xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) & səl̓ilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Territories/VANCOUVER
West Coast Environmental Law is excited to recognize 16 inspiring young individuals who have made important contributions to environmental justice in BC, through the Andrew Thompson Award (ATA) Youth Changemakers for Environmental Justice initiative.
“In the face of the enormous challenges facing our planet, it gives me great hope to experience the strong vision of these talented young people for a more just and sustainable future,” said Jessica Clogg, Executive Director & Senior Counsel. “I am very pleased to be walking alongside youth who share West Coast’s commitment to catalyzing the deeply systemic changes that are needed to begin to heal our relationship with the planet.”
The youth changemakers were honoured on Monday, May 12th during a ceremony and reception at the Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver. Youth changemakers also participated in a facilitated dialogue session – Envisioning the Future of Environmental Law: The Next 50 Years – where they discussed their visions for how strong Canadian and Indigenous laws could contribute to ecological and community resilience in BC over the next 50 years. The event was planned and hosted by West Coast’s Indigenous Youth Directors.
“Law should be relational, generative and reflective of all beings in which it serves. We come from the land as we come from our Mothers. This is reflected in our adaawx (oral histories) and ayaawx (laws). Our ancestral laws connect us back to the land and our inherent birthright, continuing to govern us in perpetuity. The work we do today with respect to the law is to ensure a future worthy of both our children and ancestors,” said Amy Jeffrey-Uehara, WCEL Indigenous Youth Director and student from Lax Kw’alaams First Nation.
Andrew Thompson Award Youth Changemakers for Environmental Justice
The Andrew Thompson Award (ATA) was established in 2002 by West Coast Environmental Law and the Thompson family as a legacy to Dr. Andrew Thompson, a groundbreaking BC environmental lawyer who was one of West Coast’s first directors. In celebration of West Coast’s 50th Anniversary year (2024-25), the organization has presented the award to a number of individuals who have demonstrated an outstanding contribution to environmental protection and sustainability in BC through the law.
ATA Youth Changemakers for Environmental Justice recognizes youth (ages 16-35) who have made important contributions to environmental justice in BC and their visions for how strong Canadian and Indigenous laws can support healthy, more resilient communities and ecosystems in BC.
The Youth Changemakers for Environmental Justice honoured this week are:
- Aish Mann
- Aryan Sharifi
- Chanvre Oleman
- Christie McLeod
- Cleo Nickels
- Denea Bascombe
- Evje Knutson
- Janessa Lambert
- Jessica Kai Paisley
- Jocelyn Thorne Mcmillan
- Jordana Pangburn
- Kwaya'tsiiq'Kwe Bluesky
- Manvi Bhalla
- Ruben Tillman
- Summer Tyance
- Valencia Owino
2025 ATA Youth Changemakers being honoured during the reception. Photo: Laura Diniz.
Quotes from the ATA Youth Changemakers for Environmental Justice:
“I believe law must learn to feel — to hold emotion, memory, and story alongside logic. Storytelling creates openings: for healing, understanding, and building new relationships to land and place. I envision future environmental laws shaped not just in boardrooms, but around kitchen tables, in ceremony, and in community — laws that ask not only ‘what is allowed,’ but ‘what is right?’”
Aish Mann, Tanah Air Project
“My vision, shaped by direct experiences in community engagement, environmental stewardship, and social justice advocacy, centers on moving away from reactive, often siloed legal frameworks towards integrated systems. These systems must be grounded in Indigenous partnership, prioritize environmental justice, and recognize the inherent relationality between human communities and the natural world.”
Aryan Sharifi, Student
“I’ve come to see that resilience is rooted not just in scientific practices, but in Indigenous understandings of land as a living relative. Our traditional laws already teach us how to live in balance, to listen to the land, and to act with long-term care in mind. By bringing these laws into conversation with emerging climate science and carbon monitoring efforts, we can build legal frameworks that are both culturally grounded and ecologically effective.”
Chanvre Oleman, St'át'imc Nation
“This work has taken on new meaning since I gave birth to my daughter four months ago. I hope for a world—and a province—that is safe for her. Climate impacts are already clear in BC, where we’ve recently seen heat domes, wildfires, and atmospheric rivers. ‘One-in-1,000-year’ weather events are occurring with alarming frequency. The Earth is signaling that it can only absorb so much warming above pre-industrial levels. The question is: when will we finally listen?”
Christie McLeod, Miller Thomson
“In working to restore the Mt. Maxwell watershed with [Climate Adaptation Research Lab], my role is to select specific plants that will supply food and larval support for local pollinators…It is amazing to discover all the flowering plants that grow in our local forests…I understand sustainability as appreciating the resources we have and using them mindfully, preserving the environment for the future.”
Cleo Nickels, Student
"The time for meaningful and expedited regulatory reform to secure a just energy transition is now. Our legislative and policy framework must explicitly prioritize principles of energy justice and environmental justice. A robust framework provides an opportunity to underpin practical measures that benefit impacted individuals and communities, while supporting the energy transition process."
Denea Bascombe, Lawyer, Denea Bascombe Legal
“I believe that strong community laws can help to create ecological justice for everyone as it means that apathy will no longer be an option, from both the government and communities. Although climate change affects everyone, youth and their voices are crucially important as the state of this world will greatly impact their future.”
Evje Knutson, Student
“The sməlqmix are historically an oral society and our legal systems are passed down through our c ̓apti ̓kʷɬ and sm’im’a ̓y. c ̓apti ̓kʷɬ (ch-ah-p-t-ee-k) are our animal people stories that come from the time before humans walked the earth and sm’im’a ̓ y (sm-ee-m-eye) are our historical accounts of people. We analyse these stories and pull-out key principles that speak to water, land, living things and people. … The importance of standing up our sməlqmix, syilx laws is a means of decolonizing ourselves as Indigenous peoples.”
X̌ʷnamx̌ʷnm, Janessa Lambert, M.Ed, sməlqmix (Lower Similkameen Indian Band)
“We need enforceable environmental rights, accessible mechanisms for holding governments and corporations accountable, and climate policy rooted in equity...In this future, law is not merely reactive but generative. It helps reimagine systems, redistribute power, and protect future generations.”
Jessica Kai Paisley, Student, University of Hawaii William S Richardson School of Law, International Women's Rights Project
“Laws need to do more than just punish harm—they need to teach responsibility, build connections, and protect sacred relationships. My vision is one where law isn’t just written in books, but practiced in gardens, taught through ceremony, and passed down through generations. One where the land is not owned, but honored. One where future Haisla children, and all children, can thrive in a world that remembers how to listen to the Earth.”
Jocelyn Thorne Mcmillan, Haisla Nation
“My vision for the future is one where law protects life, not profit; where Indigenous knowledge and authority pave the way for environmental stewardship; and where youth are heard, not sidelined. We all have a responsibility to work together to create ecological and community resilience in BC, and the law is one important avenue to this. It means holding fossil fuel companies accountable, ending harmful resource extraction projects, restoring Indigenous jurisdiction, and building local, intersectional solidarity networks. That’s the future I organize for.”
Jordana Pangburn, UVIC History Student, Sue Big Oil organizer
“Being Indigenous comes with advocating for our inherent rights, and consistently trying to preserve our culture and the sacred teachings. My art reflects cultural and historical forms through storytelling using visual arts. These are deep-rooted practices that I have practiced in other forms over the past year. I am exploring using cedar because this reflects the connection and uses of the Land without harming nature. When I engage with these types of traditional art forms, I communicate traditional narratives and historical events.”
Kwaya'tsiiq'Kwe Bluesky, Student, Anishinàbe (Sandy Lake First Nation) and Nuučaan̓ułʔatḥ from ʕaaḥuusʔatḥ (Ahousaht)
“A belief that has guided much of my advocacy work is that strong legal systems must not only advance protections for ecosystems and future generations but must also meaningfully engage communities in shaping those laws. In the next 50 years, I hope to see a BC where environmental laws are living documents—responsive to community needs, grounded in Indigenous sovereignty, and upheld by a deeply engaged public.”
Manvi Bhalla, Executive Director & Founder, Shake Up the Establishment
“The vision of hope I have is of people coming together and supporting each other, promoting Indigenous laws and communities and learning from them, “decolonizing” our worldviews and European legal traditions, and building something that allows our society to exist sustainably and peacefully in the world.”
Ruben Tillman, Lawyer, Ng Ariss Fong
“Indigenous law holds many answers for climate solutions here in Canada. Canada must always listen and respect Indigenous laws which embed ancestral practices that have helped to look after and steward mother earth since time immemorial. One of my lifelong passions is to help revitalize Indigenous laws for the land, air, and water. For our human and non-human kin.”
Summer Tyance, JD/JID Student, Gull Bay First Nation
“My journey—from a charcoal-filled childhood to designing clean energy solutions in BC—has shown me that the law can either entrench injustice or ignite resilience. I believe in a future where law is not wielded from above but grown from the ground up, informed by lived experience and cultural wisdom. If we want resilience to last 50 years and beyond, we must design legal systems that listen to Elders, empower youth, and protect the rights of species we’ll never meet. This is not about managing decline—it’s about legislating life.”
Valencia Owino
For more information, please contact:
Alexis Stoymenoff | Director of Communications, West Coast Environmental Law
604-684-7378 ext. 228, astoymenoff@wcel.org