Brower Youth Awards

Not too long ago, on July 1, 1912, David Brower, one of the world’s greatest environmental champions, was born.

As the first executive director of the Sierra Club, from 1952-69, Brower transformed what was a mostly regional hiking club into the most effective citizen-led environmental group of its time, along the way spearheading efforts to create numerous national parks, the national wilderness preservation system, and fighting off plans to build hydroelectric dams that could have flooded the Grand Canyon.

Later, among Brower’s trail of accomplishments, he founded Friends of the Earth, an environmental group which now has affiliates in 77 countries, the League of Conservation Voters and the Berkeley, Calif.-based Earth Island Institute, a group known foremost for its victories in protecting the world’s dolphins.

Brower died nine years ago, but his legacy lives on through the Brower Youth Awards, which “honors six young people for their outstanding activism and achievements in the fields of environmental and social advocacy.” It's an innovative program that rewards young leaders and helps develop their leadership skills through a companion program called the New Leaders Initiative. It's a program worth checking into, especially for student activist readers of Tonic, for more info go to www.broweryouthawards.org. As well, see the video below:

Photo courtesy of Earth Island Institute