As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent reports outline, time is running out to prevent some of the most detrimental impacts of the climate crisis. With this knowledge, my free time for the past seven years has been dedicated to volunteer organizing in support of policies that promote a livable and sustainable future. Last year I recognized that this work is where my heart truly lies and decided to take the plunge, shifting from my career as a textile designer to one working on environmental policy. To facilitate this shift, in the summer of 2020 I began studying Environmental Policy at The New School in New York City. My aim through this program is to work in the sphere of agriculture, both expanding on my background in agricultural production for textiles and gaining expertise in the food sector. I believe that this is a critical area of focus for the future of the planet for a few key reasons. First, the global population relies on agriculture for many of the necessities of life, a reliance that will be threatened as planetary shifts in weather and temperature patterns lead to decreased production yields. Coupled with already lower yields due to soil depletion - one study reported a decline of 40 million metric tons of major grain crops between 1981 and 2002 - this will certainly lead to greater food insecurity worldwide, especially in areas already hardest hit by climate change-induced weather shifts. Additionally, it is important to note how detrimental the dominant industrial farming techniques are to the planet. Whereas many traditional and small-scale farming practices can actually help to maintain biodiversity, industrial monocrop systems strip the soil, destabilize local ecosystems, and contribute to groundwater pollution. This is made worse by the fact that these crops are often supplemented with harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides, then harvested and shipped using fossil fuel-reliant machinery. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the pitfalls of a globalized agriculture system as cities and borders shut down, leaving people worldwide without reliable access to healthy food. Agriculture has such great potential for contributing to the creation of a more livable future however, due to the reliance on large-scale industrialized production, it is not currently achieving this. As I work to hone my expertise in the area of agricultural sustainability, I think it will be key to focus on policies that promote more localized systems that employ biodiverse agroecological frameworks. Agroecology draws from the deeply rooted knowledge of local smallholder farmers around the globe of the methodologies that work best within their unique ecosystems. After extreme weather, agroecological farms have been shown to suffer up to half the crop loss of conventional farms and recover significantly more quickly. This methodology is well suited to provide for local consumers, as well, as it produces a broader range of crops throughout the year. Finally, biodiverse agroecological farms actually rebuild soil giving them the potential to absorb and retain up to 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Seeing the amazing promise that this agricultural system holds, this year I am beginning a project with my Environmental Policy classmates to build a working community garden where we can encourage students to gain hands-on experience learning about the benefits of biodiverse production methods. I am excited to use this experience as well as my academic learnings to better advocate for policies that further a transition towards small-scale agroecological farming practices.

For the past seven years, I have engaged in countless grassroots endeavors on a volunteer basis in an effort to affect positive change within my community. Together with a group of fellow grassroots organizers I met during the 2016 presidential race, I founded a local organization called Grassroots Action NYC and took on the role of supporting environmental work while also fostering leadership amongst our members. One of my proudest moments in this work was helping to facilitate a coalition of local grassroots and frontline organizers in an effort to oppose pipeline infrastructure that threatened community wellbeing. Over the following years, I began working with another local group with a specific focus on local impacts of climate injustice. Through this work, I organized events as part of a local coalition campaign that led New York City to divest its $190 billion in pension funds from fossil fuels and also developed internal structures to enable direct democratic engagement on the part of its members. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, I sprang into action again working with neighbors to develop a robust online-offline mutual aid network that has provided over $500,000 of direct assistance to neighbors through delivering groceries and other household necessities as well as person-to-person financial assistance. Seeing the generosity and goodwill of the membership of this group, which came together incredibly organically despite being physically separated due to the ongoing pandemic was truly humbling. This local grassroots work is what led me to pursue the degree in Environmental Policy that I am currently working towards. My goal after I complete my degree is to use the knowledge I gain to further assist my own community and others in implementing robust public policies that protect the health and wellbeing of all people.

As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent reports outline, time is running out to prevent some of the most detrimental impacts of the climate crisis. With this knowledge, my free time for the past seven years has been dedicated to volunteer organizing in support of policies that promote a livable and sustainable future. Last year I recognized that this work is where my heart truly lies and decided to take the plunge, shifting from my career as a textile designer to one working on environmental policy. To facilitate this shift, in the summer of 2020 I began studying Environmental Policy at The New School in New York City. My aim through this program is to work in the sphere of agriculture, both expanding on my background in agricultural production for textiles and gaining expertise in the food sector. I believe that this is a critical area of focus for the future of the planet for a few key reasons. First, the global population relies on agriculture for many of the necessities of life, a reliance that will be threatened as planetary shifts in weather and temperature patterns lead to decreased production yields. Coupled with already lower yields due to soil depletion - one study reported a decline of 40 million metric tons of major grain crops between 1981 and 2002 - this will certainly lead to greater food insecurity worldwide, especially in areas already hardest hit by climate change-induced weather shifts. Additionally, it is important to note how detrimental the dominant industrial farming techniques are to the planet. Whereas many traditional and small-scale farming practices can actually help to maintain biodiversity, industrial monocrop systems strip the soil, destabilize local ecosystems, and contribute to groundwater pollution. This is made worse by the fact that these crops are often supplemented with harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides, then harvested and shipped using fossil fuel-reliant machinery. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the pitfalls of a globalized agriculture system as cities and borders shut down, leaving people worldwide without reliable access to healthy food. Agriculture has such great potential for contributing to the creation of a more livable future however, due to the reliance on large-scale industrialized production, it is not currently achieving this. As I work to hone my expertise in the area of agricultural sustainability, I think it will be key to focus on policies that promote more localized systems that employ biodiverse agroecological frameworks. Agroecology draws from the deeply rooted knowledge of local smallholder farmers around the globe of the methodologies that work best within their unique ecosystems. After extreme weather, agroecological farms have been shown to suffer up to half the crop loss of conventional farms and recover significantly more quickly. This methodology is well suited to provide for local consumers, as well, as it produces a broader range of crops throughout the year. Finally, biodiverse agroecological farms actually rebuild soil giving them the potential to absorb and retain up to 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Seeing the amazing promise that this agricultural system holds, this year I am beginning a project with my Environmental Policy classmates to build a working community garden where students can gain hands-on experience learning about the benefits of biodiverse production methods. I am excited to use this experience as well as my academic learnings to better advocate for policies that further a transition towards small-scale agroecological farming practices.

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged my New York community in 2020, I found myself suddenly isolated and overwhelmed by fear. I felt the years of work I had done to battle a crippling anxiety disorder begin to dissolve as horror stories continued to emerge about overrun hospitals, lack of resources to care for sick patients, and refrigerator trucks parked on nearby streets full of those who had succumbed to this terrible illness. The intense panic attacks that I had worked so hard to conquer began again, making even the simplest tasks feel too heavy to bear. Luckily, after many years of work learning to open up about my mental health struggles, I felt able to seek support from my loved ones. With their help, I had the strength to find an affordable online therapist who could give me the professional assistance that I so desperately needed during this troubling time. Once I began to regain control of my own mental health, I started thinking about the many people in my neighborhood who were likely going through a similar experience. In response, I joined together with a couple of nearby friends to form a mutual aid network. What started as only a few people quickly grew to over a thousand neighbors who were looking to come together and support one another. This network reminded me and so many others that we were not alone while also enabling people who did not have the strong mental health support system I did to receive that support from their community. This experience was transformative for me and shaped my approach to the graduate program in Sustainability Management that I began in the Fall of 2020. By furthering my education, I hope to use my career to expand mutual aid networks and other initiatives that work to create strong and lasting support systems within communities. Through doing so, I hope to help people feel empowered to seek support when facing mental health struggles and have the support they need to get help.

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged my New York community in 2020, I found myself suddenly isolated and overwhelmed by fear. I felt the years of work I had done to battle a crippling anxiety disorder begin to dissolve as horror stories continued to emerge about overrun hospitals, lack of resources to care for sick patients, and refrigerator trucks parked on nearby streets full of those who had succumbed to this terrible illness. The intense panic attacks that I had worked so hard to conquer began again, making even the simplest tasks feel too heavy to bear. Luckily, after many years of work learning to open up about my mental health struggles, I felt able to seek support from my loved ones. With their help, I had the strength to find an affordable online therapist who could give me the professional assistance that I so desperately needed during this troubling time. Once I began to regain control of my own mental health, I started thinking about the many people in my neighborhood who were likely going through a similar experience. In response, I joined together with a couple of nearby friends to form a mutual aid network. What started as only a few people quickly grew to over a thousand neighbors who were looking to come together and support one another. This network reminded me and so many others that we were not alone while also enabling people who did not have the strong mental health support system I did to receive that support from their community. This experience was transformative for me and shaped my approach to the graduate program in Sustainability Management that I began in the Fall of 2020. By furthering my education, I hope to use my career to expand mutual aid networks and other initiatives that work to create strong and lasting support systems within communities. Through doing so, I hope to help people feel empowered to seek support when facing mental health struggles and have the support they need to get help.