Sophia Kianni Explained

Sophia Kianni
Birth Date:13 December 2001
Nationality:American
Occupation:social entrepreneur, activist, public speaker
Organization:Climate Cardinals, United Nations
Awards:Forbes 30 under 30
Vice Human of the Year
Teen Vogue 21 under 21
BBC 100 Women
Alma Mater:Stanford University

Sophia Kianni (born December 13, 2001) is an Iranian-American social entrepreneur and climate activist. She is the founder and president of Climate Cardinals, a nonprofit offering climate change information in multiple languages, serves on the EPA's National Youth Advisory Council, and as an advisor to the United Nations. She is the youngest United Nations advisor in US history.[1] [2]

Activism

Kianni became interested in climate activism while in middle school in Tehran when one night the stars were obscured by smog. Kianni described it as "a signal that our world is heating up at a terrifying pace." She later joined Greta Thunberg's group, Fridays for Future, and took time off from school to support action on climate change. She also helped organize the 2019 Black Friday climate strike. In 2019, she became a national strategist for Fridays for Future and national partnerships coordinator for Zero Hour.[3]

In November 2019, Kianni skipped school to join a group of protesters organized by Extinction Rebellion who intended to stage a week-long hunger strike and sit-in at the Washington, D.C., office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, demanding that she speak with them for an hour on camera about climate change.[4] Locally, there were roughly a dozen participants; at 17 years old, Kianni was the youngest, and one of two women.[5] [6] Kianni was not a member of XR, and only participated in the first day of the sit-in, but gave a prepared speech and interviews to the press, and continued the hunger strike remotely.[5] [7] Kianni wrote about her participation in the protest for Teen Vogue,[8] and in 2020 acted as an XR DC spokesperson.[9] [10]

In 2020, Kianni's physical activism was curtailed by the school closing and social distancing requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic, and her scheduled speaking engagements at colleges including Stanford University, Princeton University and Duke University were delayed.[11] [12] Kianni was able to continue her activism remotely with her talk at Michigan Technological University.[13] In addition, Kianni decided to accelerate development of a planned website, Climate Cardinals, that would translate climate change information into different languages.[11] In July 2020, Kianni was named by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to his new Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, a group of seven young climate leaders to advise him on action for the climate crisis.[14] [15] Kianni was the youngest in the group, which ranged from 18 to 28 years old.[16] She was the only one representing the United States, and also the only one representing the Middle East and Iran.[17]

In September 2021, Kianni was one of 4 co-chairs of the Youth4Climate event in Milan, preliminary to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP26.[18] [19] Climate Cardinals translated the resulting Youth4Climate manifesto into the 6 official languages of the United Nations.[20] At COP26 itself, in November 2021 in Glasgow, Kianni spoke at several panels, and met with António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.[21] In October 2022, Kianni was covered by Vogue Arabia for representing the UN and speaking at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.[22] At COP28, Kianni announced her We Wear Oil campaign, designed to draw attention to the contribution of fossil fuels used in fashion to the climate crisis.[23] Images of her doused in apparent petroleum appeared in Women's Wear Daily and Vogue Arabia.[24] [25]

In 2023 she joined the board of directors of the Museum for the United Nations - UN Live, and was one of 16 appointed by Michael S. Regan to the first ever Environmental Protection Agency National Environmental Youth Advisory Council (NEYAC).[26] [27]

Writing and speaking

Kianni wrote a 2019 article for Teen Vogue about the Pelosi office hunger strike.[8] In 2020, she wrote two articles about the effects of the coronavirus, for the Middle East edition of Cosmopolitan magazine about the effects on her extended family's celebration of Nowruz,[28] and another for Refinery29 about the effects on her daily schedule as a climate activist, which was widely syndicated.[29] She wrote an article for MTV News for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, which she helped coordinate,[30] and another in 2022 for The Washington Post about how she lives sustainably in college. In 2023, she partnered with Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate to write a CNN editorial calling US President Joe Biden's endorsement of the Alaskan oil drilling Willow project a betrayal.[31] [32]

In 2021, Kianni began hosting a podcast for The New Fashion Initiative, interviewing experts involved in the fashion industry about addressing climate change.[33]

Kianni has spoken at several conferences around the world, including Web Summit, the 2022 Arch Summit, Washington Post Live, BBYO Insider, Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, New York Times Events' Climate Hub, and TED Countdown.

Climate Cardinals

Climate Cardinals is an international youth-led non-profit organization founded by Kianni in 2020 to offer information about climate change in every language. It was named for the northern cardinal, the state bird of Virginia, and a metaphor for information flying around the world.[11] Kianni was inspired by the years she spent translating English-language climate change articles into Persian for her Iranian relatives, as Iranian media barely covered the subject.[11] She says she noticed informational content about climate change is either available only in English, or at best in Chinese and Spanish, making them inaccessible to speakers of other languages.

Climate Cardinals was launched in May 2020, and had 1100 volunteers sign up to become translators on its first day.[34] They also partnered with Radio Javan, an Iranian language radio with over 10 million followers, to share graphics and translations with Iranians.[35] Climate Cardinals is sponsored by the International Student Environmental Coalition as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which allows students who participate in its translations to earn community service hours for their work, either fulfilling school requirements or improving college applications.[36] By August 2020, the group had over 5,000 volunteers, with an average age of 16.[37] By December 2020, it had 8,000 volunteers and partnerships with UNICEF and Translators Without Borders. The organization has reached over 350,000 people with over 750,000 words of climate information translated.

In 2023, Climate Cardinals partnered with the Google Cloud AI-powered Translation Hub to translate 800,000 words into 40 languages, which Kianni says is as much output in three months as in the previous two years.[38]

In 2024, Google.org donated $400,000 to Climate Cardinals, one of its first rounds of funding for a youth-led climate organization.[39]

Recognition

In December 2020, Kianni was named one of Vice magazine's Motherboard 20 Humans of 2020, for being the U.S. representative for United Nations Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change and starting Climate Cardinals.[40] [41] [42] In December 2021, Kianni was named one of Teen Vogues "21 under 21" for her climate activism.[43] In November 2022, she was named one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 for Climate Activism for 2023.[2] Business Insider named her one of the "Climate Action 30" global leaders working toward climate solutions.[44] In November 2023, Kianni was named to the BBC's 100 Women list (one of the world's inspiring and influential women).[45]

Personal life

Kianni lives with her mother, father, younger sister, and two pet lovebirds, in McLean, Virginia.[46] [12] She studied at Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Middle School, where her team won the statewide Science Olympiad,[47] and at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, where she was a National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalist.[48] After graduating from high school in 2020, she attended Indiana University. She transferred to Stanford University in 2021, where she is majoring in Science, Technology, & Society and studies climate science and health policy.[49] [50] [51]

Kianni received extensive media attention as an example of a teenager reacting to the social distancing measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic: CNN, Time magazine, and The Washington Post wrote about how she and her friends were moving personal interaction and even their physically cancelled senior prom to Zoom video chats and TikTok videos.[52] [53]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: UNA-USA Advisor . . 13 May 2024.
  2. News: Peluso . Olivia . Bosilovski . Igor . Sophia Kianni . 4 December 2022 . . 29 November 2022 . en.
  3. News: Nayak . Anika . Best Sustainable Gift Ideas for Your Environmentally-Conscious Friends . April 21, 2020 . . December 20, 2019 . en . September 28, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200928191044/https://www.teenvogue.com/story/sustainable-gift-ideas-2019 . live .
  4. News: Will . K. Sophie . Extinction Rebellion aims to turn up political heat with hunger strikes . April 21, 2020 . . November 21, 2019 . en . March 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200305005239/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-protests/extinction-rebellion-aims-to-turn-up-political-heat-with-hunger-strikes-idUSKBN1XU25Y . live .
  5. News: Felton. Lena. November 18, 2019. Meet the 17-year-old climate activist who skipped school to hunger strike at the Capitol. The Lily. April 21, 2020. April 18, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200418052112/https://www.thelily.com/meet-the-17-year-old-climate-activist-who-skipped-school-to-hunger-strike-at-the-capitol/. live.
  6. News: Holden . Emily . Hunger strikers target Pelosi in push for Democrats to take action on climate crisis . April 21, 2020 . . November 18, 2019 . April 20, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200420085538/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/18/climate-crisis-activists-protest-democrats-inaction-hunger-strike . live .
  7. Web site: No Food No Future: Hunger Strike for Climate Action . The Years Project . April 22, 2020 . en . March 2, 2020 . Sophia went for days without food . April 16, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210416154921/https://www.facebook.com/YearsOfLiving/videos/no-food-no-future-hunger-strike-for-climate-action/857182401412352/ . live .
  8. News: Kianni . Sophia . Why I Went on Hunger Strike at Nancy Pelosi's Office . April 21, 2020 . . December 11, 2019 . en . April 22, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200422002615/https://www.teenvogue.com/story/extinction-rebellion-hunger-strike . live .
  9. Web site: Mosher . Eve . Extinction Rebellion Congratulates Oscar Winner and Collaborator Joaquin Phoenix . Extinction Rebellion NYC . April 21, 2020 . February 10, 2020 . July 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200701233430/https://www.xrebellion.nyc/news/extinction-rebellion-congratulates-oscar-winner-and-collaborator-joaquin-phoenix . live .
  10. Web site: Monllos . Kristina . How Extinction Rebellion is using social media and marketing to grow a movement . . April 21, 2020 . March 18, 2020 . March 31, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200331094921/https://digiday.com/marketing/extinction-rebellion-using-social-media-marketing-grow-movement/ . live .
  11. News: Natanson . Hannah . Their schools and streets empty, teen climate activists find new ways to strike . April 21, 2020 . Washington Post . April 10, 2020 . en . June 21, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200621082634/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teen-climate-activists-coronavirus-strike/2020/04/10/521a0e5a-7448-11ea-85cb-8670579b863d_story.html . live .
  12. Web site: Malinsky . Gili . Less Taco Bell, more investing: How a high school senior is learning about money while at home . . April 21, 2020 . en . April 1, 2020 . April 6, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200406081050/https://grow.acorns.com/financial-lessons-for-high-school-students/ . live .
  13. News: Christensen . Kelley . Michigan Tech virtual World Water Day . April 21, 2020 . . March 19, 2020 . April 16, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210416154922/https://www.mininggazette.com/news/local-news/2020/03/michigan-tech-virtual-world-water-day/ . live .
  14. Web site: Blazhevska . Vesna . Young leaders tapped to invigorate UN's climate action plans, hold leaders to account . United Nations Sustainable Development . 6 August 2020 . July 27, 2020 . August 10, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200810091035/https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2020/07/young-leaders-tapped-to-invigorate-uns-climate-action-plans-hold-leaders-to-account/ . live .
  15. News: Lavietes . Matthew . 'Bold leadership': Seven young climate activists to have a say in UN . 6 August 2020 . . 28 July 2020 . en . July 30, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200730135324/https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/bold-leadership-seven-young-climate-activists-to-have-a-say-in-un-20200728-p55ga4.html . live .
  16. News: Hobbs . Joe . First Person: Turning 'apathetic people into climate activists'; a young person's view . 6 August 2020 . UN News . 3 August 2020 . en . August 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200805211142/https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/08/1069402 . live .
  17. News: Gibson . Francesca . Meet Sophia Kianni, the Irani-American climate activist who is trying to change the world . 23 December 2020 . Cosmopolitan Middle East . Sep 28, 2020 . October 2, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201002220650/https://www.cosmopolitanme.com/life/climate-change-activist-sophia-kianni . live .
  18. Web site: Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition - Youth4Climate Manifesto released. Ministero della Transizione Ecologica . 18 November 2021.
  19. News: Spolini . Nicoletta . Youth4Climate: dopo l'evento di Milano tutti in piazza con Greta Thunberg e Vanessa Nakate . 18 November 2021 . Vogue Italia . 1 October 2021 . it-IT.
  20. Web site: Cop26, i key messages della "Youth4Climate" tradotti in sei lingue . Bio Pianeta . 18 November 2021 . it-IT . 9 November 2021.
  21. News: Hartley . Eve . Young activists call Glasgow climate conference 'last chance for humanity' . 18 November 2021 . . en-CA.
  22. Web site: 2022-10-31 . Meet Sophia Kianni, the Iranian-American Climate Activist Representing the Middle East at Cop27 in Egypt . 2023-03-11 . Vogue Arabia . en-GB.
  23. Web site: Campaign Report 2023 . Fossil Fashion Campaign . 6 May 2024.
  24. News: Richford . Rhonda . Sophia Kianni Launches ‘We Wear Oil’ Campaign . 6 May 2024 . . 6 December 2023.
  25. News: Firth . Livia . Iranian-American Climate Activist Sophia Kianni’s Fossil Fuel Fashion Campaign Is Starting a Social Media Revolution . 6 May 2024 . . 5 December 2023.
  26. News: Woolsey . Angela . McLean native among youths chosen to help guide federal environmental policies FFXnow . 6 May 2024 . FFXnow Fairfax County, Va. breaking news and local happenings . 22 November 2023 . en.
  27. Web site: EPA Administrator Regan Announces Members of First-Ever National Environmental Youth Advisory Council . www.epa.gov . 6 May 2024 . en . 16 November 2023.
  28. News: Kianni . Sophia . How coronavirus has affected my celebration of Nowruz . April 21, 2020 . Cosmopolitan Middle East . March 29, 2020 . en . March 31, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200331180514/https://www.cosmopolitanme.com/life/how-coronavirus-has-affected-my-celebration-of-nowruz . live .
  29. Web site: Kianni . Sophia . What It's Really Like To Be A Climate Change Activist In Quarantine . . April 22, 2020 . en . April 22, 2020 . April 25, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200425181600/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/04/9700125/climate-change-activist-diary-sophia-kianni . live . Also available as Web site: Kianni . Sophia . What It's Really Like To Be A Climate Change Activist In Quarantine . . April 22, 2020 . April 22, 2020 . April 24, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200424100257/https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/really-climate-change-activist-during-140019964.html . live . and Web site: Kianni . Sophia . What It's Really Like To Be A Climate Change Activist During Coronavirus . . May 5, 2020 . April 22, 2020 . July 3, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200703080429/https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/what-it-s-really-like-to-be-a-climate-change-activist-during-coronavirus/ar-BB132KdK . live .
  30. News: Kianni . Sophia . Earth Day Has Passed. Now What? . May 5, 2020 . . April 30, 2020 . May 6, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200506134136/http://www.mtv.com/news/3164918/earth-day-is-over-now-what/ . dead .
  31. News: Kianni . Sophia . Thunberg . Greta . Nakate . Vanessa . Opinion: Biden betrays our generation by greenlighting the Willow Project . 29 June 2023 . . 7 April 2023 . en.
  32. News: Halliday . Ellen . Sophia Kianni: Countries must put their money where their mouth is . 29 June 2023 . . June 14, 2023 . en.
  33. News: Kutz . Cat . Garcia . Olivia . Meet Sophia Kianni: Young Climate Change Changemaker . 7 June 2021 . . March 23, 2021 . en.
  34. Web site: Kart . Jeff . Climate Cardinals Website Enlists Students To Translate Climate Change Information, Earn Community Service Hours . Forbes . May 31, 2020 . en . May 26, 2020 . May 28, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200528000840/https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkart/2020/05/26/climate-cardinals-website-enlists-students-to-translate-climate-change-information-earn-community-service-hours/#7c2658a88c72 . live .
  35. Web site: Iannaccone . Stefano . La storia di Sophia Kianni, la nuova Greta dei due Continenti . Impakter.it . 6 August 2020 . it . August 5, 2020 . September 25, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200925030258/https://www.impakter.it/la-storia-di-sophia-kianni-la-nuova-greta-dei-due-continenti/ . live .
  36. Web site: Youth Activist Uses Quarantine To Start Nonprofit That Translates Climate Change Information From English To Other Languages. Kart. Jeff. Forbes. en. May 19, 2020. May 12, 2020. May 18, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200518155620/https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkart/2020/05/12/youth-activist-uses-quarantine-to-start-nonprofit-that-translates-climate-change-information-from-english-to-other-languages/. dead.
  37. News: Loiero . Alessandra . La consapevolezza di Sophia Kianni: i giovani attivisti e l'aiuto all'ONU sul clima . La Voce di New York . it-IT. August 6, 2020. August 3, 2020.
  38. News: Turns . Anna . 'The change in pace is crazy': AI boosts climate information translation drive . 29 June 2023 . . 6 June 2023.
  39. News: Freedman . Andrew . Youth-led climate group gets a boost from Google's philanthropic arm . 6 May 2024 . . April 23, 2024.
  40. Web site: Ferreira . Becky . Motherboard Presents: Humans 2020 . . 23 December 2020 . en . December 4, 2020 . December 7, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201207191334/https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3v3my/motherboard-presents-humans-of-2020 . live .
  41. Web site: Humans2020 . . 23 December 2020 . en . December 24, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201224012512/https://www.vice.com/en/topic/humans2020 . live .
  42. Web site: Ferdowsi . Samir . The Activist Translating Climate Crisis Information Across the Globe . www.vice.com . 23 December 2020 . en . December 18, 2020 . December 22, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201222001812/https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k94dd/the-activist-translating-climate-crisis-information-across-the-globe . live .
  43. News: McMenamin . Lexi . Teen Vogue's 21 Under 21 2021: The Young People Shaping Tomorrow . 18 April 2022 . . 14 December 2021.
  44. News: Katzman . Lily . Hood . Julia . Climate Action 30: Top global leaders working toward climate solutions . 29 June 2023 . Business Insider.
  45. Web site: November 23, 2023 . BBC 100 Women 2023: Who is on the list this year? . 2023-11-24 . BBC News . en-GB.
  46. News: Andrews . Travis M. . We're all video chatting now. But some of us hate it. . April 21, 2020 . . March 30, 2020 . en . April 26, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200426202711/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/30/video-chat-zoom-skype-hangouts-hate-bad/ . live .
  47. News: Longfellow Science Olympiad team tops in Virginia . April 21, 2020 . InsideNoVa . April 22, 2016 . en.
  48. Web site: Two Hundred Thirty-Seven Students Named 2020 National Merit Semifinalists . . April 21, 2020 . September 17, 2019 . March 9, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200309214812/https://www.fcps.edu/news/two-hundred-thirty-seven-students-named-2020-national-merit-semifinalists . live .
  49. News: Davis . Dominic-Madori . This 19-year-old climate advisor who started her own nonprofit and worked on Greta Thunberg's youth strikes spends her days meeting UN officials and grabbing pizza with friends . 7 June 2021 . . June 6, 2021.
  50. News: Kianni . Sophia . Perspective How a student tries to be sustainable: Biking, activism and food . 18 April 2022 . . 13 April 2022 . en.
  51. Web site: Sophia Kianni . 2023-03-11 . Sophia Kianni . en-US.
  52. News: Willingham . AJ . Stuck at home, families find a new way to bond: creating TikTok videos . April 21, 2020 . . April 19, 2020 . April 20, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200420093133/https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/19/us/tiktok-coronavirus-quarantine-dance-trnd/index.html . live .
  53. News: McCluskey . Megan . How High Schoolers Are Planning Online Prom Parties Amid Coronavirus . April 21, 2020 . . March 19, 2020 . Time . April 18, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200418190040/https://time.com/5805858/prom-cancellations-coronavirus/ . live .

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