Hope in Action: Young Leaders Making a Difference Now
As social inequities deepen, environmental breakdown intensifies, and repression moves into high gear, a new generation of changemakers is stepping up with bold vision and deep-rooted purpose. From environmental education to ecosystem restoration, these young leaders are working not only to address the damage done by previous generations but to envision something radically better.
Below, we invite you to hear Shreya Chaudhuri discuss her work decolonizing environmental education; learn the life story compelling Mahjabin Khanzada’s advocacy for Afghan women’s rights; and explore Asa Miller’s efforts to help restore coral reefs in Cuba. Help us spread the word about how youth are reshaping what’s possible for our planet and our communities.
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Shreya Chaudhuri – Reclaiming Roots: The Global Fight for Indigenous Science
For generations, Indigenous science has safeguarded ecosystems worldwide—yet mainstream environmental solutions continue to sideline it. As climate crises escalate, young activists are reclaiming these knowledge systems, challenging colonial frameworks, and forging global solidarity. Drawing from her family’s six-generation history in India’s tea industry and her work decolonizing environmental education at UC Berkeley and through her nonprofit, Project Planet, Chaudhuri explores how students and youth-led movements are reshaping the fight for climate justice by centering traditional knowledge. The future of sustainability isn’t about reinventing solutions—it’s about reclaiming the roots that have long sustained our planet. The question is: will we listen?
Mahjabin Khanzada – Courage: From Kabul to California
When the Taliban seized power, Mahjabin Khanzada’s life changed overnight. As a translator for the U.S. embassy, she narrowly escaped, but her parents were left behind. Since 2021, she has endured profound hardship, yet she has emerged as a fierce advocate for Afghan women’s rights and a dedicated force within Project Anar, helping refugees rebuild their lives. Now, as crucial funding for refugee programs faces devastating cuts and the government’s xenophobia is running rampant, her work is more urgent than ever. Khanzada shares her story as a reminder that Afghan women and refugees are still fighting for their futures—and the world cannot look away.
Asa Miller – Viva el Vivero: Finding the Best Nursery for Cuba’s Coral
Asa Miller has taken a simple yet revolutionary step toward addressing the climate crisis, one that doesn’t involve convincing others with data or investing billions in new technologies: He decided to reconnect with his roots and help restore a part of his ancestral homeland. A multi-award-winning marine conservationist and his town’s Youth Poet Laureate, Miller returned to his family’s native Cuba in an effort to help restore the country’s coral reefs. There he found communities not paralyzed by the injustices of climate change but catalyzed by their love of their land and its living things. Miller will share his challenges and rewards working with our under-resourced neighbor and the lessons he brings back to our own over-resourced world.
Living Future 2025: Join industry leaders, innovators and changemakers in creating a more sustainable world
Ready to take action on sustainability? Originally launched by longtime Bioneers speaker Jason McLennan, the 2025 edition of the long-running Living Future conference is an exciting opportunity for leaders from diverse industries to come together, share ideas and accelerate the movement toward a regenerative world. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this inspiring event—register now and help shape a living future for all! Living Future 2025 will be held May 6-8, 2025, in Portland, Oregon.
Upcoming Bioneers Learning Courses
Through engaging courses led by some of the world’s foremost movement leaders, Bioneers Learning equips engaged citizens and professionals like you with the knowledge, tools, resources and networks to initiate or deepen your engagement, leading to real change in your life and community.
- Biomimicry for Social Innovation: Nature’s Lessons for Movement Leaders | May 13-June 3, 2025 | This four-week experiential course reveals how biomimicry—a practice that draws on the genius of ecosystems—can inform leadership, partnership building, and decision-making for lasting, regenerative change.
- The Four Sacred Gifts: Indigenous Wisdom for Modern Times | Self-Paced | Discover how the Four Sacred Gifts of forgiving the unforgivable, unity, healing, and hope in action provide us with a path to our most grounded, loving, healed, and generous selves.
- Regenerative Agriculture: Nourishing the Soil, Healing the Planet | Self-Paced | Be enlightened on the practical applications and impressive potential that regenerative agriculture has to revive healthy landscapes; contribute to human and animal health; create an equitable food system; and help heal the climate.
- Fierce Vulnerability: Healing from Trauma, Emerging through Collapse | Sept 8-29, 2025 | This four-week interactive course offers a radical approach — merging nonviolent action, trauma healing, and spiritual practice to build movements rooted in connection and resilience.
- From Reactivity to Resilience: Responsive Leadership and Fractals of Healing | Sept 13-Oct 18, 2025 | Grounded in ReParentive® Therapy, this six-week interactive course explores practical tools to regulate your nervous system, heal trauma, and discover how to lead from an embodied, authentic place.
- Putting Biomimicry Into Action in Your Profession and Life | Oct. 9-30, 2025 | Led by Andrew Howley, Chief Editor of the Biomimicry Institute, this four-week interactive course will equip you with the tools to reframe challenges through nature’s lens and turn inspired ideas into action.