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Roots & Shoots Canada Youth Leadership Council (YLC)
2011-2012 YLC members
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Ali Damji has been a part of JGI Canada since 2008, when he founded a Roots & Shoots group at his highschool in Toronto, ON. He has been a part of the Canadian Youth Leadership Council since 2010 and has loved every minute of it! The opportunities have been ones of a lifetime, the people he’s met have been extraordinary, and the experiences he’s been a part of have been unforgettable. He is immensely passionate about the core pillars of the Roots & Shoots program, and holds a firm belief that youth have the capacity to make a difference in the world. He is currently a second year Health Sciences student at the University of Western Ontario, and hopes to pursue a career in the health field where he can continue to help others. He feels very excited to return to the Youth Leadership Council this year, and have the opportunity to work with such a talented and diverse group of young Canadian leaders! |
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Bella Zimbalatti became involved with the Roots & Shoots program when she attended the 2009 Youth 4 Action Conference, focused on water conservation in Canada. Since then, Bella has been a Roots & Shoots member, taking action with the Project Blue and Planet Relief campaigns. As a caring, thoughtful individual, Bella is deeply committed to the natural environment and her local and global community. Equally comfortable in a garden, classroom, community gathering, or wild natural area, her attitude as an open-minded life-long learner enables her to take every opportunity to be inspired by others and the environment. In turn, Bella is interested in giving back to her community with Roots & Shoots, through service, compassion, and respect. Bella is spending the summer working in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, ON and is excited to begin working with this year’s YLC! |
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Breanne O’Grady is currently in her third year of Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo, ON. She has been involved in various campus organizations and committees ranging from charity work and sustainability in the environment to engineering volunteer committees such as directorships through Orientation Week as well as her participation in the Engineering Student Society. Her main interest is in sustainable housing and green energy, but she is also perusing other interests in wetland restoration and ground water modeling. Although Breanne is new to the Roots & Shoots program, she has always been interested in environmental concerns which she has showed through her participation in various conferences and activist groups. Breanne also enjoys figure skating, cross country running and reading. |
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Brigitte Champaigne-Klassen is from Sudbury, ON and currently undertaking her first year of International Development and Globalization at the University of Ottawa. In the past summers she has been on a leadership expedition with Outward Bound on the Missinabi River as well as traveled to Bhutan to partake in a cultural learning experience and do some volunteer work in the community. For several years, Brigitte has also helped produce Earthdancers, a youth led non-profit organization that raises funds for local and national environmental groups. She enjoys playing the cello and she is very passionate about the environment. She is super excited about becoming involved in the YLC! |
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Brooke Atkinson is in her second year in the Global Stewardship Program at Capilano University in North Vancouver, BC. Brooke has been active with Roots & Shoots for many years, and most recently flew peace doves at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Peace Day. She has attended two United Nations International Childrens’ Conferences on the Environment, and has initiated many letter writing campaigns about protecting habitat and taking strong action on climate change. Her most recent campaign “Hope and Action for Copenhagen” encouraged hundreds of students to write letters to Prime Minister Harper about the need for Canada to be a leader on climate change. She also attended the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan in 2010 with fellow YLC member Shailyn Drukis. They represented the Jane Goodall Institute and Canadian youth, and made CBD history by having youth recognized as an official stakeholder. Brooke is looking forward to sharing ideas and making positive changes with other Roots & Shoots groups this year. |
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Camila Moya is a second year student at McGill University, in Montreal, QC where she is studying International Development, Hispanic Studies and Environment. Four years ago Camila came to Canada from the Dominican Republic where she has lived her whole life. Camila has always worked on campaigns to raise awareness on protecting the environment and being socially responsible, and she would like to combine her love for these issues to be an international advocate. She has attended many environmental conferences, and has promoted sustainability in her school. She was part of the green living community at her residence at McGill and now with Shailyn, will be representing Roots & Shoots Canada on the US YLC. Camila is super excited about being part of the YLC and to be an ambassador for Roots & Shoots for another term! |
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Chelsea Raymond is new to Roots & Shoot and is currently in her second year at the University of Waterloo, ON for Environment and Resource Studies. Chelsea is very passionate about the environment and believes humans have the power to initiate positive change for the environment. She is interested in conservation and wishes to have a greater positive impact in her community. Chelsea has been volunteering with her local Field Naturalists club to help educate children about nature. Chelsea enjoys camping, reading and cooking. |
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Izzy Hirji is currently in his 2nd year of the Veterinary Medicine program at the University of Guelph, ON. He has been actively involved in campus organizations to do with the environment, social justice, animal welfare, politics and faith groups. He was also the program coordinator of a student-run volunteer centre and is a strong proponent of activism and volunteerism in its many different facets and forms. He volunteers at Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada, and many other community organizations. He has also travelled abroad to volunteer with international conservation-based organizations. He is extremely passionate about environmental conservation from a holistic perspective, and is working towards becoming a veterinarian in the field of great ape conservation. In his spare time, he is a photographer, an avid cyclist and loves to read and be surrounded by nature (especially tropical jungles)! |
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Jade Belzberg is in her third year at Western Washington University's Fairhaven College, studying zoology. She has been passionate about animal welfare and conservation since childhood, volunteering and fundraising for her local S.P.C.A. She was introduced to Roots & Shoots at age 13, where she presented two workshops at the 'Breaking Down the Walls' Youth Festival in Victoria, BC. She was also honored to present the closing address of the festival with Simon Jackson, founder of the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition. Since then, Jade has started her own Roots & Shoots group. She has a great love for travel and was invited to join National Geographic's student expeditions to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, where she studied ecology. Jade loves gardening, raising her various animals, reading, yoga and going on adventures. She is honored to be a part of this year's YLC. |
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Jane Su is a Grade 11 student at the University of Toronto Schools in Toronto, ON. She has been a member of the Roots & Shoots chapter at UTS since entering Grade 7 and currently serves as an Exec. From writing postcards to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to participating in local Envirothon competitions, Jane has always been passionate about environmental and humanitarian issues. She takes part in the Southern Ontario Model United Nations each year to discuss these critical issues. She also has an interest in urban planning and helps lead Jane`s Walks with her fellow classmates each year in honour of Jane Jacobs. At school, Jane strives to be involved with a variety of extracurriculars from playing on the basketball team to working on Nuit Blanche Art projects. In her free time she likes to volunteer at her local library, read and paint landscapes. She plans to pursue a career in the medical field. Jane can't wait to work with other YLC members to come up with fantastic projects in the year ahead. |
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Katie O’Connell has had the pleasure of being on the YLC for the past two years. Through her involvement with Roots & Shoots she has been given many amazing opportunities, from creating giant peace doves to celebrate International Peace Day to travelling to Churchill, MB to learn about polar bears and climate change with Polar Bears International. Katie is particularly interested in water and forest conservation, climate change, animal welfare and conservation biology. She has recently spent time in Brazil working in a tree nursery and planting trees to help reforest the Atlantic Rain Forest (the lesser known rain forest in Brazil). Katie looks forward to the 2011-2012 term with the YLC and hopes to include many of her interests and experiences in our national campaigns and projects. |
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Kelsey Dennison will be completing her final year at Rockridge Secondary School in West Vancouver, BC. She leads her high school's two time BC Green Games winning Environment Club. Composting and recycling programs that she has helped implement have reduced her school's waste by half, and a new experimental vegetable garden has inspired school curriculum changes that heavily incorporate sustainable ideas. This year, Kelsey secured $20,000 to support a project she initiated to have fifteen solar panels installed on her school's roof. Kelsey is working to expand the sustainability network and hopes to engage more of the public in local food issues. In her spare time, Kelsey enjoys writing for the online arts magazine she created, producing films, scuba diving, and studying the underwater life near her home. She is extremely excited to be part of this year's YLC, and is particularly interested in the Leading Light Initiative and Project Blue. Kelsey is looking forward to being an ambassador for Roots & Shoots in Western Canada, and to spreading its mission and core values to more young people. |
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Lauren Shanahan is a competitive freestyle snowboarder and student at the University of Calgary, AB majoring in Applied Mathematics. She is an adventurer at heart and has a sincere passion for the environment and for life. Lauren believes that connection is the root of compassion and hopes to encourage young people to identify with nature and become active global citizens. As a founder of Roots & Shoots: University of Calgary, Lauren established the Calgary edition of the Yoga Jam, a charity yoga series that benefits the Africa Yoga Project. Other ventures include charity races, youth mentoring, Peace Day celebrations, urban forestry analysis and food-court reform initiatives. Lauren is thrilled to be a new member of the Roots & Shoots YLC and is resolved to work tirelessly to create positive, holistic change. |
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Mélanie Smits has been involved with JGI through the Roots & Shoots Program for Aboriginal Youth, through which her group has already completed projects. She is a volunteer coordinator of an Aboriginal youth group in her home town of Sudbury, ON named the Niwapeten Npeten Youth Mentorship Circle. Mélanie is a francophone Métis and is a recent graduate from Laurentian University in Sudbury, with a double specialization of Native Studies and World Religions. She is attending a French teachers college in the fall of 2011 and intends to pursue a Masters degree after that. On her free time Mélanie plays the guitar, the fiddle, does crafts, loves to swim and canoe. She is very active in her Aboriginal community and loves to teach others about cultural knowledge. She is a board member of the French Students Association and the Métis representative on the Indigenous Student Circle at Laurentian University. She also partakes in many projects and volunteers through various activities of the Métis Nation of Ontario. |
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Olivia Bonham-Carter lives in Cambellcroft, ON and will be attending Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB for her first year in fall 2011. This is her second term as part of the Youth Leadership Council and she hopes she can become even more involved this term then the last. During the last two years while part of the YLC she focused her time on service learning projects and community service, and it has become part of her passion. Because of this and the support the YLC gave her, she was given the chance to go up north to Churchill, MB with Polar Bears International, an experience of a lifetime. Also, in March 2011 Olivia went to Uganda on a Roots & Shoots adventure. On this trip she was able to spend time with the amazing people, the interesting animals and the beautiful environment of Uganda. Olivia is ready and excited for everything the YLC has to offer in the year to come. |
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Shailyn Drukis is delighted to be continuing on the YLC for her third year, and is excited to work once again with the U.S National YLC as the Canadian Ambassador for another term. She is a second year student at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, ON pursuing a double major degree in Physical Geography and Environmental Studies. Last year she represented the JGI at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan and helped to secure a youth focal for the negotiation meetings at the 2012 convention in India. Shailyn spends a lot of time outside diligently working on her vegetable garden, going on bicycle trips, hiking the surrounding area and engaging in bird outings. Shailyn also volunteers at her local thrift store and helps out with the Young Naturalists program near her home. Through her dedication for protecting Canada’s biodiversity and being a global ambassador for the Roots & Shoots program, Shailyn was awarded an OCIC Global Changemaker award in 2010. |
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Victoria Wee was introduced to Roots & Shoots after hearing Dr. Jane Goodall speak at Free The Children’s We Day, Vancouver BC, in 2009. During her years in the I.B. program, Victoria discovered a love of combining the environmental sciences and physics, and plans to join them in her future studies. Highlights of her year include an Arctic expedition where she joined an international team of students, explorers, artists, scientists, and societal leaders, and being the youth reporter for the Canadian Environmental Network’s Civil Consultation in preparation for Earth Summit 2012. Her current initiatives include establishing a district online green newsletter and working with We Canada. |
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Our U.S. YLC Ambassador |
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Lauren Gibson is honored to represent the United States’ National Youth Leadership Council as the US Roots & Shoots Youth Ambassador to Canada. In her three years with Roots & Shoots, Lauren has founded Carmel Area Roots & Shoots (CAR&S) in her city in Indiana, led CAR&S to establish the Carmel Green Teen Micro-Grant Program, and been a part of regional, national, and international environmental councils and campaigns. When she is not working on Roots & Shoots projects, Lauren can be found running track and cross country, volunteering at the Indianapolis Zoo, traveling, playing piano, and spending time with friends and family. She has a passion for environmental activism and aspires to study how climate change is affecting polar bear populations when she gets older. Lauren cannot wait to work with the council again this year to help connect Roots & Shoots initiatives across borders. |
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Roots & Shoots in Action 
Members' Corner 
