My Journey to Sustainability Leadership

Dear Community,

This Earth Month, I invite you to take a moment and reflect on a high school experience that positively influenced your life. It may have inspired your career or revealed a hobby you cherish. Regardless, your life could’ve been quite different without that pivotal experience.

My name is Maryam Zoweil. I am a freshman at The University of Texas at Austin, studying in the Canfield Business Honors Program and serving as a newly appointed EcoRise Board Member. I had a number of pivotal experiences as a member of EcoRise’s Austin Youth Climate Equity Council during my junior and senior years of high school. The program provided me opportunities to work alongside local environmental and climate justice leaders, advocate for my community, and ultimately inspired me to pursue a career at the intersection of business and sustainability.

EcoRise has served 264 Youth Climate Council members since 2020 across three cities nationally. I have witnessed firsthand how EcoRise programs help youth build community and uncover their potential. This school year, Council members are creating local impact by working with frontline community organizations to learn about and engage new people in climate resilience programs such as pedestrianizing urban transportation infrastructure, building community food gardens, making solar energy more accessible, and more.

I hope you will join us at an EcoRise Student Innovation Showcase this spring to see this work in action! Click the links to learn more and RSVP:

• May 8th at the University of Texas San Antonio from 5:30 to 7pm
• May 15th at Austin City Hall from 5:30 to 7pm
• May 29th at Banneker Academic High School in Washington, DC, from 5 to 6:30pm
• We will also host a number of online events for our students to share their work nationally!

EcoRise is bridging the gap between classroom learning and real-world application, activating students to drive environmental change in their communities and define their career pathways. As we honor Earth Month, I’d love to see you get involved in our work! Come to a Student Showcase or take your support a step further and underwrite a student to have experiences like mine by donating to EcoRise. Our work is more critical than ever, and your support will help more students discover their own pivotal experiences as they confidently pursue their dream careers.