Local Conference of Youth Experience

Last weekend, I attended the Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) in Columbus, Ohio. The conference officially started on Friday, October 23rd. All the delegates and organizers met at the Ohio State Energy Advancement & Innovation Center, and there was lots of tabling and introductions. I personally met up with the It's Our Future delegates, and we all shared about our journey to Ohio. Then, the opening ceremony began. Shelly Corbin, Indigenous Knowledge Consultant, began the ceremony by giving a really passionate speech about rare earth minerals and finding a community to fight your environmental battles.

Afterward, there was a really interesting panel with Corbin, Council Member Christopher Wyche, and Organizer for the national campaign for transit justice, Stevie Pasamonte. The most memorable part of the panel was the dynamic between Wyche and Pasamonte, as they respectfully shared both sides of the protestor/councilmember viewpoints. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice snack bar of vegan foods.

On Saturday, we met in the basement of Scott Laboratory. We began the day with a welcome and orientation, as we got used to the protocols of LCOY. Afterwards, we split into our “policy tracks”, with the 100+ delegates splitting into 10+ “tracks”. These tracks each focused on a different part of the National Youth Statement, which is the final “product” of LCOY. For me, I chose the “Technology, Data, and Innovation” track because it aligned with my interests the most. We did introductions within our track group and started discussing what changes we wanted to make to the pre-drafted policies. After an hour of discussion, we broke for lunch, which was tofu rice burrito bowls that were really tasty. 

After lunch, we took a group photo, then went back to our tracks. I really enjoyed working with these track groups, as I felt we were diversely represented in age, geography, and experience, which helped us create the most equitable and encompassing policy. At 4:30, we moved to a different building to work on a poster to represent the policies we had drafted. For us, we had a poster focusing on how to power AI more sustainably, featuring wind turbines, solar panels, and not relying on the grid. We were really happy with how it turned out, and said goodbye for the day.

On Sunday, we met in Scott Laboratory again and began the day with a “gallery walk” of everyone’s posters. Afterward, we broke out into “skill-building sessions,” which featured different speakers and different topics. I personally attended the talks about Advocacy 101: Moving the Needle and Navigating the UNFCCC. I thought the speakers did a lovely job explaining things and getting the audience interested in what they were talking about. Then, we had pizza for lunch. 

We broke into our regions and discussed plans for moving forward and using what we learned at LCOY to make a difference in our hometowns. At the closing ceremony, we all shared what we discussed, and it was super inspirational to learn all the initiatives people were planning.

Overall, I loved going to LCOY. I learned so much, but more importantly, I met so many dedicated people who all want to work towards a common goal. Everybody was so passionate, and it was a real motivation booster to continue to fight for our environment!