An Nguyen / 5-Minute Read / Amplifying Diverse Voices
The Everyday Environmentalist Campaign
Celebrating our unique interests and identities. All day. Every day.
In Collaboration with Naked Frankie
In honor of Earth Month, we teamed up with our friends at Naked Frankie, a bath and body refill shop, to dismantle environmental gatekeeping and celebrate the unique interests, hobbies, and identities of “Everyday Environmentalists”.
We recognize that there is no one way to be an environmentalist. You don’t have to be completely zero-waste or never drive a gas-powered car, because the progress of many is more valuable than the perfection of a few, especially in the fight against the climate crisis. Anyone who pushes for a just and equitable future for both people and the planet is an environmentalist.
By celebrating diverse voices, we hope to break down the one-dimensional stereotype of the typical environmentalist and share the stories of multifaceted humans that demonstrate how everyone can be an #EverydayEnvironmentalist.
Check out our Everyday Environmentalist Campaign Video!
Featuring Sydney Cheung, Jennifer Zhao, and Kristen Soares, and Gia Chinchilla
Directed by Alondra Orn
Produced by Diana Nguyen
Script Written by An Nguyen
Meet the #EverydayEnvironmentalists
Sydney Cheung
Environmental Justice Advocate
Sydney Cheung is a Chinese-American environmentalist that advocates for environmental justice, veganism, sustainable fashion, and everything in-between! She believes the future of environmentalism will include diverse voices, especially those from marginalized groups. Having studied environmental science and policy in college, her goal is to make environmental education accessible and fun for all. She is also a Virgo that loves boba, noodles, and spicy foods. In her spare time, she loves trying out new vegan recipes, drawing on her iPad, sewing clothes, and testing out new makeup looks.
Jennifer Zhao
CEO of Naked Frankie
Jennifer’s relationship with environmental conservation has been an evolving journey that continues to grow. Over time, she started to look at environmentalism with an intersectional lens - how pollution, toxic waste, and climate change most often adversely affect the communities that she identified with and hoped to serve. This led her to create Naked Frankie, a company deeply rooted in sustainable practices that aims to reduce packaging waste by championing reusables as the way of the future.
Kristen Soares
UCLA Environmental Science Major
Kristen is a fourth-year Environmental Science major at UCLA with minors in Environmental Systems and Society, and Public Affairs. They are a queer, disabled woman of color with a passion for environmental and climate justice, aiming to make a change through climate equity policy, research, and advocacy. She loves painting, singing, and expressing herself through fashion, and finds joy in green tea, qualitative data, and fighting bigots!
Gia Chinchilla
Founder and Senior Cleantech Consultant
Gia is an Everyday Environmentalist, cleantech consultant, and creative based in Los Angeles, CA. She is driven by the simple question: how can we create systems that sustain our well-being? Gia has leveraged her experience in interpersonal communication and design as Founder of Climate Action LAb by connecting folks with the environmental movement in an approachable manner. Her activism has been featured at the United Nations Youth Climate Summit and the TEDx stage.