Climate Cardinals founder Sofia Chianni takes to the Planet:Tech stage at Web Summit 2022 … [+]
Climate Cardinals is a youth-led nonprofit organization that achieves significant results with very little funding. Translated 2 million words in four years, making scientific literature more accessible to non-English speakers.
Leaders say Earth Day 2024 will be a turning point for the group, which will receive $400,000 in support from Google’s philanthropic arm.
Hikaru Wakir Hayakawa, vice president and deputy executive director of Climate Cardinals, said the nonprofit will use the funding to expand its translation capacity from 500,000 words a year to a minimum of 1 million words and a maximum of 3 million words a year. The plan is to expand to include wards.
“We have received some grants from L’Oréal and National Geographic, but this is our primary funding,” says Hayakawa, who is also a senior at Williams College in Massachusetts.
“We started with a budget of $500, but our volunteers have spent time with Climate Cardinals in between work, sleep, and study, working on a near-zero budget.”
The word “welcome” in different languages around the world
The roots of the Climate Cardinals date back to the 2000 coronavirus quarantine and to Sophia Kiana, a Virginia high school senior and hikikomori activist. The nonprofit organization is currently based in the United States and has a global network of 14,000 student volunteers in more than 80 countries.
The organization aims to educate and empower diverse young people to tackle the climate crisis by translating climate information into more than 100 languages, according to a news release.
Climate Cardinals is also broadening its horizons by expanding into grassroots climate education.
Leaders say funding from Google.org will support professionalism and growth. They have already hired one full-timer with Google.org support and plan to hire more.
Starting in 2023, Climate Cardinals will partner with Google to use the company’s AI-powered translation hub to translate important literature at a faster pace.
The nonprofit organization noted in a news release that three-quarters of the world does not speak English, yet more than 90 percent of scientific literature in the natural sciences is only available in English.
For example, the widely acclaimed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report is officially available in six languages, a language that is accessible to less than half of the world’s population.
Climate Cardinal has translated IPCC reports into more than 25 languages.
Activists from the Fridays for Future movement march in Turin, Italy on April 19, 2024. … [+]
The nonprofit said the initiative is about climate justice and “encouraging all communities, especially those most vulnerable and least responsible for climate change, to fight for their rights and adapt to environmental challenges. “We will give them access to the knowledge they need.”
Google said in a statement that supporting organizations like Climate Cardinals is part of a broader strategy to empower individuals and organizations with the tools to drive positive action and accelerate innovation to fight climate change. .
Kate Brandt, Google’s Chief Sustainability Officer, said: “Our goal is to ensure that climate solutions are diversified, expanded, and holistically sustainable, and we are committed to supporting Climate Cardinals. This funding is a step in that direction.”
The Climate Cardinals continues to seek donations and volunteers.
Hayakawa hopes the recognition from Google.org will attract more supporters who want to empower the next generation of environmental leaders.
“Youth-led organizations like Climate Cardinals must be at the forefront of the fight for climate justice because young people stand to lose the most if we fail to fight climate change.” added Chianni, founder and chairman of the Climate Cardinals. news release.
Ideally, Hayakawa says the nonprofit would like to have an annual budget of $1.2 million to support 12 full-time staff members.
“To make our work sustainable, we would like to allow more teams to participate full-time and reward volunteers while they are in school,” Hayakawa says.
