Youth Climate Conference
For five years, RIEEA has hosted an annual event for Rhode Island youth ages 14–18, where connection, learning, and action come together in a powerful experience.
On Saturday, November 8, 2025, teams of teens and adult mentors from across Rhode Island gathered for the first Rhode Island Youth Climate Conference, a day of climate learning, collaboration, and action planning.
The day started off with an energizing collaborative art project led by AGONZA. Then teams learned how to talk about climate change with Kait Birghenthal from NNOCCI. After an inspiring keynote presentation with Chris Gaynor of RI DEM, youth panelists James Tzul, Frank Jolifier, Abby Paull, and Ethan Paiva shared stories of creativity, community, and leadership while SJ Jennings helped adult mentors explore youth-adult partnerships.
Finally, teams learned how to create a climate action plan and ways to get support and funding to bring their projects to life.
This event was more than just a conference, it was a space for bringing together the next generation of Rhode Island leaders and building community.
FEATURE PRESENTERS
Learn more about each of the presenters by selecting their photos below
Chris Gaynor
Community Engagement Specialist
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
Kait Birghenthal
President and Project Coordinator
National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI)
AGonza
Artist, Educator, Community Leader
SJ Jennings
Founder, Halcyon ELIT Consulting
Program Manager, Earth Force
Thank you to our 2025 funders and partners!
