Stinner Climate Ambassador Program

Each fall Stinner Summit attendees collaborate to design a project for the coming year. In November 2022, the group supported a single large project to connect a diverse group of young adults interested in climate change with farmers and other agricultural leaders actively working on climate change solutions.

Using input from the Stinner Summit workshop and offers of assistance from community partners, project leaders created an educational and memorable summer internship program for 14 Ohio young adults in the Stinner Climate Ambassadors program.

Stinner Ambassadors spent five weeks learning together from a variety of hands-on activities and experiences across multiple regions of Ohio—focusing on central Ohio, Athens, Dayton, and Yellow Springs. The group spent time with experts at Byrd Polar Research Center, artist Cadine Navarro exhibiting at the Wexner Center for the Arts, and several Ohio farms and agricultural non-profits. Students observed (close-up!) how both urban and rural food systems are working to develop innovative and more sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural systems.

By the end of the summer, the ambassadors gained strong relationships amongst themselves as well as connections with a network of diverse individuals and groups working on climate-resilient agriculture and food system issues in Ohio. Some of the participants have already returned as volunteers to some of the farms and projects they visited during this summer’s program.

As our Stinner Climate Ambassadors return to their communities and colleges, we can’t wait to see what they do next!

Thank you to all the great partners who made this program possible—especially to program host and co-sponsor Methodist Theological School of Ohio’s Ecotheology program.

You can meet some of our Stinner Climate Ambassadors at the 2023 Stinner Summit on November 13, 2023; or get to know them now and see some of the great experiences they shared this summer at www.stinnerclimateambassadors.com.