4 People Who Are Empowering Our Youth

Meet 4 inspiring individuals who are affecting positive change in communities for children and young people. Nominated to The Explorers Club 50, an honorary program of trailblazing explorers, scientists, artists & activists, these 4 people are impacting real change on both the local and international level.

Check out these educators from around the globe and their work to engage the next generation of explorers.

Don't miss the panel discussion, streaming live on explorers.org on Wednesday, April 28 at 7P ET. Visit The Explorers Club to find out more about the Speaker Series and learn about all 50 honorees.

April 28, 2021

By: The Explorers Club and Discovery

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Photo By: Juan Sanchez

Photo By: Edwin Hernandez

Photo By: JC Salyer

Samuel E. Suleimán Ramos

Meet Samuel E. Suleimán Ramos, who is the Director of Sociedad Ambiente Marino and works extensively in marine environment conservation.

Samuel E. Suleimán Ramos

The Society's mission is to educate, train, disseminate information, and collaborate with local communities in the discussion and management of impact projects for marine resources.

Paige West

Meet Paige West, who is an endowed professor of anthropology. She has worked with the Indigenous peoples of Melanesia for twenty-five years to understand their biodiversity-focused traditions and to help them conserve their cultures, languages, and environments.

Paige West

Paige is the author and editor of numerous books and the co-founder of two conservation-focused NGOs. Her scholarly focus is on the relationship between societies and their environments and she has written about the linkages between environmental conservation and international development, the material and symbolic ways in which the natural world is understood by Indigenous peoples and natural scientists, and the production of biodiversity-based commodities.

Craig Mathieson

Ex-military specialist and former tax advisor, Scottish Explorer Craig Mathieson is the founder and head of the children’s charity The Polar Academy. A veteran of both North and South Pole expeditions, he now dedicates his time to training and inspiring the next generation of young people to succeed in life.

Craig Mathieson

The Polar Academy participants train for 12 months in Scotland, before undertaking the 10-day sledge hauling expedition in Greenland. All Explorers know in their heart, the almost magical benefits of spending time outdoors and the transformative side effects of pushing yourself to undertake and accomplish difficult tasks.

Craig Mathieson

Craig witnesses the young people starting to show improvements almost immediately on commencement of their training. Training helps them build their confidence over the year to understand that they are capable of achieving and can pursue a positive destination after school has ended.

Juan D. Martinez-Pineda

Meet Juan D. Martinez-Pineda - a Senior Fellow at The Aspen Institute. He is a co-founder of Fresh Tracks, a youth-led cross cultural revolution. Juan, proudly hailing from South Central Los Angeles, works to engage the rising generation of youth to the healing power of the outdoors.

Juan D. Martinez-Pineda

Juan has committed to help empower the next generation address systems of inequity and access to opportunities by working with community leaders, non-profits, and businesses across the country.

Juan D. Martinez-Pineda

Fresh Tracks provides young indigenous, rural, and urban leaders with cross-cultural community building skills, leadership development training, civic engagement opportunities, and resources for innovative youth and community-led action.