On Aug. 9, around 500 students gathered for the 2025 Impact Summit hosted by Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action, a nonprofit focused on climate change awareness, at Campbell Heritage Theatre to discuss and educate the youth about the environment.
Fremont High School senior Katherine Park serves as one of SVYCA’s two youth directors, tasked with leading more than 120 members in local action teams across San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties. Park said the summit provided a place for the community to discuss pressing climate issues by connecting professionals with students.
“[The summit is] a time where we can gather all the community members and stakeholders from the area to come together and find ways of sharing perspectives, as well as providing resources to fight local climate issues,” Park said.
When it came to planning the event, Park stated that it was a predominantly youth-led project, with adults only contributing for advisory and funding purposes. SVYCA members reached out to guest speakers, while the organization’s youth directors planned agendas and made sub-committees.
The summit featured speakers such as South San Francisco Mayor Eddie Flores and Campbell Mayor Sergio Lopez, alongside other elected officials. Guest panelists also spoke at a Q&A event, which was followed by community breakout sessions for youth to learn about particular climate issues.
Among the youth in attendance was Waldorf School of the Peninsula senior Rosalia Bacon Flores, who said she hoped the event would allow her to voice her opinions about climate action.
“I’ve been to a lot of academic conferences, but this one is the first time where I’m playing a role,” Flores said. “It’s truly amazing to see something of such a big scale, being led by people of our age.”
Other attendees, like Bellarmine College Preparatory sophomore Lucas Suarez, said they initially attended the summit to obtain volunteer hours for school. But, Suarez said he left the event with newfound knowledge about the climate and environment.
“I really wanted to learn enough information to form an argument in front of people who need to understand [climate change] to create change in our society,” Suarez said.
Park said the summit showcased the importance of young voices in the fight for climate action. She said she often reminds young people their voices are often the most important when it comes to spreading climate change awareness.
“The main message [from this event] that probably does go out to the youth is, ‘You’re not alone’,” Park said. “There are so many people in this community, there are so many resources and there are so many elected officials who care about your voice and actively want to hear it.”
