MISsion and Values
Our Mission
Arizona Youth Climate Coalition is a collaborative, youth-led organization fighting for climate justice across the Grand Canyon State. Through a combination of tactics ranging from direct action, mutual aid, civic engagement, education, and more, we are building a movement of young people from middle school to undergraduate college-AGE to fight the climate crisis and the systems that created it. There can be no climate justice without racial, economic, and social justice; solutions to the climate crisis will be community-driven and accessible, not privatized or for profit.
Our Values
1
We recognize that the climate crisis is the result of ongoing institutionalized power structures that disvalue both people and the environment, putting them at a disadvantage and perpetuating injustice. As youth, we will work to address the exploitative nature of these structures, such as racism, sexism, capitalism, colonialism, imperialism, and fascism, and use this understanding to work towards systemic change.
2
We value working as a team to create meaningful action that fights the climate crisis and all issues connecting to it. We wish to support the protection of natural biodiversity, the liberation of people in unsustainable and dangerous industries, and the cleaner, healthier futures of young people like us whose planet is in danger.
3
We recognize the intersectionality of the climate crisis and the need to pursue climate justice. Climate solutions only work if they prioritize workers, people of color, and all people on the frontlines of this crisis.
4
We fight for the land, earth, and waters we rely on as we strive to protect our shared home. We recognize that the land we are on was stolen from indigenous peoples. There is no climate justice without justice for indigenous peoples.
5
We are a youth-led, grassroots organization fighting for our right to a livable future. This space welcomes and centers the experiences of youth in frontline communities (Black, indigenous, people of color, (BIPOC), LGBTQ+, and more). We recognize that many communities are already resisting the harmful results of the climate crisis.
We collaborate with and support all other movements for social justice. There is no such thing as a single issue struggle.
6
We meet people where they are and let them contribute what they can. Our goal is to bring people from all backgrounds and places into the movement and create a space that is accessible to all.
7
We believe strongly in the power of democracy and strive to remain as horizontal in our organizing as possible.
8
We take care of ourselves, one another, and our community. We are focused on healing, educating, and organizing.
9
We practice solidarity, not charity. This is a space meant to empower youth of historically silenced backgrounds. Those with privilege should use it to provide resources to frontline communities in the fight for climate justice.
10
We are not perfect and do not know all the answers. As a collective movement, we know that we must constantly learn from each other, the community, and older generations of Black, indigenous, peoples of color in order to grow.
