Youth Organizing TEam

High Schoolers Fighting for Climate Action

Youth Organizing Program

The 350NH Youth Organizing Program brings students together from across New Hampshire to build grassroots power and develop solutions to the climate crisis. The program builds a collaborative community, and participants gain the leadership and organizing skills needed to run strategic campaigns in order to make their voices heard in the climate movement. The Youth Team is run by six high school student leaders with support from a 350NH staff member. 

350 New Hampshire’s Youth Team helps us reach our vision of climate justice in the state, by organizing around 350NH’s campaigns to prevent new fossil fuel infrastructure, train community leaders, and pressure elected officials to champion bold solutions to the climate crisis.

Youth organizers are paving

the way for a better future

Young people will be the hardest hit by the climate crisis. Every day we wait to transition to 100% renewable energy the climate crisis intensifies. Today’s youth will be the first responders to climate catastrophes. They will be the farmers feeding our world amidst sporadic growing seasons and erratic weather and the politicians navigating the displacement of millions of people from coastal communities. They will be the climate refugees across the world, relocating because of climate catastrophes.

Young people are essential in bringing key decision makers to our side by swaying them through a narrative that connects policy to peoples’ lives. They are armed with powerful stories about how the climate crisis will impact their future if decision makers don’t act now. 350NH provides youth with a baseline knowledge of climate science and training on how to deliver persuasive testimony so that they can be powerful actors pushing for climate action.

JOIN OUR YOUTH TEAM!

Interested in promoting
climate justice in your school?

350NH supports Youth Fellows with the following:

  • Mentorship: 350NH staff will mentor student leaders with one on one check ins, organizing toolkits, and skills based trainings.

  • Resources: 350NH will provide student leaders with stipends, supplies and swag to bring new students into the climate movement.

  • Tools: 350NH will give student leaders access to digital organizing tools and organizational infrastructure to turn online supporters into offline organizers and to maintain momentum over summer breaks and luls between large mobilizations.

  • Community Service Hours: Come volunteer with 350NH’s Youth Team and count them towards your community service hours for school, honor society, or other activities! 

What we’ve accomplished

From September 20-27th, a record 7.6 million people took to the streets to strike for climate action in the biggest climate mobilization in history. In New Hampshire, over 2,000 people joined a climate strike in Portsmouth, Manchester, Durham, Plymouth, Bethlehem, Concord, Nashua, Conway, and more. Youth from across the state stood in front of crowds and talked about why they skipped school to join a climate strike. 

Since 2019, the 350NH Youth Organizing Team stormed the NH State House to demand an end to the Granite Bridge pipeline proposal, spoke on the Radio on Earth day 2020, led information sessions, called out state legislatures, stopped the asphalt plant proposal in Nashua, hung banners, and spoke at countless climate strikes, rallies, and actions.

OUR CAMPAIGNS

No Asphalt Plant In Nashua

In the fall of 2022, one of our Nashua youth team members heard that the Newport Construction Company wanted to build an asphalt plant in downtown Nashua, adjacent to a preschool. RED FLAG! Our youth team realized this is an environmental justice issue and got to work to stop the plant. The youth team put flyers up around Nashua, made “stop the asphalt plant” stickers and lawn signs, held rallies, and spoke at planning board meetings alongside Nashua residents and advocacy groups. We WON! In 2023 the planning board voted NO on the asphalt plant proposal. In the summer of 2024, Newport Construction DROPPED the project! We did it!

Climate literacy for all

Following several forums and meetings, our youth team identified an important issue: the lack of climate education in New Hampshire schools. Our youth team co-wrote a house resolution, which later became HR 30, that stated the need for robust climate literacy in our high schools, including topics such as agriculture, climate impact on economies, renewable energy, and green jobs. We presented this information to school boards across New Hampshire, held information sessions, and creating teaching materials for students (and legislators) to learn more. The youth team is currently working on next steps for this issue.

Sign up for our annual retreat

THE 350NH ANNUAL YOUTH RETREAT IS A STUDENT-RUN LEADERSHIP AND

ORGANIZING RETREAT FOR HIGH SCHOOLERS ACROSS NH!

 FAQs

  • We work to make sure the climate crisis is being addressed by our peers and elected officials. It is a casual, fun environment where students get a chance to connect with other high school students across the state who are passionate about climate and activism and make real change at the ground level.

  • For years, the youth have always played a vital role in building the climate movement. Now more than ever before, the youth have spearheaded the conversation to save our futures. From Xiye Bastida Patrick in New York to Greta Thunberg in Sweden, the youth around this world have risen up to the challenge and taken control of the narrative.

    We are doing the same here in New Hampshire.

    In August 2019, 350 New Hampshire held its first ever Peace of Mind retreat. 11 youth activists across NH came to the World Fellowship Center to launch the 350 New Hampshire Youth Program.

  • The Youth Team plans actions, like letter deliveries to legislators at the state house, rallies, climate strikes, banner drops, and other creative actions! They also hold training opportunities, host retreats, and build relationships to fight for climate action.

  • In 2019-2020 the Youth Team was instrumental in stopping the Granite Bridge pipeline. They put stickers up in their neighborhoods, dropped a banner over a highway, and delivered a fire extinguisher to legislators to call for them to stop supporting the pipeline.

    In 2021-2022 they hosted actions to promote clean energy an call on banks to stop funding fossil fuels.

    In 2023 they stopped the asphalt plant proposal in Nashua by putting up flyers, getting local businesses to support their efforts, holding rallies, and attending planning board meetings.

    In 2023-2024 they have been fighting for better climate education in their schools by holding forums, submitting legislation, hosting teach-ins, and going to school board meetings.