We had the good fortune of connecting with Sophia Suganuma and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sophia, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
As the child of immigrants, I have seen first-hand the challenges that language accessibility can pose. On a broader, more global scale, language currently acts as a barrier to both education and awareness. Looking at climate education specifically, while 80% of the world does not speak English, most scientific information about the climate movement is written exclusively in English. In the natural sciences alone, 90% of the research is only documented in English. My organization, Climate Cardinals, works to improve access to multilingual climate education, primarily through our signature translation program.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
At fifteen years old, I became a founding director of Climate Cardinals, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving access to multilingual climate education. When we first began (and even now), I did not find it easy; I was leading our finance team on a rather constrained fundraising landscape. Less than 1% of all donations to climate organizations are given to youth-led initiatives, and we were not an exception. The biggest lesson I learned along the way was a quote a mentor had told me: “When you are young, you are never annoying, just enthusiastic.” This became a mantra for me, and continual persistence is something I credit a lot of my success to. For every accomplishment and grant we may have received, we faced 10x the number of failures and rejects. Yet, my ability to adapt and navigate these failures is what sets me, and therefore Climate Cardinals, apart.

I am most proud of being able to build a community of individuals striving towards climate action. The power of a collective is more significant than a single person, and time and time again Climate Cardinals continues to defy my expectations for impact. I am incredibly excited to see how we continue to make strides for the climate movement as we begin to professionalize as a youth-led movement.

In line with this, I would like the world to know that my story can’t be solely attributed to me. I credit the impact I have been able to make to the wonderful support system I’ve had around me, including my friends, teachers, family, and mentors. Together, we are proving that determined youth can unite people by a shared vision, and can indeed change the world.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to Sophia Kianni! Thank you for believing in me from day one. It has been an insane journey from creating Climate Cardinals as just teenagers, to now being the largest youth-led climate advocacy organization in the world. I would not have been able to accomplish any of this without you – here’s to many more years of working together!

Website: https://www.climatecardinals.org/sophiasuganuma

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophsuga/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiasuganuma/

Image Credits
Ubayd R Jaami Al-Choudhury
Sophia Suganuma

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