The 2025 Future Green Leaders Summit recently brought together over 500 middle school students in San Bernardino to engage with critical environmental issues and envision sustainable solutions. Participants designed fire-resistant homes using AI, explored careers supporting the climate and environment, and witnessed an energetic “Energy Battle Royale” featuring superheroes representing various energy sources like “Wind” and “Solar.” This urgent initiative, organized by the Southern California Regional Energy Network, seeks to spark early interest in green fields among diverse youth.

A significant and urgent challenge facing the green economy is its lack of diversity. Organizers of the summit explicitly aimed to confront this stark disconnect: communities of color and low-income households, which are disproportionately vulnerable to the escalating effects of rising global temperatures, pollution, and resource scarcity, are severely underrepresented in green industries. Data reveals that the U.S. solar workforce, for example, is 73% white and 70% male, starkly contrasting the overall workforce demographics, according to the International Renewable Energy Council’s Solar Jobs Census. This imbalance makes it difficult for children to envision themselves in these crucial careers if they do not see people who resemble them.

The summit specifically targeted middle school students because, as Wendy Angel, Southern California regional director for Emerald Cities, noted, “Kids, once they entered into high school, they have already made up their minds career-wise, and a lot of them are not going into STEM, especially females.” Lujuanna Medina, environmental initiatives division manager for L.A. County, conceived the event four years ago, emphasizing the need to “reach them early on, before they reach high school.” The fair was meticulously designed to make sustainability relatable, integrating live entertainment, hands-on workshops, and a career expo, explained Ben Stapleton, executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council.

This proactive approach is critically important given recent research highlighting that widespread fear for the planet's future is severely impacting young people's mental health, often leaving them feeling powerless. A host of recent research indicates this growing crisis. Stapleton emphasized that a vital solution is to demystify complex concepts like “climate change” into tangible components. “When you give kids those tools, they create the change and they understand that ‘I can be a part of this,’” he stated, underscoring the urgency of empowering youth now.

Workshops at the summit allowed students to actively participate, from designing wildfire-resilient homes with Marcela Oliva, a professor at Los Angeles Trade-Tech College, to brainstorming solutions for plastic waste and deforestation. Maximilian Valdovinos, 12, from San Bernardino, even shifted his career focus from mechanic to waste management after attending. Emily Zamora, 13, reflected on the sparse tree cover in her San Bernardino neighborhood, noting, “There’s very few trees where I live, and some of them are dead,” realizing the direct impact on her health. While not every student is expected to immediately pursue a green career, organizers agree that the primary goal is to plant a crucial seed for future engagement and action.