Grace Gong

Introducing Grace Gong — one of the winners of the #Visions2025 Environmental Justice project!

Grace is a force in the environmental movement. Her passion ranges from numerous tree plantings to climate consultations with the city and Mayor of Mississauga to discuss its 2020 Climate Action Plan.

Currently, Grace is an executive for the Peel Environmental Youth Alliance — an organization that she helped scale from 200 to 2300 individuals using social media! She is also a member of the Ontario Nature Youth Council, Mississauga Climate Action, Fridays for Future Ontario, David Suzuki Foundation’s Breaking Ground Network and 2020 youth delegate in the Ontario Legislative Assembly Model Parliament. 

Grace started her school's eco club and runs the initiative: GreenshirtEco, which aims to reduce the impacts of fast-fashion by promoting reuse in communities. As a result of her many environmental efforts, she has been recognized with the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award and received 1st place in the Young Reporters for the Environment competition (senior video category)!  More recently, Grace became one of Algore’s Climate Reality Leaders and is working to grow this initiative in her community. In the fall, she will be entering Western University with plans to do a double degree in Computer Science and Business Administration. Go Grace!

Read below to hear more from Grace and her visions of 2025 🌱

Who or what was the inspiration for your "Our Future" lyrics and music video?

The beginning part that is slightly "gloomy" is inspired by a French song I listened to in French Class by "Les Cowboys Fringants" called "Plus rien." It expands on the futuristic depiction of our world if we don't take action (in the narrative, the singer is the last living person because everyone else has perished due to climate change and natural disasters.) He is singing during his last moments, because of the natural disasters, to an empty landscape. He repeats the similar sadness of what has happened to the earth, and how people didn’t take action, which ultimately lead to its demise. I really thought that this song, although sad, resonated with me because it shows how as humans, we often don’t regret things or take action until it’s too late. But with climate change. this is not a mistake to be considered lightly.

I was also inspired to create a similar themed narrative for "Our Future" when I was hearing all this bad news about oil spills and similar events happening, and it was something that I knew would happen more often if we didn’t take action. I wanted to write about my emotions about how I felt frustrated that most people are too busy working on other things to focus on climate action, and then redirect the topic towards the fact that we can still stop it, but we need to take action now.

I created the song to promote ocean awareness because most of our planet is covered in water, and still, we treat it like our trash can. It was vital for me to emphasize the trash and its impacts, because water is so vital for all life, and is being trashed at such a large extent. Although I am also passionate about all other conservation, I think I am passionate about marine conservation specifically because in Canada we have one of the largest stores of freshwater, with a variety of marine animals like whales, dolphins and sharks. 

Why is art and artistic expression important for engaging more people in the environmental movement? 

I believe that art is essential in engaging more people because it allows creators to express themselves, their points of view, and transcend their messages. Art evokes emotion and makes a more significant statement, especially for those who may not believe in it, as they can get a more extensive comprehension of the factors and visions that drive numerous social and environmental justice movements. 

With art, people can feel a connection between themselves and society at large, which is difficult to feel otherwise. It unites people and creates connections. 

In the context of diversity and inclusion, what has your experience been in the environmental movement in the Peel Region? 

I feel that Peel Region has come under a lot of fire recently for their treatment of the issues relating to racial justice. And this lack of attention has trickled down into the environmental movement. Although we see diversity in our eco-club and other schools, it could be improved if marginalised youth had received adequate support. I have seen the same youth participate in clubs in our school (often high achievers don't have to ask for help during lunch or after school) and it's often difficult for marginalized youth to participate because they need to work harder to ask for help, be heard, and juggle their commitments. I myself have struggled to keep my life together as I was bombarded with constant assignments, and struggled to find help with my academics. We never learn how to cope with these stressors, and it's discouraging when institutions refuse to listen to their student’s concerns. 

I haven't seen many youth in higher grades get involved too because they are busy trying to study for tests or trying to take a break. I hope that youth who are going through a tough time mentally and or physically can get the support they need to thrive and participate in clubs! Numerous youth often underestimate their potential, and if they were given more platforms to use their voices, this would not have been an issue. 

I am interested in seeing what the new superintendent and student trustees for this year can do to ensure that conversations about racial injustice and climate justice are put on priority in the school board. Student voices have too often been tokenized and it's been represented in the fact that many youth do not feel like their voices are heard in school. Many do not feel comfortable asking for help or getting help because schools have often been inaccessible when students need them the most. 

Furthermore, I have spoken numerous times with my own school board's student trustee without much action or updates. I understand they are busy, which is why school boards need to make it easier for youth to have their voices heard directly, and if they gave more positions for the student body, it could potentially elevate the voices of other youth (e.g. student officer for the environment, student officer for diversity and inclusion). Nomination processes for programs and positions often disadvantage minority youth, as their voices are often ignored to begin with, so we need to ensure that the processes for youth eligibility are open for all. 

Likewise, environmental justice is often put aside, and although I am deeply involved as the founder of my own schools eco-club, I don't feel our actions as a collective school board are enough. Only a fraction of schools in the Peel Region participated in the eco-schools program or have eco clubs, which is alarming. I believe that students care, but they have not found the avenues and areas to take action. We need to ignite their passion for driving change and it needs to start with giving youth more leadership and opportunities to be heard (and not just the few who get elected as trustees, but all youth). Thus, if we can help marginalized youth use their voice and have the opportunity to take action, then we all benefit. 

What are ways we can create more space for racialized youth in the environmental movement?

I think that allyship is so important. Whether it is through partnerships with adults or others who may have more privilege, it's about having dialogues about how we can help each other and bridge the gaps in understanding. I think that by learning about one another and listening to each other's perspectives, we can grow and learn to support one another best. 

Giving BIPOC youth more opportunities for leadership is very important. I also recognize that another big issue is status. It's important to give youth role models with diversity and normalize opening up to others. It's time to stop bullying, and social media is perpetuating the issue by continuing to give youth the idea that they will never be good enough (and has a lack of diversity in itself, whether its influencers, or other figures).

Some youth may feel they have other issues to handle, and it's essential to be open to supporting all youth in whatever issues they are facing and looking at marginalized communities through an intersectional perspective. In addition, We need to empower girls, the LGBTQ community, and strive to create open spaces where everyone is accepted and treated as worthy. We need to embrace technology, and encourage girls to see themselves in these positions. In addition, education has become inaccessible, and it's time to lower costs by leveraging technology to support that. In summary,  everyone has different experiences, and I believe that being open to hearing their voices and providing opportunities to grow resilience is essential. 

What's next for you?!

I've also been passionate about environmental justice on a political level, and I was recently rejected for a grant that we had recently applied for, for our project to unify youth with politicians to talk about what's needed in the climate justice movement. However, we are continually learning and developing additional skills so that we can innovate and create more significant projects to unite our community in the future. We hope to still participate in other environmental groups. I am still meeting with the Ontario Nature Youth Council, Mississauga climate action, and doing what I can do daily to minimize my footprint.

Join us in congratulating Grace for being one of the #Visions2025 winners! Follow her work at www.greenshirteco.com and www.youth180.com, which Grace continues to update to promote environmental justice and leadership. For any questions or comments, feel free to email visions@evoke-creatives.com