Engaging Young People

Drawing on interviews with former Educate, Motivate Innovate Initiative student panelists, we will share 
insights on both how to engage young people and how young people participate in environmental 
justice. 
Listening to all voices of a community is a central value of environmental justice. The Educate, Motivate, 
Innovate Initiative is an opportunity for our next generation of environmental justice leaders to engage 
with environmental elders and activists as well as influential members of academia, government and 
non-governmental organizations. Previous participants expressed these connections are not always 
valued by young people. 
Kareem Heshmat said, young people don't value civic engagement.
These participants all express an appreciation for learning from the community. The EMI Initiative does 
not only establish connections between young students and elders, it encourages the deepening of 
local, community connections. Research projects come from local work and observation. Previous 
participant, Ashley Logan, shared how she came to her research topic. 
(Ashley) Me Growing up in a poverty area, I could understand what she was saying, when you go to 
the grocery store there's no fresh food.
The Challenge pushes students to elevate their involvement by creating professional, visible 
partnerships through the research project. Kareem said, 
(Kareem) I first became interested in this by living in different areas in Baltimore, West End in Atlanta, 
Phoenix, San Antonio, and Houston. I began to notice the same endemic indicators of poverty related 
to infrastructure like low quality housing, pollution, bulk dumping, lack of ownership in the 
community.  
The EMI Initiative helps students to start making connections between their academic studies to 
professional settings. Through the Educate, Motivate, Innovate Challenge, students are encouraged to 
engage with their communities, hone their local knowledge, and participate in the environmental justice 
movement in meaningful ways. Engaging in community and in partnerships helps strengthen 
environmental justice across generations, backgrounds, and organizations.