When Sophia was 12 years old, she looked up at the night sky in Iran and realized that she couldn't see the stars due to pollution. In middle school, Sophia brought up her concerns about climate change to her relatives and was shocked when they told her they knew nothing about global warming. She later learned that 40 percent of adults on Earth have never heard of climate change. Since then, she has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the environmental degradation that impacts the most vulnerable populations on our planet. Her middle school advocacy has led her to start an internationally acclaimed nonprofit, Climate Cardinals, and work as the youngest advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General.
Kids back in the day used to skip school to play hooky; now, they're skipping school to fight for their futures. As a national strategist for Fridays for Future, Sophia worked alongside Greta Thunberg to mobilize millions of students to strike for climate action. After decades of inaction by the government, the young generation has finally decided to take matters into their own hands.
Sophia is a prolific public speaker and has spoken at major events including FORTUNE Impact, Coachella, IBM Think, Arch Summit, Bermuda Climate Summit, Web Summit, Washington Post Climate Summit, WIRED Green, and New York Times Climate Forward. She has spoken at universities across the world including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Yale, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Cambridge, and Princeton. Sophia’s debut TED Talk as the closing speaker at the inaugural TED Countdown Conference has 2+ million views. She is available for speaking engagements on climate change, Gen Z, youth activism, sustainable fashion, environmental justice, and everything in between.
On top of all of her prolific work with climate change, Sophia founded Phia a digital fashion platform for Tweens, Teens, and Young Women.
Sophia has been covered in Vogue, TIME, Newsweek, Forbes, and Cosmopolitan, among others.
Speaking Topics
- Climate Change
- Gen Z
- Youth Activism
- Sustainable Fashion
- Environmental Justice
Sophia Kianni spoke at the YCAT DMV international town hall on July 8th. She spoke about how she started her journey as a youth activist and what organizations she is currently involved in. She made a fantastic presentation with all of this information and presented it very well. I would highly recommend Sophia Kianni for any future speaking engagements.
Sophia Kianni spoke at the YCAT DMV international town hall on July 8th. She spoke about how she started her journey as a youth activist and what organizations she is currently involved in. She made a...