Hi Katie! Please introduce yourself to those who may not know you.

I’m Katie Yu, she/her pronouns. I live in Iqaluit, Nunavut and have lived here my whole life. Currently, I’m a high-school student in grade 11 – most of my time is spent on school but I’m big on environmental advocacy and I like to express it through my writing. I’m a volunteer writer for Starfish Canada – a journal that spotlights youth environmental leaders. I worked as an intern with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) the summer after grade 9. Outside of advocacy, I also like lots of artistic things like drawing; I’m in our school band and choir. In general, I like to do lots of creative things and go outdoors.

How was the experience of volunteering with UNICEF/WWF?

My summer internship with WWF was a great experience – I worked part-time with them in the summer of 2021, where I had a few outlined rules and some freedom as well. I helped out with some community initiatives, like water testing in local bodies of water, and it was cool to interact with the community and learn new things. I also worked on 2 vlogs with the WWF website – one was about myself and why I applied for the internship, and the other was advocacy-based, basically on what youth can do to fight climate change. I was probably the youngest one in the organization, the rest were university students. With UNICEF Canada, I started working with them through their youth advocacy program in 2021, which they still have going. It was all virtual. We had workshops with youth across Canada, developed action plans and heard from guest speakers. I was in the climate change group with a few others and towards the end of the program we did a presentation on national child day. My cohort in particular did a few more projects with UNICEF, including writing a letter to the future leaders of Canada. I’m not doing too much with them at the moment, but sometimes they invite me to events and provide me with different opportunities. I also became vigilant on the case to lower the voting age in Canada, an ongoing project that I’m working on with a few friends.

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Which youth leader do you admire most?

Wow, this is a hard one. I definitely look up to a lot of climate activists and there are a lot of people I work with in different groups that I look up to as well. There are notable climate activists like Greta Thunberg, of course. I’ve met a lot of Canadian leaders as well; I’ve been involved in Banking on a Better Future, an organization led by someone I greatly look up to. A few other notable Canadian ones would be Adam Fenech and a friend of mine – Amelia – someone I work with in the case to lower Canada’s voting age. She once wrote a letter to the PMO every week and finally got a response.

What’s your favourite part about your community?

I’ve lived in Nunavut my whole life so I’ve seen a lot of aspects of the community and a lot of changes. It’s the capital [that I live in] but still a small town, so I like seeing the same people around – that you have the same support system and the same friends you can lean on your whole life. It’s also very convenient and you can walk anywhere if it’s not too cold, so the small-town vibe is awesome. The environment too. There are no trees because we’re above the tree line, but mountains and summer daylight are both things I enjoy. In the summer we have 20-ish hours of daylight, which can be annoying when you try to sleep but is a nice break from the winter. We also have the Northern Lights, which is pretty cool. The population is composed of Inuit and Indigenous peoples as well, so I’ve definitely learned a lot about culture: in our school choir, we sing in English, French, and the native tongue of the Inuit. Learning diff activities and traditions celebrated here and not down south is awesome. So those would be the big three: small town, nature, and culture.

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Why should we care about the environment?

To start, the environment has a big impact on our health and mental health. I think it’s important to have a healthy environment we can live in. It’s also important to recognize that effects aren’t equal throughout the world – some people in the world feel the extremes of climate change more severely – so I think we need to adopt a global outlook. Climate change has lots of environmental costs but letting it run its path will also lead to a lot of other consequences that people may not consider. It’s important for us to save the environment while we can.

What issues should youth focus on most?

Environment, equality, and mental health. Youth will be most affected by climate change and its effects in the future. Things like extreme weather will worsen and affect the next generations. I think climate change also intersects with poverty and racism too since those groups are generally more affected by climate change. So I think greater equality in general – ensuring people have the resources to adapt and to succeed in life. We need to advocate for a just and fair world that overrides hate crimes and bullying.

Describe a highlight of your leadership/activism experience.

Getting to speak at the UNICEF Child Day Event in 2021 and getting my writing published on CBC and WWF. Restarting the green club at my school with my guidance counsellor was also great. We don’t have many members as of yet but we’ve done quite a few initiatives, including a clothing recycling depot. I’ve also started a peer mentorship group in my school where students could just talk about whatever is going on and participate in cultural activities or games.

What upcoming projects are you looking forward to?

Not really anything specific, mostly just continuing and improving the projects I’m currently working on. Expanding the reach of our green club, getting my writing out there in terms of environmental advocacy, and helping other youth begin advocacy as well. Those are the main things, but also starting new roles as well: I like to volunteer in my community, so finding new ways to contribute and trying new things. As well, I think it’s just as important to commit to the initiatives I’m already in.

Anything else you’d like to share with the youth of Canada?

Acknowledge that advocacy and making change is a lot of hard work and that it’s hard to change a lot of global habits such as the use of fossil fuels. So it’s hard work, and taking care of yourself and recognizing that you can’t solve everything is big. Doing what you like is important too – I like writing and using creative expression as a medium – and I think creativity is important for making change and connecting with people. There are lots of ways to go about making change so we can avoid the worst of climate change and other issues.

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