ISSUE NO. 05: GENESIS BUTLER

Curated by model and longtime climate activist Amber Valletta, we spotlight six other women catalyzing change and reform in the fight for a better climate.

By Morgan Becker

Genesis Butler is something of a prodigy within the climate movement. When she was six, she started asking questions about where her food comes from, and thus embarked on her calling, fighting for animal welfare. At 10, Genesis delivered a TEDx talk on her vision for healing the planet. In 2024, that speech made it to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture—part of Making a Way Out of No Way, an exhibition on Black activism. During the pandemic, she also founded Youth Climate Save. The first environmental organization of its kind; it focuses on the link between animal agriculture and climate change, while also allowing global chapters to platform the issues nearest and dearest to them.

No one in Genesis’s immediate family was an activist, let alone a vegan, when she started her work—part of the reason why it’s so impressive that she found her voice so young. But she stands on the shoulders of giants: Genesis’s great-great uncle is Cesar Chavez, the American labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association alongside Dolores Huerta. She sees herself in that tireless fight. “You either let it consume your whole mind, or you speak up,” she says. “My generation isn’t waiting for someone to come and save us.”

Genesis approaches her work with a composure that belies her age. She’s focused on impact over recognition, getting out to the streets to connect with her peers. Her activism leans on a deep understanding of nature’s interconnectedness—climate justice, animal rights, and human equality, in her eyes, are inseparable. Whether she’s on the global stage or at the grassroots, she’ll continue to reframe what leadership looks like: not symbolic, nor future-tense, but unapologetically present.

MORGAN BECKER: Tell me about how you got started as an activist.

GENESIS BUTLER: Sustainability has always been tied to my life, especially since I’m Mexican. My grandma has always reused her jars, hung her clothes outside. That’s just in our culture — to be really mindful with our choices. I started my activism for animals when I was six, and then I became a climate activist when I was 10. I’m also the founder of Youth Climate Save; we talk about animal agriculture and other topics the youth feel passionate about, like plastic pollution, fossil fuels, fast fashion. Most of the chapters, throughout the world, are in places that have been directly impacted by the climate crisis—we do beach clean-ups and reforest community areas. We also table at schools and concerts, and go to events like COP, getting young people to speak up and letting them know that we feel the same way they do.

MB: You’ve been an activist since you were really young. Have you found your age to be a hurdle or a strength in terms of changing people’s minds and advancing your missions?

GB: It was definitely a hurdle at first, because most adults don’t want to listen to what a six-year-old has to say. People would say that my parents were making me be a vegan or speak up for the animals, when that was never the case. Something that gave me a lot of credibility was my TEDx talk on the environment. People realized, ‘Okay, this actually is her.’

MB: A growing refrain in environmental activism right now is that ‘climate justice is social justice.’ You started your work in animal rights—but now you’re tackling stuff like Indigenous rights, immigration reform, and so on. How interconnected are these issues for you?

GB: When I learned about the connection between animal agriculture and climate change, I had to speak up about Indigenous rights. The Amazon Rainforest is being destroyed for cattle to graze, and it’s displacing Indigenous people who live there. People of color are the ones living near factory farms, so they’re being poisoned and polluted. It’s something that’s very important to bring up. Not only are we destroying our environment, but we’re also harming humans who’ve always lived in these areas.

MB: How do you reckon with the fact that you’ve had to do this work from such a young age, taking on challenges you’ve inherited? What keeps you hopeful?

GB: It’s very sad to know I have to take on all these issues, but it’s something that I’m able to do because I use my voice. You either let it consume your whole mind, or you speak up. My generation isn’t waiting for someone to come and save us. I feel very hopeful, because I know that it’s not only me fighting these issues. I had to learn really quickly with self-care. I feel like I give back to the community around me, but I can’t if I feel burned out.

MB: I know your parents and your grandparents have been supportive of your work—but have you had any other mentors from within the activism space?

GB: No one in my immediate family was an activist before I was, but my great-great uncle is actually Cesar Chavez. He fought for so many different causes, and that is another reason why I became such a strong activist. He has a background in fighting and speaking up for what he believed in. So many people said what he was doing wasn’t right, but he continued—and I see a lot of similarities between his activism and mine, just by that fact.