History of the Organization
Members of the One Harvard Climate Initiative Leadership Team from our end-of-year celebration hosted at HUCE in Spring, 2018. Left-to-right: Sidra Fatima (MUP ‘19), Laura O’Connell (MPP ‘19), Alyssa Curran (MUP ‘18), Sanjay Seth (MPA ‘19 MUP ‘19), Dan Peckham (MPP ‘18), Danny Marquez (MBA ‘19), and Amanda Watson (MPP ‘18).
During the Spring term of 2018, the One Harvard Climate Initiative (OHCI) organized students across professional and graduate schools at Harvard. Over the course of the term, OHCI held a series of meetings, workshops, and surveys to identify and address the challenges students were facing in developing climate-related skills and networks at Harvard.
Supported by grants from the Harvard Office for Sustainability and the Business and Environment Initiative and with additional support from the Harvard University Center for the Environment, the leadership team of OHCI, led by Sanjay Seth (MPA ‘19 MUP ‘19), developed and pitched a proposal for a new program to help students with a professional interest in climate-related work to connect and learn from one another.
The effort to organize a cross-Harvard network of students was part of coursework conducted for Marshall Ganz’s course, Organizing: People, Power, Change, at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and was supported by a range of mentors and faculty and student contributors across the University, including from the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard School of Public Health (C-CHANGE).
With support from Harvard’s Vice Provost for Research and the Harvard University Center for the Environment, the Climate Leaders Program received strategic guidance and seed funding to launch its first student-led cohort of 40 students from business, design, government, law, public health, and sustainability programs, kicking off with the first annual retreat in the Harvard Forest in September, 2018.
In 2019, after another competitive application process, the cohort was expanded to include 45 students, now also including students from the divinity, and education, engineering, and medical schools. In addition to a retreat at the Harvard Forest, workshops, dinners, talks, and other programming, in the 2019-2020 cohort, CLP also began adding excursions to key climate adaptation and climate justice sites in the Greater Boston region.
Images from the first cross-school workshop of the One Harvard Climate Initiative, hosted at HUCE in Spring, 2018
“CLP has been transformative, connecting me with some of the brightest minds who have become lifelong friends and my trusted soundboard. The program sharpened my ability to express and refine ideas, which I now share through impactful speaking engagements. It has empowered me to integrate climate leadership with my work in AI and sustainability, leaving me with deep gratitude for the knowledge and relationships gained.”
CLP’s Student Leadership:
2018-2019: In its first year, the program was founded and managed by Sanjay Seth (HKS MPA ‘19, GSD MUP ‘19), who is currently Founding Co-Chair of the Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment Shared Interest Group with the Harvard Alumni Association.
2019 - 2020: In its second year, the program was led by a team of students headed by Saul Levin (GSD MUP '20). The team included Reine Rambert (HKS MPP '20), Rachel Croy (HSPH MS '20), Grace Weatherall (HLS JD '21), and Jack Schnettler (HKS MPP '20).
2020 - 2021: In its third year, the program was led by a team consisting of Aily Zhang (HKS MPP '21), James Healy (HSPH MPH '21), Kyle Miller (GSD and HSPH MPH ‘21), Gerben Scherpbier (HKS MPP '21), and Samantha Tracy (HSPH MS '21).
2021 - 2022: In its fourth year, the program was led by a team consisting of Samantha Beck (HKS MPP’22), Sam Elghanayan (HKS MPAID’22), Michelle Faggert (HGSE ‘22), Juan Villalon Hernando (GSD '22), Cristina Su Liu (HSPH MS’22), and Nandita Nair (HKS MPP’22).
2022 - 2023: In its fifth year, the program was led by a team consisting of Johanna Schwartz (HKS ‘23), Dominique Mashini (GSD ‘23), Raveena John (GSD ‘23), Alex Azevedo (HSPH ‘22), Kate Saulenas (HBS ‘23), and Anika Murasaki Richter (GSD ‘23).
2023 - 2024: In its sixth year, the program was led by a team consisting of Kipper Berven (HLS JD ‘24), Marcelo Sette-Mosaner (HKS MPA ‘23), Miriam Silverman Israel (HDS MTS ‘24), Vasundhara Dash (HKS MPA ‘24), Slide Kelly (GSD MLA/MDes ‘24), and Tyler White (GSD ‘24).
2024 - 2025: In its seventh year, the program is led by a team consisting of Melissa Berlin (GSD ‘25), Afomia Hunde (GSD ‘25), Miguel Iona (GSD ‘25), and Elaine Swanson (SEAS ‘24).