, while incentivizing old and new members alike to work harder this year.
In 2025 we plan to take on multiple exciting new initiatives. We are launching our SVYCA summer academy, this will help educate and empower the youth in our organization. We plan to host our annual Summit with the League of Cal Cities. We created an internship program for students in San Mateo County. We will also be having lots of opportunities for youth to utilize their personal skills through Climate Hackathons and other events and activities.
To finish off the event we ended with handing out awards to our youth. They have worked incredibly hard this year and deserve to be recognized. Overall 2024 was a very successful year, and it is doubtless that we will accomplish much more in 2025.
Post contributed by Abhi Manickavasagan
All images are courtesy of photographer Chris Cassell and ProBonoPhoto.org