Severn Cullis-Suzuki: A Global Voice for Change

Posted on June 3, 2016
By Mark Holmgren

Severn Cullis-Suzuki became a catalyst for change and a thought leader at the age of nine when she founded the Environmental Children's Organization which focused on advancing the learning and understanding of children about environmental issues.

That was the beginning of her life's work as an environmental activist and her devotion to ensuring our children are able to live speaker_severn_suzuki.pngand thrive in a safe, healthy environment. Her passion and interests have included deepening our understanding about humanity's sacred relationship with water, working with the Million Mothers movement to stop the use of nuclear power in Japan, and being an unrelenting advocate for a just, sustainable and peaceful global society.

On Haida Gwaii, off the west coast of Canada, where Severn and her husband and children live, she sits on the board of the Haida Gwaii Higher Education Society (HGHES). The Society offers accreditated university programs in the Natural Resource Science and in Nature Resource Studies as well as professional develpoment retreats focused on Innovation Leadership. 

Severn's concern for the environment is about the future of humanity, of our children. She advocates for sustainable development and collaborating with one another to craft new strategies for change in our complex world. Her passion and dedication are evident on her website and in her speeches to the public. 

At the age of 12, Severn addressed the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. This is how she opened her speech: "Coming up here today, I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come. I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard. I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have nowhere left to go... In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rainforests, full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see. Did you have to worry of these things when you were my age?"

This is the strong, clear, and compelling voice for change that Severn Cullis-Suzuki will bring to the Community Change Institute in September in Toronto. 

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Topics:
Mark Holmgren, Community Innovation


Mark Holmgren

By Mark Holmgren

Mark Holmgren is the Executive Director of the Edmonton Community Development Company and a former Tamarack Director. He is known for his track record in developing social innovations, including the development of Upside Down Thinking, an approach to thinking differently, if not disruptively.

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