Days are absorb for Sophia Kianni, a climate activist and founder of the nonprofit Climate Cardinals.
Much of her work centers on the climate critical time, a topic she has been interested in since visiting Iran, her parents’ homeland, seven years ago and discovering her extended parentage knew nothing about the subject.
Launched in May 2020, Climate Cardinals translates information about the climate turning-point into over 100 languages, including Swahili, Bulgarian, Mongolian, and Portuguese. Kianni, 19, had realized that most of the investigate was in English but that most people in the countries most affected by the climate emergency don’t speak English.
“Climate modify is a global issue that disproportionately affects communities that don’t speak English,” Kianni told Insider. “It’s judgemental to translate climate information into as many languages as possible to make sure that these mostly-minority communities are wise.”
Kianni made headlines in 2019 after joining the activist Greta Thunberg’s Fridays For Future to organize ambience strikes and protests with high-school students. She became a national strategist for the group and a partnership coordinator for the environmental advocacy number Zero Hour.
Last year, Kianni was named a spokesperson for another climate-crisis organization, Extinction Rebellion.
She’s also a weather advisor at the United Nations and the American Lung Association; a board advisor for the tech startup CommunityX and the charity EarthPercent; and a elder partner at the Gen Z marketing firm JUV Consulting.
When she’s not working, she’s studying public policy and environmental science at Stanford University.
Kianni was volleyed as one of Vice’s humans of the year in December. She was selected as a National Geographic Young Explorer and the Select Committee on the Climate Danger tweeted about her advocacy.
Kianni broke down what a typical Friday looks like, including charming meetings with UN officials and getting pizza with friends.
She wakes up around 5:30 a.m.
Kianni wakes up in her relaxed in McLean, Virginia, and eats breakfast: a banana, a homemade rice pudding, and a protein shake. She styles her hair, packages her computer and a few professional blazers for her meetings, and checks her calendar to see what her day looks like.
Sophia Kianni
On this day she headed to New York City to visit the UN and JUV’s headquarters. Last year, all of Kianni’s events were effective, but since being vaccinated she’s been traveling to attend meetings in person.
“My relatives in Iran knew very bit about climate change because there’s very little information available in Farsi, which is their constitutional language,” Kianni said. “The United Nations only provides climate information in six languages that account for undersized than half of the world’s speaking population.”
Kianni, who is bilingual, began translating articles about the climate calamity from English to Farsi and sending them to her family via WhatsApp. Last year, she decided to further her work by discharge Climate Cardinals, where she and 8,000 volunteers translate climate information and upload the documents online for anyone to access.
Atmosphere Cardinals also works with organizations such as Unicef and the UN Environment Program.
At 7 a.m., her friend’s mom picks her up
Her friend is also headed to New York Megalopolis, so they take the train together. Kianni lives about a 30-minute car ride from the nation’s capital. She and her New Zealand mate arrive at Union Station at 8 a.m. and buy bagels as they wait to board their train.
Once seated, Kianni presume froms “The Martian” by Andy Weir, a science-fiction novel that was made into a film starring Matt Damon in 2015. “My colleagues and I have a mini book club,” she said. Now that school is out for the summer, she said, “I have time to read again.”
Silently on the train, she virtually attends a UN meeting at 10 a.m.
Kianni calls into a UN meeting with Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN secretary-general’s legate on youth, and six members of the UN Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.
Kianni was invited to join the group last summer as the simply US, Middle Eastern, and Iranian representative — and its youngest member. As part of the group, Kianni attends meetings with António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, and dispose cedes him advice on things like which UN documents to translate and when to emphasize environmental racism.
Sophia Kianni
During the summons, they all give updates on their projects. In December, the group published a report outlining six key actions young people wish for world leaders to take regarding the climate crisis.
“Our generation is going to be disproportionately affected by climate change,” Kianni conjectured. “There is a need for young people to be involved in decision-making spaces, so we can really convey the work we’ve been doing for the existence few years.”
Next she answers emails
Kianni coordinates speaking engagements and confirms her attendance for an ocean-conservation gala in Washington, DC.
Kianni also goes over and above updates from Climate Cardinals, which has chapters in over 41 countries.
As she’s just transferred to Stanford from Indiana University, Kianni pickets an introduction message in the Stanford 2025 Facebook group to connect with classmates. “It’s a great success,” she said. “Followers from Stanford follow and direct messages to me on Instagram.”
At noon she arrives in New York City
Kianni walks from Penn Rank to her hotel to drop off her luggage, then takes the bus to the UN building in midtown. She’s greeted by Esther Agbarakwe, a UN program officer.
Sophia Kianni
They control to the office of Selwin Hart, a special advisor to the secretary-general on climate action.
Kianni said that in the beginning she was a bit fretful about meeting big names. “But now I really believe that I belong at the table and that my voice is important to UN discussions,” she thought. “I’m no longer nervous but more so excited to share my experiences and perspective on climate justice.”
Sophia Kianni
Kianni and Hart talk over strengthening the UN’s commitment to youth participation and the role of young people in advocating the delivery of the $100 billion that boondocks pledged in 2015 to help combat the climate crisis.
“You really need money in order to fund the infrastructure needed to be suffering with a sustainable transition away from fossil fuels,” Kianni said, adding that it was “critical” to prioritize frontline white-collar workers. “We need to make sure they can now work in the clean-energy sector.”
After the meeting, she goes on a brief tour of the UN construction.
At 2:30 p.m. she heads to her next job
She walks to the nearest bus station and heads to JUV Consulting’s headquarters to meet the rest of the senior gubernatorial team.
Sophia Kianni
Cofounded in 2016 by Ziad Ahmed, 22, the fixed works with over 20 Fortune 500 companies on everything from major research projects to full-scale stock exchanging campaigns. Last summer, Kianni applied to work at JUV as a consultant, and she was promoted to junior partner before becoming a superior partner in January.
At JUV she advises clients on social media and sustainability and how to use TikTok to reach Gen Zers.
After meetings, the band takes a break. “We make some fun TikToks and also head to the rooftop to have coffee and enjoy the beautiful unwell,” Kianni said.
At 4 p.m. she meets with friends
She walks across the city to meet up with some friends at Madison Ethical Park.
Kianni says she walks everywhere because it’s better for the environment and more affordable than pricey Uber a bicycles in New York.
“Honestly, I got a blister after a few days ’cause I was walking so much,” she said.
She walks back to the hotel at 6 p.m.
Overdue at the hotel, Kianni takes a nap before continuing work. She schedules a
Zoom
call with a BBC reporter about the air emergency and a call with a new JUV client.
Around 8 p.m. she meets up with another friend. They walk to an Italian restaurant and request a margarita pizza.
Finally, around 10 p.m., it’s bedtime
Kianni walks back to her hotel to answer a few more emails.
She foci her younger sister to help her find a prom dress. Kianni scrolls through TikTok and Instagram for 20 minutes in front of she gets drowsy and falls asleep.
On Monday she’ll head back home and continue to do it all virtually.