Executive Director
CurrentSpark-Y is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that empowers youth through action-oriented labs focused on sustainability and entrepreneurship. As Executive Director at Spark-Y, I lead our mission of youth empowerment, social equity, and environmental justice though building of a youth-driven organization with impact in under-served communities, with ever-growing outcomes that change our relationship to the environment and the way our society treats youth. Since 2013, I have approximately doubled the financial growth and number of youth served through our organization every year. I lead and inspire a team of young directors that fulfill their own entrepreneurial endeavors, using youth empowerment and sustainability as vehicle. I assist our Chair to lead and inform a passionate board of directors who watch our back, advise on key matters, and help bring charitable resources to the table. Together, we take this same organizational empowerment and share it with our partners and all of our stakeholders. As an organization, we have worked collaboratively to pioneer more than 100 sustainable projects throughout the Twin Cities, including the largest in-school aquaponics system in the state, the first in-restaurant aquaponics system in the country, the first ever timber-frame picnic shelter in a Minneapolis Public Park, and a 1,400 square foot urban agriculture lab in the heart of Northeast Minneapolis. More importantly, these projects are the successful consequence of greater progress: thousands of youth discovering their innate inner power, building skills and designing projects that garner media attention, measurable conservation impact, and learning about their environment, their food, and their communities. www.sparky.org
