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Articles
Congratulations to our CSocD Agents of Change Delegation!
Meet the delegates!
Julia De Santis is an aspiring creative entrepreneur, writer and dreamer from Rye, New York. After two years at NYU, Julia transferred to College of the Atlantic to pursue a bachelors degree in Human Ecology. Her dreams have carried her around the world, and she's now especially interested in storytelling as a tool for creating a more just and sustainable world. She recently finished a photo-narrative journal from her time working at a hospital in Kenya, Under the African Sky. When she's not writing or taking pictures, Julia loves holding babies, playing with young children, reading, going on adventures, making new friends, and visiting the nearest body of water. In memory of all the children she's fallen in love with around the world, Julia hopes to join or create an eco-village focused on caring for orphaned children after she graduates.Leslie Hartman
Simeon Talley, is a student at the University of Iowa studying International Politics and a columnist for the student newspaper, The Daily Iowan. As party of a youth delegation from the state of Iowa he was able to attend the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15). There he was able to write and blog about the proceedings. Simeon is a member of several youth progressive organizations including The Roosevelt Institute, a campus network of progressive think tanks.
Monica Varman, originally from New Delhi, India, is a junior at Columbia University in the City o f New York. She is an Economics-Mathematics major concurrently pursuing a Sustainable Development concentration. Monica interns at the Council on Foreign Relations, and conducts research and administrative tasks on Energy Security and Climate Change in the Studies Program. She has worked on community health projects with the Earth Institute and the Millennium Village Project since March 2009. Monica hopes to pursue international development policy and business at the graduate level.
Haley White is a sophomore at Princeton University. Before college, Haley took a gap year. During the fall, she worked on a farm cum education center run by Heifer Project International, where she led field trip programs about poverty and development. In the winter and spring, she ran a nursery school in the middle of an Ecuadorian street market for Centro de la Niña Trabajadora, a local education NGO. Haley's gap year experiences confirmed for her that she is passionate about social justice and international development. At Princeton, Haley teaches a weekly ESL class for inmates at a local prison and chairs the Pace Council for Civic Values, the community organizing body for student civic engagement. She recently wrapped up a campaign that convinced University Dining Services to sell Fair Trade bananas. In the spring, she will lead a trip for 12 students to Buffalo, NY to study grassroots responses to urban poverty and will compete as a finalist in the Ashoka Foundation Changemaker Challenge. Last summer, Haley studied Hindi in Jaipur, India as a State Department Critical Language Scholar. One day, she hopes to put her Hindi skills to use by working with Indian development NGOsDelegation Leaders
Julia Wong, Agent of Change Coordinator, is a student at the University of Pennsylvania. Her interest in sustainability began when she studied the effects of land reclamation on Hong Kong's marine ecosystem. To coordinate efforts and share best practices for a sustainable campus, Julia collaborated with students from eight universities to develop a joint policy statement and formulate implementation plans. Volunteering with National Student Partnerships has given her the opportunity to help alleviate urban poverty by connecting the community to vital resources and services. Julia is thrilled to engage youth in sustainable development and help organize dynamic delegations to the UN.
Kyle Gracey, SustainUS Chair, is a Harris Fellow and dual M.S. student studying public policy and geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago, where he is writing his thesis on the long-term job creation potential of clean energy generation. He serves on the university's Sustainability Council, where he helped launch a bike sharing program that will provides job training to at-risk youth. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with degrees in Ecological Economics, Values & Policy and Biochemistry/Biophysics. He studied international developmental and environmental issues at The American University in Washington, DC and in Brazil, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates. RPI's first and only Truman Scholar, Kyle has worked in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation as an Environmental Policy Analyst and as an International Economist Intern in the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and was an Education Docent at the National Aquarium. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the youth science & technology policy organization Student Pugwash USA, and is the University of Chicago Representative for both the Clinton Global Initiative and Campus Progress. He previously served as SustainUS Treasurer, Citizen Science Technical Board member, delegate to the Commission for Social Development and delegate and domestic coordinator for the Framework Convention on Climate Change.Policy Advisors
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was an Agent of Change at CSD 15, CSocD 46, and CSocD 47, and has been a social justice and social development activist for seven years. In addition to UN activism, he has focused on slum development research in Mumbai and Beijing, activist-organizing in Alberta, Canada and the Northeastern U.S., and sociopolitical journalism in Pennsylvania and Canada. He grew up in Calgary, Canada, and has lived in Ottawa, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia, Mumbai, Beijing, and Singapore.
Anisha Gupta recently graduated from Wellesley College, double majoring in English and Peace & Justice Studies. Her honors thesis proposed a constructive approach to establishing dialogue between government institutions and grassroots movements around agricultural development and land rights. For years Anisha has been a community social justice activist, working on issues related to homelessness and education. After her junior year abroad with the International Honors Program - Rethinking Globalization, she grew more globally focused. During this interdisciplinary exploration of globalization’s impacts in Tanzania, India, New Zealand, and Mexico, Anisha lived with and learned from indigenous communities, grassroots activists, farmers, educators, policy-makers, and 27 inspiring classmates. She then spent a summer interning with the U.S. Department of State at the U.S. Mission to the UN, working in the Executive Office of Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. She was later asked to stay on through the end of the Administration and serve as policy adviser to the senior leadership on issues ranging from women's rights, the Israel Palestine conflict, and children in armed conflict. Prior to her departure from the Mission, she was appointed Deputy Control Officer for the transition team and worked to prepare for the arrival of Ambassador-designate, Susan Rice. In January, Anisha received a grant to attend the 2009 World Social Forum in Belém, Brazil, which recharged her engines. Currently, in addition to her numerous grassroots projects, Anisha teaches science classes at Full Circle Farm in California' ); // ]]>
originally from New Delhi, India, is a junior at Columbia University in the City o f New York. She is an Economics-Mathematics major concurrently pursuing a Sustainable Development concentration. Monica interns at the Council on Foreign Relations, and conducts research and administrative tasks on Energy Security and Climate Change in the Studies Program. She has worked on community health projects with the Earth Institute and the Millennium Village Project since March 2009. Monica hopes to pursue international development policy and business at the graduate level.
