April 2024: Session 4 - Campaign Organizing

Youth Advocacy Training for Ocean and Climate Action is a free, virtual 4-week program designed for youth around the world, ages 16-23. The training content builds upon and refine existing advocacy skills and encourage strengthened collaborative conservation action – locally, nationally, and globally. Participants have the opportunity to talk with experts, network and collaborate with their peers, and develop a strong foundation for all their future advocacy efforts. Learn more about the program here: https://worldoceanday.org/free-youth-advocacy-training-program-for-ocean-climate-action/ To be notified when the next session begins, subscribe to the Rising Blue Network Newsletter here: https://worldoceanday.org/youth/join-global-youth-movement/ About Session 4 - Campaign Organizing: This session focuses on the importance of organizing campaigns and events in collaboration with others. Participants shall gain a better understanding of how to build collective power within a movement, with the capacity to make a bigger impact than from individual action alone. About the speakers: Shaakira Davood Chairperson, Youth4MPA's Shaakira Davood is a wearer of many hats and regards herself as an 'active citizen', not necessarily an activist. She has held and holds leadership in humanitarian organisations, civil societies, and religious spaces, in addition to the environmental space. As an active citizen, Shaakira is deeply committed to grassroots activism, actively participating in these various organizations. Her focus there lies within the marine space, where she serves as a youth advocate for the advancement of marine protected areas (MPAs), particularly within the context of South Africa's rich historical narrative surrounding MPA proclamation. Her mission involves educating and championing for MPAs, emphasizing community involvement and the incorporation of indigenous conservation practices and traditional knowledge. Rizza Sacra-Dejucos Asia Regional Coordinator, High Seas Alliance Rizza is the Asia Regional Coordinator of High Seas Alliance, leading the campaigns work to advance the protection of the high seas in the region. She has over 10 years of experience in communications and campaigns work in conservation and sustainability, with the UN and other development organizations in Asia. She is passionate about grassroots engagement, advancing science-based policies, and writing stories about the ocean. Maria de los Angeles Schoenbeck Hub Leader, Sustainable Ocean Alliance Guatemala Maria Schoenbeck is a biologist with a master's degree in marine and coastal science from the University of San Carlos of Guatemala. Since 2018, she has been working in the marine-coastal zone in Guatemala's Pacific and Caribbean coast, mainly with fisheries and identifying threats to the marine-coastal zone to create participatory strategies for resource conservation and spatial planning. In 2019, Maria was selected as a fellow for the Mesoamerican Reef System-SAM- leadership program. Currently, she is a fellow at Cornell University's Ornithology Lab. As part of the Coastal Solutions Program, Maria is actively involved in modeling coastal vulnerability in two protected areas on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. Simultaneously, she is designing a participatory mangrove restoration program, including pilot projects that incorporate sustainable tourism and mangrove forestry incentives. Maria is also the coordinator of the ECOP for Guatemala.