Stephanie Rivas was born and raised in the heart of Los Angeles, where she witnessed the effects of systemic racism in her community. However, it wasn’t until she attended the University of California San Diego that she enrolled in cross Ethnic and Gender studies classes. There she gained the language and intersectional framework to understand the depth of what she and her community were experiencing– from environmental racism, unsafe housing conditions, worker exploitation, and low-quality education. Through her lived experiences and academic knowledge, she began to see the interconnectedness of systemic oppression with the various issues BIPOC communities navigate. Stephanie is currently the Western US Regional Coordinator for The Climate Initiative, where she brings her knowledge and lived experiences to the space with the goal of reaching urban BIPOC youth and communities to take space in the climate movement through their powerful and diverse voices because they are at the forefront of climate change and must be at the forefront of the solutions.