Over eighty middle and high school students gathered at the University of Minnesota for the YEA! MN Student Sustainability Summit this spring.

Watch the video recap from the summit!

Friday, April 27th 8:30-2:30 PM
University of MN St Paul Campus

This free event will feature keynote speaker Will Steger and a series of exciting youth led workshops related to environmental sustainability and climate change solutions.

Register Today…

YEA! MN and MPIRG youth team up to advocate for solar and other environmental policies at the MN state capitol.

Watch the Video

The Will Steger foundation would like to acknowledge and congratulate all of the youth organizers involved in the Chicago Clean Power Coalition on the announced closing of the Crawford and Fisk coal plants. Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) and the Illinois Student Environmental Coalition (ISEC) have been deeply involved in the Coalition and spent countless hours testifying at the State Legislature, organizing in front-line communities, documenting the public health impacts of both plants, and drawing public support for an end to these big polluters. LVEJO, an environmental justice organization based in the Little Village neighborhood on Chicago’s south side, released the following press release.

The Steger Foundation is proud to partner with Focus the Nation in our mission to educate, empower, and engage a new generation of climate leadership on a local, regional, national, and international scale. A nationally based organization, Focus the Nation (FTN) accelerates the transformation to a clean energy future by fostering connections between generations, and empowering young people through education, civic engagement, and action.

All FTN programming is intensely focused on empowering young people’s imaginative, civic and systems-thinking capacities so they can become powerful agents of change in their own communities. The skills that young people gain through FTN programming can be applied for decades in addressing the root causes that affect our current environmental, social, political and entrepreneurial challenges.

As part of a national program aimed at engaging climate youth leadership across the country, FTN is launching Clean Energy Forums a core component of their part 'Forums-to-Action program.  Aimed at developing new student leaders to drive solution oriented clean energy collaborations between their campuses and communities, the F2A program provides students with leadership skills, energy literacy, experiential learning and professional development.

The following Clean Energy Forums are being hosted in the Midwest this February and are open to the public:

University of Wisconsin Madison, Feb 15th

Through Focus the Nation’s Forums-to-Action Program, a multidisciplinary group of UW-Madison students is planning a clean energy forum for February 15th, 2012. This year’s event will focus on ways the campus and Madison community can speed adoption of energy efficiency and conservation measures in buildings. Students and campus leaders will come together with energy experts, business leaders, and elected officials to identify roadblocks and solutions in this effort to pick the low hanging fruit known as ‘negawatts’. One panel session will seek innovative solutions to get more rental property owners investing in energy efficiency retrofits. A brainstorming session over dinner will inform an action plan which students will implement over the next semester(s). This event represents a great opportunity for the campus and Madison community to come together in addressing an issue of great import.

The event is free and open to the public. It will take place February 15th, 2012 from 3-7pm in Union South, Varsity Hall III.

Who should attend:

• Students or community members interested in energy efficiency, energy policy, or renewable energy
• Business leaders
• Elected officials

Focus the Nation is now accepting applications to launch September 2012 teams. This spring they will be selecting one school in each state across the US to participate in our F2A programming. Sign up to host a forum for 2013.

Join YEA! MN and MPIRG as we team up for a youth lobby day at the MN State Capitol in support of solar energy and the Recycling Refund Act.

Click here for info and registration

Emerging from a several years of strategic conversation, cross-state collaboration, and the intense growth of the youth climate movement here in the Midwest, a fledgling coalition is rising. Following in the spirit of regional coalitions launched in the Southeast (Southern Energy Network) and Northwest (Cascade Climate Network), the Midwest Youth Climate Coalition seeks to deepen connections between key youth climate organizations and activists across the Midwest and foster a coordinated approach to regional and national challenges and opportunities.

As many student organizations wind down for winter break, student organizers in Ohio continue to ramp things up. Check out these blogs and media hits from the OH Student Environmental Coalition who has launched a well-coordinated, sustained and aggressive campaign on the fracking industry across the state.

Six Midwest Youth Climate Orgs Receive Funding for Critical Initiatives

The Will Steger foundation has been a key ally in building the youth climate moment across the Midwest. Since 2007 WSF has been actively working with partner organizations across the generational spectrum to support youth climate leadership across the region. This includes a robust network of youth organizations and a close relationship with the RE-AMP network, a coalition of over 120 environmental non-profit organizations and Foundations across the Midwest.

WSF has played a key role in connecting Midwest youth organizations with RE-AMP funding opportunities, specifically in regards to RE-AMP 'Allies' Funding through the Global Warming Strategic Action Fund. This includes outreach and engagement to strategic youth allies, mentorship on grant proposals, and facilitation of regional communication among Midwest youth applicants to foster a coordinated approach to the RE-AMP funding opportunity. The following is a list youth initiatives funded by RE-AMP in 2011. WSF is proud to support these vibrant initiatives and recognizes the critical role they play in the larger environmental movement.

GELT organizers worth with local youth in Highland Park MI

Global Exchange: Green Economy Leadership Training, Detroit, MI

Global Exchange's Green Economy Leadership Training (GELT) program educates, engages and empowers youth to be active agents of change in building the necessary clean energy, green economy future. The program trains youth and community members in practical skills that will empower them to improve their communities, such as environmental justice, energy conservation, renewable energy, green building technology, water conservation, waste diversion (recycling and composting), urban agriculture and food security and urban forestry. Seizing the opportunity to begin a new era of organizing, the GELT program deploys community-based solutions that break from conventional thinking and puts the emphasis on empowering individuals and communities.

Little Village Environmental Justice Organization: Neighborhood Transit Access

LVEJO organizers demand transit access

Little Village environmental Justice Organization(LVEJO) has created the coalition 'Communities for a 31st Bus Route' to advocate for transit access for 6 different Chicago neighborhoods, including Little Village (noted as one of the top 6 most polluted areas in the Chicago Metro), and to serve a ridership of over 100,000 people, mostly low-income. Along with a dozen diverse partners, the transit access campaign engages local youth through LVEJO programming in leadership training, community outreach, and grassroots organizing. The campaign will target key legislators and seeks to save up to 500 tons of C02 per year.

Grand Aspirations: Our Power Campaign, Minneapolis/Iowa City

Grand Aspirations is expanding its Our Power campaign in South Minneapolis, MN and replicating it in Iowa City, IA. The campaign focuses on building diverse alliances in support of energy efficiency and clean energy at the neighborhood and city level and integrating implementation of energy efficiency and clean energy with movement building. Our Power unites local youth, community groups, and businesses from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds in support of a clean energy economy. Local and national youth leaders will act as community energy leaders to engage 500 residents and 50 businesses in Minneapolis, and 125 residents and 10 businesses in Iowa City, in energy efficiency and clean energy measures.

Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group: Energy Service Corps Program

Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG) is in the second year of its Energy Service Corps Program launched in partnership with Americorps. Through direct citizen outreach and partnerships with local institutions the program engages youth leadership at the University of Wisconsin Steven's Point and the University of Wisconsin Madison in reaching diverse constituencies with demonstrations, presentations, and home inspections that highlight the potential of efficiency to save energy, save the environment and save money. Student "Energy Efficiency Ambassadors' will encourage residents to conduct subsidized energy audits and home weatherization.

MPIRG student organizers at the University of MN Morris

Minnesota Public Interest Research Group: Minnesota Youth Alignment

Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG) seeks to engage it's statewide youth network in support of the following 3 key campaign areas funded by RE-AMP for member organizations in Minnesota. Solar Works for Minnesota: MPIRG will leverage it's relationships of three University of MN campuses to push to legislature for guaranteed pricing for public buildings that develop solar and other renewable energy resources. Defend Clean Energy Laws and Regulations: MPIRG will engage, educate and mobilize it's student network in defense of Minnesota's clean energy policy foundation. Reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled: MPIRG will launch an education and advocacy campaign targeting Duluth Transit Authority and push for transit solutions that better serve the needs of student riders.

Illinois Student Environmental Coalition: Chicago Coal Campaign

ISEC organizers join a human banner targeting Chicago Mayor Emmanuel

Illinois Student Environmental Coalition seeks to continue its collaboration with the Chicago Clean Power Coalition(CCPC) to retire two existing coal plants in the city. The campaign is at a critical juncture and support from students is essential to advancing the work of the coalition. ISEC has been key to the CCPC movement over the past year and will continue to work with the Coalition to empower and engage it's state network of student leaders to effectively target the Mayor of Chicago and City Council.

In less than a week hundreds of youth climate organizers will gather in Cleveland for Midwest Power Shift, a regional conference run by and for youth aimed at engaging and preparing the next generation of Midwest climate leaders to lead the transition to a clean and just energy future. Youth organizers across the region are hard at working finalizing workshops and logistics around the five main conference tracks coal, fracking, political engagement, tar sands, and the clean energy economy. A dynamic list of workshop are available online, including:

• Energy Efficiency on Your Campus: It’s in Your Hands
• Beyond Madison: Rural Wisconsinites Stand Up for Their Communities
• Building Power for the 2012 Election
• Food Desserts and Solutions to Food Access in the Inner City
• New Media for New Organizers
• Follow the Sun: Starting a Solar Company in the Midwest

Learn more about the Powershift Electives

Each of these tracks aim to empower coordinated regional or cross-state action/collaboration. Furthermore, members of the Midwest Youth Coalition are leveraging the opportunity of Midwest Power Shift to launch a youth steering committee with representation from each Midwest state, tasked with the following responsibilities:

• Support for coordinated actions/campaigns/events
• Cohesive messaging from a regional youth perspective
• Resource bank
• Asset mapping process

In the tradition of National Power Shift, Midwest Power Shift will also provide space for state breakouts as a means to supporting state networks. Currently, MI, OH, and IL are the only states with a formal state network structure, with MN and MO in the process.

The registration page is still open for any last minute participants, and features a phenomenal blog roll from youth organizers across the US:

Register for Powershift

For a quick overview of the goal, purpose, and tenor of Midwest Power Shift, check out this inspiring video from conference organizer and Director of the Ohio Student Environmental Council, Janina Klimas: