Alexandria Villasenor

Alexandria Villasenor was born on May 18, 2005, in Davis, California. Her journey into climate activism began significantly in November 2018 when she was affected by smoke from the Camp Fire in California, the deadliest wildfire in the state’s history, while visiting her hometown for Thanksgiving. As an asthma sufferer, she became physically ill and subsequently researched climate change and temperature increases as contributing factors to the fire’s severity. Her mother, Kristin Hogue, was enrolled in the M.A. in Climate and Society program at Columbia University. Alexandria occasionally attended classes with her mother, which provided her with an understanding of the scientific basis of climate change. Shortly after this experience, she joined the New York chapter of Zero Hour, a group of American youth climate activists.

Inspired by Greta Thunberg, Alexandria co-founded the U.S. Youth Climate Strike movement at age 13, aligning with the international Fridays for Future movement. She began striking weekly outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York on December 14, 2018, to protest the lack of climate action. In 2019, at age 14, she founded Earth Uprising International, a global non-profit organization dedicated to climate education and mobilizing youth to drive grassroots change. This organization aims to empower young people with the tools and knowledge necessary for effective climate advocacy. She also became a child petitioner for the “Children vs. Climate Crisis,” a complaint to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, challenging several nations on their climate commitments.

Over the years, Alexandria has become a prominent voice in climate activism. She has addressed significant platforms such as the Democratic National Convention, the United Nations, and the World Economic Forum. Her contributions include co-authoring in “All We Can Save,” an anthology highlighting women climate leaders. She serves on the advisory board for the national climate policy platform Evergreen Action and is the youngest Junior Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her work has earned her several accolades, including the Earth Day Network Youth Leadership Award, The Rachel Carson Environmental Justice Award, and inclusion on Politico’s list of the top 100 people influential in climate change policy. She graduated high school in May 2024 and began studying at Harvard University in the fall of 2024.