The Rise of Girl Plus Environment: Where Youth, Justice, and Climate Power Meet

In 2019, a simple but powerful idea took root: what if Black and Brown femmes – those most impacted by environmental injustice – were also the ones leading the charge to solve it? What if climate advocacy wasn’t confined to policy rooms or academic circles, but instead occupied dorm rooms, community centers, and the lived experiences of young women across the country?
That idea became Girl Plus Environment, a national nonprofit that is rewriting the narrative of who gets to lead in the climate movement. Today, the organization has more than 700 members across 35 states, with a strong concentration of college‑aged participants and partnerships with universities, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Nearly 70 percent of its members are students, and that is not by accident. Girl Plus Environment (GPE) sits at the intersection of youth leadership, environmental justice, and building a movement. And in just a few years, it has become one of the most compelling examples of what happens when young people are trusted not just to participate, but to lead.

From Community Spark to National Force
When GPE first launched, it was a community‑building initiative; a space where Black and Brown femmes could talk about environmental issues that affected their neighborhoods, their families, and their futures. But the conversations quickly evolved into action. Members began organizing campaigns, submitting public comments, and showing up in spaces where their voices had long been missing. They weren’t just learning about environmental justice – they were shaping it.

Since then, GPE members have taken more than 2,000 collective climate actions, including:

– Participating in utility rate cases
-Leading local advocacy efforts
-Organizing community campaigns
-Engaging in environmental health monitoring
-Submitting public comments on climate and energy issues

Real Wins, Real Change
GPE’s work has already contributed to tangible, measurable outcomes across the country.

1. Stopping a 12% Energy Rate Increase in Georgia
When a proposed utility rate hike threatened to disproportionately impact low‑income communities, GPE members mobilized. They organized, educated, advocated, and ultimately helped stop the increase from moving forward.

2. Supporting a $300,000 Clean Energy Fund in Atlanta
GPE members played a role in advancing a fund that now supports community‑driven clean energy projects. It’s a model for how local advocacy can shape impactful solutions.

3. Engaging Communities in California
In California, GPE has helped hundreds of residents participate in air quality monitoring and environmental health advocacy by empowering communities to collect data, tell their stories, and demand accountability.

Building Leaders, Not Just Awareness
As GPE grew, so did its vision. The organization realized that awareness alone wasn’t enough. To build long‑term power, they needed to build leaders.
So GPE formalized its leadership development and organizing model, training more than 50 femmes in climate and energy advocacy. These trainings go beyond workshops; they build pipelines. Members learn how to design campaigns, navigate policy processes, and mobilize their communities and then they put those skills to work. GPE supports members in designing and leading their own community‑based activations, from campus energy audits to neighborhood clean‑ups to public health campaigns. These efforts move GPE beyond awareness‑building and into sustained civic engagement.

A Movement Entering Its Next Chapter
Girl Plus Environment is now in a period of growth that could redefine the landscape of youth climate leadership in the U.S. Guided by a multi‑year strategic planning process, GPE is preparing to scale its impact through a national, chapter‑based model anchored on college campuses. The goal is ambitious and inspiring: Mobilize 10,000 Black and Brown femmes across 50 universities by 2030. By embedding chapters on campuses, GPE will create hubs of climate advocacy where students can organize, learn, and lead. These chapters will serve as incubators for campaigns, policy engagement, and community partnerships, ensuring that the next generation of climate leaders is diverse, informed, and unstoppable.

A Future Powered by Young Leaders
We’re living in a time when climate change is no longer a distant threat, but a daily reality. Heat waves, wildfires, flooding, and pollution disproportionately impact Black and Brown communities. Yet these same communities are often excluded from decision‑making spaces. By equipping young femmes of color with the tools, training, and networks they need to lead, GPE is building a future where climate policy reflects the people it affects most.
To learn more or get involved, visit www.girlplusenvironment.org.