Every year, Earth Island Institute’s New Leaders Initiative recognizes six youth from around North America who have shown outstanding activism and leadership on a project or a campaign in the fields of environmental and environmental justice advocacy with a Brower Youth Award.
Last week, the Brower Youth Awards presented a new set of awardees at the 2010 ceremony and one of the inspiring individuals was one of our own: De’Anthony Jones.
De’Anthony Jones, a recent graduate of Mission High School in San Francisco, was one of the motivated students involved in our Environmental Service Learning Initiative (ESLI) Program. It was through ESLI that De’Anthony cultivated his passion for environmental and social justice work.
De’Anthony’s engages youth of color in the environmental movement through integrating community learning, environmental service, teacher-student partnerships, collaboration with community-based organizations, and hands-on learning. He is helping to create a new youth culture that takes environmental stewardship as a given. 
Seeing De’Anthony around the office and talking to him, you could just sense a real leader in him. His willingness to learn from everything around him, especially from the community and from the environment, his positive attitude is infectious and motivating. Upon returning from the US Social Forum earlier this year, he gave a report back of his powerful experience in Detroit. He spoke of the connections made with people and also the earth. He shared words about the importance of environmental justice and the need to educate and collaborate. A reverse industrial revolution was needed he said, a human revolution, and we know that with De’Anthony as one of the leaders, he can make it happen.
A former SF youth commission chairperson, Black Student Union president, ESLI youth advisory co-president, Global Exchange youth board member, and now a Sacramento State student with a double focus on Government & Sociology, watch and hear De’Anthony speak about his work and the impact ESLI has made on him and the impact he has made on his fellow youth and the rest of his community.
Global Exchange is proud, honored and inspired by De’Anthony. Congratulations to him and to the rest of the 2010 Brower Youth Award winners.