San Francisco, CA

Amelia Fortgang is from San Francisco, California and is a senior at Lick-Wilmerding High School. Her experiences growing up in a coastal city already experiencing detrimental climate effects led her to find her passion for climate justice and ocean conservation advocacy. She has worked as an EarthEcho Water Challenge Ambassador for two years, monitoring local water quality and teaching her community about the impact of citizen science.

Amelia founded and chairs the Bay Area Youth Climate Summit, an activism network that offers in-depth educational, environmental justice workshops and mobilizes local Bay Area high schoolers to create and execute Climate Action Plans in response to the climate crisis. On September 12, 2020, they kicked off a day-long virtual summit, uniting 280 youth from 88 schools, 14 States, and 5 countries. In the past year, they have engaged over 950 high schoolers in climate education and action. Along the way, Amelia has had the opportunity to speak with everyone from San Francisco's Mayor Breed to youth from New York to students at her own school.

Amelia also currently co-leads her school’s environmental club and works on Fridays for Future Digital’s global outreach and social media teams. When not thinking about the environment, she loves drawing, printmaking, dancing, and hiking. She is excited to serve on EarthEcho's YLC to advocate for our blue planet and its people!