“Knock relentlessly. I have a thousand unanswered emails and a mound of form letters from our past two Presidents and a few others. But I kept at it. […] Somewhere along the line, someone will open a door. And we as youth cannot make change unless we get on the inside.
Grade: High school—12th grade
Roots & Shoots History: Four years with Roots & Shoots; RSYC member 2020-2023
Roots & Shoots Group: 🔗 Forces of Nature
Will is from Miami, Florida, where he is a powerful advocate for climate action. During his time on the council, he has had an opportunity to share Dr. Goodall’s message of the strength of youth and the power of hope at the UN General Assembly, COP26, and Stockholm+50 for the United Nations Environment Program! His all-time favorite Roots & Shoots project was “Stand with the Victims of Hurricane Eta,” for which his Roots & Shoots group provided disaster relief for 1100 families in Honduras. The experience solidified in his mind the injustice of climate change’s worse effects on those who contributed to it the least. Currently, Will is scaling up his “A Million Mangroves” initiative by putting funds from a Roots & Shoots youth leadership grant towards research into artificially selecting mangroves that withstand ocean acidification and warming. When not cleaning up mangroves, Will enjoys skiing, rowing, and kayaking.
