Application closed for the 2026 Activist Academy Leadership Program.
[Schedule, FAQs, honorarium $ info and more below]
What is the Activist Academy?
The Activist Academy leadership program is for individuals ready to take their activism to the next level and grow as leaders in their communities.
This is a FREE in-person leadership program for individuals who want to learn about the climate justice movement and who are seeking to gain the skills to take action in combating climate change and fighting for environmental and social justice. Participants will gain fundamental campaign planning, community organizing skills, relationship building, and connection to peers and leaders with a shared interest.
Additionally, participants will be gain direct hands-on experience by hosting an action (aka tactic) for one of our climate campaigns which includes:
- Conserving and protecting 30 % of open space and public lands
- Ending neighborhood oil drilling
- Clean Transportation
- Building Electrification
Individuals with varying levels of experience in organizing and activism are welcome! Participants don’t need to be experienced activists or organizers to join. We welcome folks with a wide variety of experience and backgrounds. Additionally, we compensate participants $900 for being a part of our program. We provide this honorarium to ensure folks do not incur any financial burdens making accommodations to attend the sessions, transportation etc.
Schedule FYI:
Locations are being finalized, but will most likely alternate and take place in the following areas:
- DTLA
- Pasadena
- San Gabriel Valley
We'd like to thank the Angeles Chapter Foundation and many individual donors for their generous support of this project.
Why?
For decades, we have relied on institutions and agencies to protect us from harm. To keep us safe. We soon learned that only a few were protected and that others, predominantly BIPOC communities, have suffered the most harm from systemic racist institutions in our country. This looks different in each community. It can look like a lack of services or community investments, racial injustices, and toxic, polluted communities.
The Sierra Club recognizes that we cannot build a just and sustainable movement with only those who have historically made up our base. For us, that means using Sierra Club resources to support those most impacted by environmental injustice and multiple systems of oppression. For this reason, the Activist Academy is looking for majority Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and people from low-income and working-class backgrounds to take part in this program.
We value the knowledge and experiences BIPOC bring to our collective work as we look to ensure that our efforts reflect the needs of their communities.
Participants will have the autonomy to decide how to put their skills to practice. This could look like supporting movements and campaigns in the Sierra Club, partner organizations, their local communities to leading one of the future Activist Academy training programs and much, much more.
We are excited to welcome you, and co-create a home for your activism!
Audience
The Activist Academy leadership program is for individuals 18-35 years old who live in Los Angeles or Orange County.
If you are interested in getting more knowledge and leadership skills to get involved in your community and take action for Climate and Energy Justice, APPLY TODAY!
If you have questions, we invite you to visit this Activist Academy FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) GoogleDoc.
Meet the 2026 Trainers Team
Meet the Graduates of the Activist Academy!
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Inaugural 2023 Cohort
2024 Cohort
2025 Cohort
Activists in Action
Building Power Through the Activist Academy
Author: Kim Orbe
Senior Conservation Program Manager
This summer, our Activist Academy Leadership Program came alive as we proudly celebrated the culmination of our third cohort. I am continuously inspired by the activists' passion, creativity, and commitment to climate justice. From learning about campaigns, building organizing skills, to hosting actions for our campaigns, these activists emerge as leaders. The Activist Academy doesn’t just grow individual leaders—it strengthens the Sierra Club as a whole. By training and mentoring new organizers, the program ensures we are building the pipeline of leaders who will shape the future of the Sierra Club and the broader climate justice movement. Below are two of the incredible actions they pulled together this August.
Power to the People: Turning Up the Heat on Climate Justice
Activists organized a powerful event centering the intersections of climate, clean air, extreme heat, building electrification, and tenant protections.
- Advocating for Justice: Organizations like SAJE, SCOPE, and the Switch is On joined this event, sparking conversations with community members. Speakers shared how their work is interconnected, underscoring that when we center community voices and collaborate across issues, we win.
The space was filled with joy, deep questions, and a sense of solidarity. It was a clear reminder that climate solutions are strongest when rooted in community power.
30x30: From the Inglewood Oil Fields to Ballona
Another highlight of the summer was a unique bike and bus tour that connected local struggles and victories across Los Angeles. Coordinated with the chapter 30x30 Committee and the Ballona Coastal Group, the event brought together groups including the Ballona Wetlands Land Trust, Baldwin Hills Conservancy, Nature Nexus, and Roots in Motion.
Participants learned how fights to end oil drilling, expand access to green spaces, and protect wetlands are all interconnected. The day was both educational and joyful, reminding us that conservation, accessibility, and justice go hand in hand.
Building a Legacy of Leadership
The Angeles chapter is committed to investing in the activist academy—where most of the participants are people of color from frontline communities already facing the worst effects of environmental racism and climate change. Year after year, the Activist Academy proves that when we equip and invest in activists, we’re not just training organizers—we’re investing in our movement. In our collective fight to combat climate change and protect our right to clean air, water and land.
What inspires me most isn’t just the success of these events—it’s the transformation happening in the lives of the activists themselves. Graduates of the Activist Academy are:
- Plugging into our Sierra Club groups and campaigns
- Stepping into careers in conservation and environmental justice.
- Leading as confident community organizers, using the skills they’ve honed here to fight for climate justice.
This is the ripple effect of investing in people. One program, one cohort, one action at a time—together, we’re building long-term power for our communities and the planet.
Hope and Action
At a time when a federal administration is gutting environmental protections, selling off public lands, and fighting life-saving climate policies, programs like the Activist Academy give me hope—and proof—that grassroots power can and will lead the way forward. This summer showed us that hope isn’t passive—it’s active, joyful, and deeply communal. When we invest in activists, we don’t just create change for today; we set the stage for a just, sustainable future.
Your support makes it possible. I thank you and look forward to your ongoing support of the Activist Academy and to being part of building the movement for climate justice.
