Varshini Prakash

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Varshini Prakash
Varshini Prakash 2019 (cropped).jpg
Born1992/1993 (age 28–29)
Massachusetts, U.S.A.
EducationUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst (BA)
Known forExecutive Director and Co-founder of the Sunrise Movement
Political partyDemocratic

Varshini Prakash (born 1992/1993) is an American climate activist and executive director of the Sunrise Movement, a 501(c)(4) organization which she co-founded in 2017.[1] She was named on the 2019 Time 100 Next list,[2] and was a corecipient of the Sierra Club John Muir Award in 2019.[3]

Early life and education[]

Prakash was born and raised in Massachusetts to parents from Southern India;[4] her father was from Tamil Nadu.[5] She first became aware of climate change when she was 11 while watching news coverage of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which impacted Chennai, where her grandparents lived.[6][7] Growing up, she wanted to become a doctor.[6]

Prakash went to college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she began organizing around climate issues.[6][7] While there, she became a leader of the school's fossil fuel divestment campaign. Prakash also worked with a national organization, Fossil Fuel Divestment Student Network. In 2017, a year after she graduated, UMass Amherst became the first large, public university to divest.[6][8]

Career[]

In 2017, Prakash launched the Sunrise Movement, an American youth-led political movement and 501(c)(4) that advocates political action on climate change, with seven other co-founders.[6][9]

In 2018, she became the Sunrise Movement's executive director after the group organized a protest occupying U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office asking that a congressional task force be established to address climate change.[6]

As part of her work with the Sunrise Movement, Prakash advocates for proposals like the Green New Deal.[10] In 2020, the organization endorsed U.S. senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Primary for the presidency.[7] Prakash was named as an adviser to Joe Biden’s climate task force in 2020.[11][12][13][14] She is also an advisory board member of Climate Power 2020, a group that includes Democrats and activists advocating for increasing the interest American voters take in climate action.[13]

Prakash is co-editor of the book Winning the Green New Deal: Why We Must, How We Can, released August 2020.[15][16][17] She also is a contributor to The New Possible: Visions of Our World Beyond Crisis.[18][19]

Recognition[]

Prakash was named on the 2019 Time 100 Next list of emerging global leaders.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ "Who Will Save The Planet? Meet The women Rallying For Climate Justice". Marie Claire. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  2. ^ "TIME 100 Next 2019: Varshini Prakash". Time. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  3. ^ "Sierra Club Announces 2019 National Award Winners". Sierra Club. 2019-09-16. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  4. ^ Prakash, Varshini (September 17, 2019). "Older generations broke the climate. It's up to young people to fix it". The Boston Globe.
  5. ^ "Varshini Prakash on Redefining What's Possible". Sierra Club. 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Solis, Marie (November 18, 2019). "How a 26-Year-Old Activist Forced the Democratic Party to Get Serious About Climate Change". Vice.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b c Adabala, Srihita (March 26, 2020). "Meet Varshini Prakash, Leader of The Sunrise Movement". Next Generation Politics.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Elton, Catherine. "Varshini Prakash Is Trying to Save Boston From Climate Change". Boston Magazine.
  9. ^ Hyland, Véronique, Naomi Rougeau and Julie Vadnal (June 6, 2019). "27 Women Leading the Charge to Protect Our Environment". Elle Magazine.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ a b Inslee, Jay (2019). "Varshini Prakash Is on the 2019 TIME 100 Next List". Time.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Specter, Emma (October 26, 2020). "Why 2020 Is a Climate Election". Vogue.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ Rathi, Akshat (September 15, 2020). "The Activist Trying to Bend the U.S. Congress Toward Climate". Bloomberg.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ a b Teirstein, Zoya (May 20, 2020). "How Climate Leftists and Moderates Are Working Together to Beat Trump". Rolling Stone.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Calma, Justine (May 14, 2020). "How the climate movement is trying to fix Joe Biden". The Verge.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ Ottesen, KK (September 22, 2020). "'Adults are asleep at the wheel' in climate crisis, says co-founder of youth-led activist group". Washington Post.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: Winning the Green New Deal: Why We Must, How We Can by Edited by Varshini Prakash and Guido Girgenti. Simon & Schuster, $18 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-1-982142-43-8". Publishers Weekly. June 2, 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ Stephenson, Wen (12 October 2020). "The Hardest Thing About the Green New Deal". The Nation. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  18. ^ The new possible : visions of our world beyond crisis. Philip Clayton, Kelli M. Archie, Jonah Sachs, Evan Steiner, Kim Stanley Robinson. Eugene, Oregon. 2021. ISBN 978-1-7252-8583-5. OCLC 1236337736.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  19. ^ "Varshini Prakash on Redefining What's Possible". Sierra Club. 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2021-04-23.

External links[]

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