We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gianna Maltbie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Gianna, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
“Are you sure you want to go? It’s going to be 95,” my mom questioned as I packed up my tote bag with sunscreen, sunglasses, and gardening gloves.
“Yes, I’m sure. We’re almost done.”
We had been working on the garden for months now. The plan had been put into motion in January, after my GripTape Project grant was approved. It was now the beginning of June and work was still left to be done. Every day after school, I worked on the finishing touches, sometimes with students from my weekly after-school environmental crafts class, sometimes with friends, most times alone.
The garden was once a trash-filled corner of the YMCA’s parking lot. Over the past few months, we removed the garbage, old roots, and portions of a rusted chain link fence long buried and forgotten. Now, there was a wooden structure marking the boundaries of the garden and piles of mulch to provide a layer of cover over the new soil and compost. For the next two hours, I shoveled mulch into a rickety wheelbarrow and spread it within the wooden frame. By the end of the afternoon, I was covered with a fine film of dirt.
The changes to the garden that day were minuscule (and, admittedly, there was some mulch left unshoveled), but it was yet another step in the right direction. Over the coming weeks, we would finish the wood fencing, plant pollinator plants, and start our vegetable beds. Picnic tables and decorations to brighten the area would be added. Finally, in August, we would hold our grand opening, which would be reported by the local news with many community members and elected officials in attendance.
I spent months struggling to get dirt out from under my fingernails, feeling sore from carrying heavy wood beams and mulch, and wishing that more people would help. Looking around at the grand opening, if everyone who attended had helped, we would have been finished in weeks, not months. In truth, while being interviewed by a local news reporter was fun, the grand opening left me feeling flat.
It was not until a week later when I returned to the YMCA for the resumption of my environmental crafts class that it hit me. My students were so excited to work on their projects outside in the garden, where they could pluck a tomato from the vine, or draw flowers based on the ones that surrounded us. I realized that being successful is not about getting press or praise, it is about showing up and putting in the work. It is being able to push yourself to provide a positive example for others even though they may not be paying attention. It is making sacrifices, so that others have the opportunity to shine and learn.
As they grow, I hope that my former students will feel empowered to create changes in their own communities, and remember the girl covered in dirt spending afternoons alone with a shovel and wheelbarrow.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
As a high school freshman, I woke up to how little our community did to combat climate change. From parking lots and roadways littered with fast food wrappers to PCB and PFAS “forever chemicals” leaching into our water supply, I began to understand the fragility of the connection between climate and community and to worry that many of my classmates were not concerned.
In response, I founded my county’s first youth-led non-profit initiative to combat climate change, Clarkstown for Climate, Inc. Through the organization, I created volunteer opportunities for my classmates to donate shoes, participate in community clean-ups, and to become advocates for climate education and environmental action. I also established a free weekly YMCA after-school program providing opportunities for underserved elementary school students to connect with the environment through art and gardening projects, culminating in the creation of a pollinator and vegetable garden in what had been a trash-filled portion of the YMCA parking lot.
Currently, I am working with my classmates (who, as it turns out, shared my concerns) and my school district to turn a New York State grant into pollinator and vegetable gardens at each of the district’s nine elementary schools and researching ways to control building temperature by adding vegetation. Through this work, I hope to not only provide a healthier and more sustainable environment within our schools, but to build a sustainable community of young people interested in and excited about environmental action.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Clarkstown for Climate was first founded through Instagram posts. We initially released a post for individuals to fill out a Google Form if they were interested in volunteering for an environmentally focused organization or in possibly leading some of the events we wanted to create which resulted in over fifty applications. Beginning with following friends, family, and peers who I knew were interested in environmentalism and climate change, I eventually created a network of passionate individuals. From there, through frequent posts and stories, we eventually grew to a larger following from interested individuals. Afterwards, we created our website which has received over 80,000 views and interactions and has continued to grow over the past few years. For those starting to build the social media presence, I would say to stay consistent, stay passionate, and prepare posts weeks in advance when things start to get busy.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Managing a team is all about collaboration and consistency. When I first started, I didn’t really know how to delegate jobs or enhance collaboration, which often led to me sending long messages with little interaction among the team. Later on, however, when we had more team bonding events and a consistent in-person schedule, it became easier to come together and bounce ideas off of one another. Eventually, the leaders of our board each organized different events like clean-ups, gardens, after school programs, and nursing home projects while refining these ideas through collaboration. Despite this growth, maintaining a high morale about projects has been difficult. Sometimes, it took months to hear back from grant applications, our collaborators, or to find time to come together with projects. While we initially wanted our garden to be finished by June, we ultimately took two extra months until we could hold our opening ceremony. My advice would be to allow for these breaks in time and to allow yourself to reflect on the work you have already accomplished. Further, within these break periods, I was able to come up with more project development plans, even when it felt like we were moving very slowly. To me, maintaining a high morale is about keeping busy and pushing through obstacles while understanding that we cannot always control every outcome and obstacle that comes our way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://clarkstownforclimate.org
- Instagram: @clarkstownforclimate
- Linkedin: Gianna Maltbie
Image Credits
Solo photo, speaking at podium credits: Clarkstown Central School District