“The way Global Nomads works with students is not just an add-on or an afterthought; it’s their starting point,” says Roni Jones, Director of Curriculum at Ten Strands, our partner in a new ground-breaking project.

Global Nomads Group was selected through a nationwide competitive process to write curricular content for a new for the new Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program, funded by the State of California and coordinated by Ten Strands, a California-based environmental literacy organization.

This is an incredible opportunity for Global Nomads Group to bring the power of its “by youth, for youth” program model to a larger audience. Youth interns from around the world will collaborate on diverse, cross-national teams to develop a curriculum that will be available to all 7th grade classrooms throughout California.

“We received so many amazing letters of interest from organizations,” says Jones. “We chose Global Nomads because they have been working closely with students around the world, learning from them and making them an integral part of the process.”

Through our Content Creation Lab, Global Nomads Group positions youth as designers of learning experiences and content that focus on the pressing global issues young people care about most. These days, climate change and environmental conservation are chief among those concerns. These issues are real and relevant to all youth, no matter where they live in the world. They are eager to be part of the solution by taking individual and collective action; being an intern on our environmental justice curriculum design team is a meaningful way to do just that.

Another aspect of the Ten Strands partnership is that Global Nomads Group is part of a consortium of environmental and educational organizations who meet regularly to exchange ideas and approaches. Global Nomads Group will share with these educational leaders and influencers the resounding impact of our youth-designed programs while also deepening our knowledge on environmental justice issues and the related realities in California.

By convening diverse voices and perspectives to write this comprehensive environmental curriculum, Ten Strands has prioritized equity, inclusion and justice. “Each of the groups that have come to the table bring a level of front-line equity that I don’t think Ten Strands would have access to without them,” Jones says. ”It will make this curriculum more robust and equitable compared to existing resources.”

Ten Strands (opens in a new window) is a non-profit organization working to strengthen the partnerships and strategies that will bring environmental literacy to all of California’s K–12 students. The comprehensive new Climate Change and Environmental Justice curriculum (opens in a new window), developed in partnership with Global Nomads Group and other partners, will be rolled out in 2023.