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Youth Environmental Leaders Learning Lab

october 1 - 31, 2025

Course Overview

The Youth Environmental Leaders Learning Lab, offered in partnership with The Starfish Canada, is a five-session program for 25 youth (ages 18 to 30) to build relationships across the country, learn new concepts to support their leadership journey, and advance their careers in environmentalism.

YELL Lab returns October 1 – 31, 2025. Applications open July 7th—Subscribe below to get notified.

This program is offered in partnership by:

Logo with a stylized starfish icon to the left of the words "The Starfish" in dark, bold font.

Who should take this program?

This program is for young leaders (ages 18 to 30) who want to strengthen their leadership and conflict-resolution skills while envisioning sustainable futures.

Whether you’re a student, early-career professional, or community advocate, this program provides a collaborative space to deepen your understanding of climate action leadership and connect with a nationwide network of peers committed to sustainability.

Airlea Rasul
Airlea Rasul
Founder & Executive Director, Terra Elysium
"The program provided a vibrant networking platform, fostering meaningful connections and dialogue essential for collective action."
Brennan Strandberg-Salmon
Brennan Strandberg-Salmon
Policy Analyst, Environment and Climate Change Canada
"The program was a unique opportunity to connect with passionate youth across Canada to build a national youth climate community. It exceeded my expectations with its thoughtful and inspiring content."
 Sylvie Stojanovski
Sylvie Stojanovski
Co-Founder, General Manager & Lead Artist at Scarbrite Collective
"It was such a nourishing and transformative experience to get to connect with environmental leaders from all over the country in a structured container."

Program Goals

This program is supported by:

Program Instructors

Alicia Richins, a woman with long curly hair wearing a white wrap blouse and green pants, stands smiling in a bright, modern office with large windows and plants in the background.

Alicia Richins

Founder of The Climateverse

Alicia (she/they) is a climate justice advocate, sustainable impact strategist, and writer driven to imagine beyond the plausible.

Alicia is the founder of The Climateverse, a transformation lab and multimedia studio focused on radically imagining and co-creating climate just futures. There, she leverages storytelling and futures methods to articulate and inspire action towards better futures for all.

With nearly a decade of facilitation experience and five years in consulting, Alicia helps organizations and community groups develop futures-oriented impact strategies that navigate the intersections of climate, social, and economic justice. Through their work, they guide teams in unpacking complex challenges while building actionable pathways toward their desired futures.

A proud Trinbagonian-Canadian, their approach is shaped by deep engagement in the youth climate movement across Canada and the Caribbean, alongside graduate studies in ecological economics, international development, and urban planning. Their work is further enriched by ongoing education in strategic foresight, sustainability, and systems change.

Taylor Stimpson

Course Facilitator

Taylor is a passionate problem-solver and environmentalist who works to drive systems change toward a more climate-positive, equitable, and socially-just future that is sustainable for people and the planet. She brings over 6 years of experience researching & developing sustainable materials from renewable resources, from both an academic and private start-up lens. With more than 5 sustainability related micro-credentials, Taylor believes in lifelong learning. Taking inspiration from biology in her approach to solving challenges, she demonstrates that nature is our greatest teacher. As a McMaster alumna, holding a B.Eng & Society and M.A.Sc in Chemical Engineering, Taylor brings new perspectives to the way we design and engineer our future, one that works with the planet, and not against it.

Program Schedule & Structure

Live Session Dates

The program runs Oct 1 – 31, 2025, with live sessions Thursdays from 12:30 – 3:30 pm ET (Oct 2, 9, 16, 23, 30).

Program Content

Sessions will focus on personal leadership, collaboration, and systems change for climate action and sustainability.

1

MODULE 1
Making Connections & Exploring Systems

Settle into the program and make connections with other participants. Recognize climate change and sustainability in a systems context, and explore and practice different models of systems change.

2

MODULE 2
Self in System: Identity & Power

Assess the interplay between “self” and “system;” examine social location, power dynamics, and complexities of self-care; identify personal values and interests that align with what’s needed in the context of climate action.

3

MODULE 3
Navigating Tensions

Explore the tensions between our inner and outer worlds: self and systems. Examine the tensions and conflicts that arise with various biases and perspectives on where we are and where we’re going.

4

MODULE 4
Collaborative Learning: Co-Created Peer Session

Communicate a project idea or something sparking passion/interest, gather peer feedback, envision personal change, and integrate program learnings.

5

MODULE 5
Storytelling & Envisioning Futures

Construct a vision/story of the future (2080) through creative images and story; understand the concept of a “just transition,” envision alternative futures, and build relationships to foster collaborative change.