It’s Our Future (IOF) empowers Chicago area high school students of all backgrounds to work together towards climate justice in their schools and communities.
IOF youth:
- – Advocate. IOF builds skills to empower youth to advocate for policies and strategies by speaking at community board meetings; authoring editorials; and collaborating with community leaders to develop sustainability policies with local K-12 schools.
- – Connect. Chicago area youth with one another, with sustainability professionals, elected officials, and with the international youth climate movement, including annual visits to the COP UN Climate Summits as official UN observers.
- – Educate. IOF educates youth about the climate crisis through forums, film screenings and training, and by linking them to sustainability professionals.
It’s Our Future works with several community partners including Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, Interfaith Green Network, Chicago Climate Youth Coalition, Sunrise Chicago, Etown Sunrise, Mikva Challenge, CPS, OPRFHS Environmental Club, Citizens’ Greener Evanston, and The River Forest Sustainability Commission. It’s Our Future also works closely with the One Earth Film Festival’s Youth Advisory Council.
For more information on what we’ve been up to, check out our 2022 Year-End Report and 2021 Year-End Report.
It's Our Future at COP27
It’s Our Future student delegates attended the UN Climate Conference, COP27, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt last year!
Five Chicagoland students and one teacher reported on the ground at the conference and sent back dispatches daily about all the action. Get the youth perspective on key issues at the summit, including reparations and finance, decarbonization, and adaptation.
Check out their interview on WBEZ’s Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons!
And see all our COP27 coverage and student dispatches here!
It's Our Future at COP26
We’re thrilled that five IOF students had the chance to attend COP26 – the UN Climate Conference – in Glasgow in 2021. We encourage you to follow the IOF Instagram and Facebook pages to check out coverage from the conference and get the latest IOF news.
Recent IOF Media Coverage:
IOF student Lily Aaron on Chicago Tonight
Watch how we educate, engage and empower Oak Park/River Forest high school aged leaders
A successful night of youth action – Wednesday Journal
