About

Who We Are

The creation of the NEO Youth Climate Future Forum is led by Global Shapers Cleveland, with a loose, organic and growing network of advisers and partners passionate in seeing this Forum happen for our region's young people. Global Shapers Cleveland is very much a relationship builder, connector and network creator in this process.

Global Shapers Community

With the largest youth population in history, there is an unprecedented opportunity for young people to take an active role in shaping the future. This generation has inherited enormous global challenges, but has the ability to confront the status quo and offer youth-led solutions for change.

Born out of the World Economic Forum, the Global Shapers Community is a network of inspiring young people under the age of 30 working together to address local, regional and global challenges. With more than 7,000 members, the Global Shapers Community spans 369 city-based hubs in 171 countries.

In each city, teams of Shapers self-organize to create projects that address the needs of their community. Projects are wide-ranging – from responding to disasters and combating poverty, to fighting climate change and building inclusive communities. Shapers are diverse in expertise, education, income and cultural background, but are united by their desire to bring about change.

Global Shapers Cleveland

The Cleveland Hub was founded in 2013 and has experienced exponential growth over the past few years. From our initial start as a group who largely supported member initiatives such as voter registration drives, conferences like Data Days CLE, and small networking events, the Cleveland Hub has become a launch platform for local social impact projects, including the NEO Climate Future Forum, Fair Housing for All, and Culture.CLE.

All Hubs perform projects focused on shared “Areas of Impact” which include gender equality, climate change, cities and urbanization, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Globally, Hubs have recently performed a wide range of impactful projects including construction of a new school in Kathmandu, education focused on the de-stigmatization of mental health in India, and collaborative, cross-cultural educational initiatives in support of Persian Shapers.

Learn more about Global Shapers and our affiliation with the World Economic Forum here: https://www.globalshapers.org/

Learn more about the Cleveland Hub here, https://www.globalshapers.org/hubs/cleveland-hub and here, https://www.globalshaperscle.com/

Working principles of community engagement and practice

Global Shapers Cleveland is facilitating the creation of a Northeast Ohio regional youth climate network across 7 counties, generally representative of the Lake Erie watershed. The initial onset of creation is facilitated by developing trust, working with communities where they are, involving young people at the onset and asking for their ideas, input and leadership, and creating avenues for positive feedback.

Our commitment to racial equity and inclusion throughout the entire forum timeline and beyond has led to the adoption of a racial equity lens that helps ensure that all youth participating [or seeking to participate] in the forum are treated with the utmost respect and care. Additionally, we are actively seeking efforts to remove barriers that may prevent some youth from participating in this forum.

For that reason, our principles of community engagement and practice are below. These principles will evolve as the extent and depth of this network grows, and new partners, champions and leaders emerge.

Equity and Inclusion

We are committed to creating space and elevating the voices of everyone involved in the process of creating an educated, empowered and engaged regional youth climate network for Northeast Ohio. We are committed to removing barriers that will make it difficult for underrepresented groups to participate meaningfully in the Forum.

Mutual Respect

We are committed to respecting all voices and taking all inputs and opinions very seriously.

Transparency and Trust

We are committed to facilitating the planning process with openness, transparency and accountability.

Team Work and Power Sharing

No one person’s contribution is greater than another individual's contribution. Together, we will work to plan and execute this Forum.

Impact and Action

We are committed to having this Forum result in meaningful action and measurable impact.