Amplifying Youth Voices in the Fight Against Climate Change

About Our Presenters

Veronika Bylicki is an engagement innovator, community builder and sustainability strategist. She is the Executive Director & Co-founder of CityHive, an organization on a mission to transform the way young people are engaged in shaping their cities, in particular city planning and decision making. A lifelong Vancouverite, she is passionate about creating more sustainable, equitable cities and amplifying the meaningful engagement of citizens, particularly youth, in addressing urban challenges.

Veronika completed her BSc in Global Resource Systems at UBC with a specialization in Urban Sustainability, Policy and Planning. Her experience includes working in Sustainability Education Facilitation, Environmental Assessment and participatory design. She was awarded as a Top 25 Under 25 Environmentalist in Canada in 2015, has delivered a TEDxYouth talk on Urban Sustainability and was a Social Innovation Fellow at RADIUS SFU.

Veronika is currently a Commissioner on the Vancouver City Planning Commission and Board Member for CityStudio Vancouver. Veronika is an outdoor enthusiast and can often be found zipping around the city on her bike.

Brynna Kagawa-Visentin is currently the Youth Engagement Coordinator at CPAWS-BC (Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – BC Chapter). Originally from Dish With One Spoon Territory, she currently resides in Lekwungen Territory which she is grateful to call home.

Brynna is an interdisciplinary researcher and environmental justice educator who spent much of her childhood on a rural island in British Columbia swimming, horse-back riding, and being immersed in nature. These experiences catalyzed her curiosity about the ways in which urban and rural spaces shape human-nature relations.

She is devoted to learning about the root issues underpinning current challenges to environmental and human well-being and believes in harnessing the power of young people to shape the just futures everyone deserves. She has worked in environmental youth-led non-profits for the past two years, including Youth Climate Lab, Threading Change, and Sierra Club Canada as the Chair of the Sierra Youth Podcast, and is committed to helping young people build the skills, knowledge, and opportunities to meaningfully engage in environmental and social movements. She has a BSc in Environmental Practice from Royal Roads University and a HBSc from McMaster University in Kinesiology.

Ella Kim Marriott is entering her second year of the MSc Rural Sociology program in the Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology department at the University of Alberta. She is of half Korean, half celtic/British descent, and was born and raised on Musqueam territory and has now moved to Treaty 6 territory. When she lived in so-called Vancouver, Ella was involved with numerous environmental organizations including Greenpeace Canada.

Her current interest lies in just transition and community work and she has started to work with Iron and Earth and will work with the City of Edmonton on a community garden related project this summer.

Ella works part-time as the social media coordinator for Creatively United. Through her role she provides resources and educational materials in creative ways, while prioritizing the environment and social wellbeing. She is “thrilled to have been able to curate this Earth Day’s panelist lineup and is looking forward to facilitating the conversation with these amazing young changemakers.”

Isabelle Sain is an artist whose work is an ongoing sensory experience that explores the relationships between body and space. Her work is grounded in establishing connections and events that define shared experiences to understand human interaction within the physical, political, social, and spiritual environment.

Isabelle obtained her BFA in Textiles and Fashion at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University. Isabelle’s work has been exhibited in Toronto, Halifax, and Copenhagen. She has conducted a number of research projects investigating the future of fashion with KEA University, and has collaborated with several organizations including Fashion Revolution and Threading Change.

In her art practice and experiences, she has created textile-based design processes and solutions that establish connections to reinterpret textile production into a more environmentally and socially conscious industry.

Brennan Strandberg-Salmon is a researcher, project manager, and volunteer coordinator with a passion for youth-led climate justice advocacy and climate policy. He leads the Climate Change Branch at the British Columbia Council for International Cooperation (BCCIC), which empowers youth to advocate for equitable climate policy at all levels of government through hands-on research, communications, and delegations to international climate change conferences.

As a Water Efficiency Advisor for the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan and Climate Emergency Policy Analyst for BCCIC, he produced a climate change guide for industry associations, and helped organize the World Circular Economy Forum 2021 as Project Coordinator for Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

Brennan is currently studying Resource and Environmental Management at SFU and plans to pursue many more green jobs in the future, including this summer with ECCC’s Integrated Climate Lens Centre of Expertise. Brennan thrives in outdoor environments and enjoys hiking, dragon boating, water skiing, and exploring nature locally and during travels abroad.

Ryder Wise has been a youth advocate of change as one of the RainCoast Conservation Foundation’s first junior leaders. In his role as a public speaker, he introduced a new hybrid salmon species and discussed his involvement with RainCoast’s emerging stewards program to inspire the next junior leaders. Ryder became a 2019 alumni of the Verna J. Kirkness program, studying Astronomy and Physics at UVic. He was voted 2020 class valedictorian and now works in the forest industry. He is dedicated to environmentalism and pursuing gardening, excavating, photography, and dirt biking.