From March 30th to April 1st, I was among an estimated 40,000 changemakers at the iconic Grand Palais in Paris, attending ChangeNOW, the world’s largest event of solutions for the planet. This year I had front-row seats to fan-girl over climate greats like Johan Rockström, a lead scientist of the Planetary Boundaries Framework; Kate Raworth, the economist behind Doughnut Economics; Christiana Figueres, a climate policy negotiation queen; Nemonte Nenquimo, a Mother & Defender from the Amazon, and so many more leaders. I also secured a Premium Pass as a participant of Board for Change, an initiative built in collaboration with Goodness&Co to equip Board members with the mindset, tools, and peer network to embed impact at the heart of strategy and governance. In addition to meeting others also working to challenge governance, the pass meant skipping queues, free coat check, and access to lounges to take a breath amidst the nonstop activity. It’s the small wins everybody.

You might ask, what goes on at ChangeNOW? Well, it is designed to make you feel FOMO at every minute of the day because simultaneously, there are over 10 events taking place: exhibitions where you can talk to innovators about their solutions for the planet, movie screenings, lounge conversations, private meetings, startup pitches, performances…see what I mean? I prioritized events that were not being recorded, such as a UK meetup, intergenerational equity circle, One Young World gathering, and talks in the bubbles. During these meetups, I got to meet cool changemakers of all ages and backgrounds, including:

1. Qoane Mothibeli - From the heart of Lesotho, he is the CEO of JuliGerm, leveraging technology to optimize market linkages, offer credible aggregated and processed data and quality control measures for large stake-holders in the agricultural sector. Their mission lies with optimizing the supply-chain to ensure transparency and traceability within the value-chain and streamlining services for farmers, making them more accessible. He was at ChangeNOW with the Youth Ecopreneur Program, which scales young green entrepreneurs for a sustainable tomorrow in land restoration and green business solutions.
2. Mark Horoszowski - Hailing from Seattle, USA, Mark is the Co-Founder and CEO of MovingWorlds, a global platform that convenes partners from all sectors to empower social entrepreneurs to co-build a more just, equitable, and sustainable global economy. Zahan (from my team at Youth Climate Collaborative) and I were grateful for Mark’s generous advice for ways to improve our pitch for Jaali, our app to connect changemakers with each other, opportunities, and resources to advance social impact, and make impact reporting easier. Now we need to interview potential customers to understand how much they’re currently spending to resolve certain problems, and use those insights to inform our value proposition. Thank you Mark!‍
3. Barbara 'Wáahlaal Giidaak Blake - From Prince of Wales Island, of Xadaas, Lingít and Ahtna Athabascan descent, and belonging to the Káat nay-st/Yahkw Jáanaas (Shark House/Middle Town People) Clan, she currently serves as Vice President for Ocean Conservancy overseeing the Arctic & Northern Waters program. She also serves as Sealaska Corporation Board of Director, Tlingit & Haida Tribal Delegate (Juneau), Native Peoples Action Chairwoman, and Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Studies Center Legacy Committee Member. I enjoyed hearing from her how centering diverse perspectives, from Indigenous communities to young leaders and women champions, from the field to decision rooms, transforms policies, management, and outcomes for both people and the ocean.