Mobilizing youth leaders to promote environmental preservation through communication, education, and community organizing.

For almost 20 years, Hong Hoang has worked on raising public awareness and engaging communities to tackle climate change, pollution, and the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam. With 350.org, a global climate change organization, she helped to build the youth-led climate movements in Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand. In early 2013, Hong founded CHANGE, an NGO that utilizes new media and creative communication to mobilize, organize, and build the capacity of local youth groups to take action to solve the country’s most urgent environmental issues. In collaboration with CHANGE, young people and other stakeholders, including local celebrities and business-people, work to mitigate climate change, support affected communities, prevent air and plastic pollution, protect endangered wild animals, and promote renewable energy and sustainable living. Hong was inspired to take on environmental work after she joined a UNESCO expedition team of 35 youth from 25 countries to travel to Antarctica in 1997. She was the first Vietnamese citizen ever to set foot on the continent and became a Special Junior Envoy of UNESCO, and received a Certificate of Merits from the Vietnamese Prime Minister. Hong received her bachelor’s degree in foreign trade economics from Hanoi’s Foreign Trade University and her bachelor’s degree in English from Hanoi University of Foreign Studies.

Biography current as of 2018-2019 program year