In 2015, Xiye Bastida’s hometown of San Pedro Tultepec in Mexico was hit with massive floods after a prolonged period of drought. “At the time, I didn’t understand climate change and its role in these increasingly volatile weather emergencies. I never even considered that there were people and businesses who didn’t care about Mother Earth the same way my family and I do.” But what happened in her hometown made Xiye realize that the climate crisis was here, and was affecting frontline communities. She set her sights on fighting climate change on behalf of the most vulnerable among us. In March of 2019, she rallied 300,000 students to strike for climate with Fridays For Future NYC. She has gone on to work with TED, the People’s Climate Movement, Re-Earth Initiative, and other organizations that are helping to mitigate the climate crisis.