Successful 2022 Youth Retreat

On November 10, we had our annual Youth Leadership Retreat at Rhode Island College. RIEEA staff and Peer Mentors from last year’s Youth Leadership Program provided training and supported connections among youth from schools and organizations across Rhode Island. Youth will be working with their local school or organizational communities throughout the school year on environmental education-focused projects. Along with the training provided during the retreat, RIEEA will provide some monetary support to each group. Thank you to our generous sponsors and host for supporting our work to build the future environmental educators of Rhode Island.

Youth participated in activities throughout the event to get to know each other and give feedback on each other’s ideas.

Tagged youth leadership

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.