Xiye Bastida

Xiye Bastida is a climate justice activist and student at University of Pennsylvania, pursuing an environmental studies degree with a concentration in policy and Latinx studies. Of Otomi-Toltec background, she advocates for the centering of frontline communities in climate policy. In 2020, Bastida co-founded Re-Earth Initiative, a youth-led climate justice education organization. She organized with Fridays For Future NYC for three years, where she helped mobilize 300,000 people for the September 2019 climate strike. Bastida’s message in op-eds and books is about the intersectionality of climate justice and the role of indigenous peoples in protecting ecosystems and life systems. A former member of the Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion, she received the 2018 UN Spirit Award.