Ashokan Center Hosts Fourth Youth Empowerment Sustainability Summit

SUMMIT - YESS 2025 Senator Michelle Hinchey, Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha, Deputy County Executive Amanda LaValle, Tim Guinee of Climate Action Now, Ashokan Staff Member Caroline Bailey, and Kingston YMCA Farm Project Team-

YESS 2025 Welcome Address with Summit Organizer Caroline Bailey -

Students Exploring Wigwam at YESS 2025 -

OLIVEBRIDGE – From February 28 - March 2 2025, the Ashokan Center held its fourth annual Youth Empowerment & Sustainability Summit (YESS!) in Olivebridge. Students from grades 7 through 12 assembled from the Hudson Valley, Adirondacks, New York City, Massachusetts, and Connecticut for this immersive, three-day event. The theme this year was Restoration, Regeneration, and Resilience.  

Students attended a series of informative presentations and workshops, and also engaged in enrichment activities including team building, musical performances, hiking, songwriting, and stargazing.  Speakers for the welcoming address included State Senator Michelle Hinchey, Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha, Deputy County Executive Amanda LaValle, and Tim Guinee of Climate Action Now and the Climate Reality Project.  After addressing the students with inspiring words, the public officials held an engaging panel session to address questions from students.

Hudson Valley Farm Hub, Cornell Cooperative of Ulster County, Community Compost, New Yorkers for Clean Power, and the Wild Center offered a range of workshop sessions. Student teams also presented on sustainability initiatives they’ve led in their schools and communities.  

Schools and groups in attendance were the Kingston YMCA Farm Project, Hudson’s Tomorrow of Kingston High School, SUNY STEP, Saugerties High School, Haviland Middle School, Arlington High School, Wallkill High School, the National Wildlife Federation, the Sustainability Ambassadors of SUNY New Paltz, the Wild Center, Youth Squared, Indian Mountain School, and Glen Urquhart School.

Students worked together in teams to develop climate action plans which they presented to each other at the end of the summit. The experience helped them develop valuable skills for coalition-building and presenting the changes they envision in their communities including creating plausible plans, public speaking, and creating compelling pitches. It was also a unique opportunity for them to network with peers and presenters, and share ideas in a collaborative environment. 

Students expressed they appreciated the increased focus on wellness and mental health this year. They said they loved trying new things at Ashokan such as traditional folk dancing, stargazing, and connecting with each other while hiking and exploring in nature. Tanya Jabcuga, an 11th grade student from Arlington High School shared, “I really liked the intersection of art and music with climate change - the folk dancing and the concert, but also how that relates to climate change and how we can use these forms of expression to show our passion for this work.”  Sarah Zou, an 11th grade student from the Youth Steering Committee of the National Wildlife Federation’s Climate Resilience Education Task Force (CRETF) based in NYC said that a highlight was, “the knowledge that everywhere there’s people doing good things… Being in a space where there’s so many different people from all these different parts of the state, and they’re all doing good things everywhere, makes me feel really good.”  Amanda Ho, a 12th grade student also from CRETF added that, “It was super fun. Everyone was super nice, the food was great, and it was just a great opportunity to be with people who thought like me, had similar ideas, who we could build off of each other - just a great community.”

Attendees left the summit with new and deepened connections, actionable paths to implement their ideas, and a rejuvenated sense of hope. Teachers and chaperones also had opportunities to network with each other and attend professional development sessions. Abby Jordan, a staff member of the National Wildlife Federation and chaperone of the Youth Steering Committee of CRETF described the experience as transformative and shared, “As a chaperone, it was wonderful seeing how thoughtful the Ashokan team and Center planned everything out.  It was seamless… There were so many wonderful engaging things to do with folks across the state. I do want to say thank you so much to the Ashokan Center. Our students were happy - there were so many smiles and laughter shared, and we are just so happy that they had that opportunity to spend a weekend in nature and to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and really you know engage with folks from other communities, and have a great weekend, so thank you so much.”

The Ashokan Center would like to thank everyone who made it possible to run the summit, including all of the presenters, Radio Kingston who sponsored the Kingston High School team, the YESS planning committee, the Mid-Hudson Teacher Center and National Wildlife Federation staff who provided professional development opportunities, and especially the Wild Center Youth Climate Program team who is a partner on the event and led many of the workshop sessions.  

Caroline Bailey, Ashokan staff member and organizer of the event reflected, “At the Ashokan Center, we are all about building and fostering community, and the students and chaperones did just that with each other around sustainability at the summit. As was emphasized in our messaging, when we care for ourselves and each other, that’s how we persevere in the face of challenges and remain resilient. The model of our summit is designed to have a balance of taking on the tough work these students workshopped and will continue to have ahead of them, in combination with light and engaging activities like hiking, music, and stargazing - and as one student so beautifully stated, being reminded of what they're fighting for. As Tim Guinee and many attendees echoed, hope is action - and these motivated students give us a lot of hope as empowered leaders in their communities. We are grateful to have provided a supportive and productive environment for this important work to happen, and we’re excited to see how these engaged students carry their climate action plans forward.”