While she may not have been old enough to vote, senior Haleya Hoang has made significant contributions to Placer County’s environmental activism scene over her past four years at Granite Bay High School. Her work was recently recognized at the National Women’s History Alliance Annual Women’s Luncheon hosted on March 14 in Loomis, where this year’s theme focused on “Women Shaping a Sustainable Future,” according to the advertisement poster.
“I just was so honored and grateful because it really validated all my work. I was able to impact the other people and (they) can appreciate all the hard work that I’ve put in all these years,” Hoang said.
Hoang was nominated for the award by a GBHS alumni parent and Granite Bay community member who has recognized her contributions through projects and rallies throughout her four years. She was then presented with the physical award at an event among community members, organization staff and her supporters.
“The slogan, save the planet, is really misleading, because the physical rock of Earth will always be present, but it’s humans who are endangered,” Hoang said in her speech at the event. “Our communities…those are the people that I want to protect, my loved ones, and all of us.”
Hoang currently serves as the vice president of nonprofit 350 Sacramento and the founder/president of its respective Granite Bay chapter, where she has initiated everything from advocacy gatherings to educational campaigns. Her club organized a rally in October in support of the Make Polluters Pay Climate Superfund act, and a Holiday Gift Drive where students could exchange gifts instead of buying new ones.
“I went into the environmental program with the mindset of wanting to save wildlife and oceans, but then I was really moved by how much people were most impacted and protecting my loved ones and just the communities have already been marginalized for centuries,” Hoang said.
The advocate’s love for protecting the planet stemmed from her love of animals at a young age, where it emerged into an academic passion in high school.
“As I grew up, one of my main goals was protecting wildlife. During my sophomore year of high school, in my speech and debate class, I wanted my first speech to be on environmentalism, but during that research was when I realized how much humans were impacted as well. And that discovery sparked my passion for environmental activism,” Hoang said.
Within her junior and senior years, she served as the Emcee and one of the main organizers for several notable events in Sacramento, including the Climate Arts & Music Festival and annual Climate Justice Festivals. The events attract hundreds of people every year, and are hubs for nonprofits and environmental-minded organizations and leaders to come together to celebrate and advocate for systemic policy and cultural change.
“I’ve actually been really lucky with a lot of the people that I work with in the nonprofit space really respect young activists. But when we’re at these rallies, passerbyers, when they see us chanting into microphones, they definitely kind of just chuckle and see some kids yelling and definitely don’t understand the deeper meaning that we’re fighting for. A lot of kids don’t want to be active because they think people won’t take them seriously, but I found the opposite to be true and that my presence has really inspired or shocked people,” Hoang said.
