This blog post was written by Kyra Stilwagon, a 2024 Youth Leadership Council Member.

I joined EarthEcho International in 2018 as part of the inaugural class of Water Challenge Ambassadors. While the program was small at the time, it was full of people with so much energy and passion that I remember eagerly awaiting my trip to DC to meet everyone in person for the first time. My memories of that year are a whirlwind of meeting new people and intently listening to each skill building workshop. At fourteen, I was one of the youngest people there and very inexperienced in environmental advocacy, so I took it as a chance to learn as much as I could in a short amount of time. What I remember most is how inspired I felt afterward, ready to go home and take the lessons I learned to motivate my community to care about our local waterways. Six years ago I could never have expected that  I would still be coming back for my fifth retreat, now as a Youth Leadership Council member and Board of Directors member. 

I left for the 2024 EarthEcho retreat under the sounds of a tornado siren and the threat of an incoming hurricane. As Hurricane Debby made its way up the coast and caused heavy storms in my area, I flew from Savannah, GA to Seattle to kick off another of being part of EarthEcho’s programs. Despite the less than ideal circumstances, I was so excited to reconnect with some old friends and finally see others for the first time in-person. 

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On my way, I was able to reflect on how much had changed for me since my first retreat. While I started off with a love of the environment and no idea what to do about it, I am now a college student studying Environmental Policy, a path of study I only chose because the Youth Leadership Council’s Capitol Hill advocacy day at our retreat in 2022 inspired me to change my major. I was also presenting about the work of the Youth Leadership Council to the rest of the youth programs. As someone who remembers every presentation from the past few years of retreats, being the one standing at the front of the room felt like a major accomplishment. Finally, I was going to be participating in my first-ever board meeting since joining the Board of Directors. It still surprises me sometimes how much being part of EarthEcho has shaped my life. 

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While some years of EarthEcho retreats have been program specific, being combined with the other youth programs allows us to connect across the many pathways to joining the organization. The collaborative nature of this year’s meeting meant I got to learn about all of the incredible projects that other youth ambassadors are working on. With almost fifty members of the Youth Leadership Council, Marine Plastics Ambassadors, and Blue Carbon Ambassadors all meeting together, the range of interests and projects was incredible. From video games on blue carbon ecosystems, to doing water testings to identify plastic pollution sources, each new project brought new ideas and showed me facets of the people I was meeting. When I started as a Water Challenge Ambassador, only the second youth program at EarthEcho, meeting the Youth Leadership Council members motivated me to continue my work and eventually inspired me to apply for the program. Now, with so many more youth programs, with an even wider range of topic focuses, our projects can only get better each time we come together.

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Although our time in Seattle unfortunately had to come to an end, I know these relationships will not. Whether it was during our workshops or on the field for our pickup soccer game, I know that each moment was building a bond between us all. We have a great start to another year of work, but beyond that, I feel even more confident than ever in how powerful young voices can be to create meaningful and lasting change. 

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