Student Spotlight: Diya Kandhra
Student Spotlight
Hi everyone, my name is Diya Kandhra!
I joined SVYCA as a high school junior in 2020, and today, I’m a third-year UC Berkeley Regents’ Scholar majoring in Environmental Economics and Policy, with minors in Data Science and Energy Resources.
In my 5 years since joining, SVYCA has been critical in providing opportunities for me to gain skills, experience, and exposure to (1) climate policy, (2) professional event organizing, (3) networking with key climate stakeholders (including elected officials at every level), and (4) focusing my career ambitions on energy policy.
My journey with SVYCA began when I co-founded and co-led the Morgan Hill Youth Climate Action team from 2020 to 2021. Although it was a steep learning curve, SVYCA empowered me to recruit 10 high school peers to our team and train them on the advocacy and climate policy research skills I learned through the organization. This was one of the most effective leadership-building experiences of my life. Our main policy objective was for the city to adopt a Climate Action Plan, and it took immense effort from June 2020 - April 2021, with dozens of strategy meetings with elected officials and community stakeholders, public comments, and presentations to the City Council and the School Board, and hours-long team prep meetings. Ultimately, our relentless efforts proved successful when the city adopted its first Climate Action Plan in May 2021, where my name is included as part of the Community Working Group in the Acknowledgements.
“SVYCA gave me the foundational policy skills and knowledge to make a significant positive climate impact while still in high school and to pursue my ultimate career goals in energy policy. Formal education only minimally addresses climate change (only being addressed in my senior year AP Environmental Science class). Thus, I wouldn’t be where I am today studying environmental policy at UC Berkeley, with my solid background in climate literacy and policy engagement, without the incredible opportunities that SVYCA provided me.”
I also extended my policy work beyond my city by joining SVYCA’s Santa Clara County and State Advocacy Teams in 2021. Through these efforts, I honed skills like hosting strategic one-on-one meetings with elected officials to identify “climate champions” who supported SVYCA’s initiatives.
My policy efforts have resulted in me earning a bronze and gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award in 2020 and 2021, recognition from SVCE and Rep. Ro Khanna, and being honored by the Tech Museum as a Local Innovator for AANHPI Month in May 2024.
Beyond my formal policy work, I’ve organized and moderated multiple SVYCA educational community events, including a Climate Forum for Morgan Hill City Council candidates and a breakout session for Assm. Ash Kalra to educate attendees on climate literacy and an Earth Day Q&A with former CEO of Silicon Valley Clean Energy Girish Balachandran, and Environment California State Director Laura Deehan. Most notably, I co-organized SVYCA’s 2022 and 2023 Youth Climate Summits, spearheading the speaker outreach, programming, and logistical day-of execution for events with 150-200+ attendees each. These events were incredible opportunities to network with elected officials and impactful groups like CalRecycle and provided the rewarding opportunity to give back to the community through engaging climate education. Organizing these SVYCA events has helped me develop essential skills such as organization, which has been a weakness and only improved through years of agenda-writing and strategy calls as an SVYCA student leader.
Additionally, thanks to SVYCA’s networking events, I connected with fellow climate organizations like the EV Charging for All Coalition and Plug In America, which led to two paid summer internships in 2023 that further strengthened my energy policy experience. My EV charging research in these two internships led to me publishing a research paper with UC Berkeley and being honored with Plug In America’s Drive Electric Student Award in 2024.
Most recently, in November 2023, I had the honor of serving on SVYCA’s inaugural delegation to COP 28 in Dubai, where I engaged with innovative energy startups and connected with fellow climate advocates on the global stage. Moreover, upon witnessing the substantial progress towards renewable energy development from companies in France (Engie) and the UK (Octopus Energy), COP28 reaffirmed my career choice in energy policy. The UK and France make up the world's 6th and 7th largest economies. At the same time, California comparatively has the 5th largest worldwide economy, and I believe a Californian energy policy career would make a great impact. Nevertheless, COP 28 also showed me how much I didn’t know about climate, having largely focused on California climate policy and the importance of expanding my worldview through experiential learning and networking. These same progressive European climate efforts I learned about at COP 28 were one of my inspirations in choosing to study international climate law in Geneva, Switzerland, in Spring 2025.
My time in SVYCA has been instrumental in shaping my understanding of various impactful sustainability policies (i.e., mass transportation funding, mixed-use development to preserve green space, home electrification, and efficient appliance rebates). Renewable energy, in particular, was my environmental passion. SVYCA provided early exposure to the renewable energy sector by hearing talks from innovators such as CCAs and Chargepoint Founder Richard Lowenthal. Moreover, upon learning that transportation and energy use are the two highest-priority areas for decarbonization and knowing that I could make the most impact by specializing in one area of sustainability, I focused my climate engagement on renewable energy and electrified transportation.
Now, at UC Berkeley, I’ve continued exploring energy policy through environmental consulting, energy policy and economics classes, and research. Upon graduation, I hope to work as an energy policy analyst or researcher at think tanks such as RMI, energy consultancies like E3, or government agencies like the California Energy Commission.