Fresh Voices for Clean Air

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Are you a high school student? GASP invites you to apply to Fresh Voices For Clean Air!

The program will pair a small group of high school students in both Allegheny County, PA, and Birmingham, AL, for a year-long collaborative partnership.

Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, the cohorts in each city will gather monthly via virtual meetings (one meeting per month lasting 1 - 1.5 hrs) to participate in discussions with each other and guest speakers, both to learn more about air quality and to build skills that will help them become more effective environmental advocates.

By the end of the program year, participants will together have created, developed, and executed an air quality-related project of their own choosing, with the support of adult mentors in both Pittsburgh and Birmingham. The project will be developed by the team to fit their interests and goals and will be a group effort, with each member contributing.

The partnership between air quality-focused non-profit organizations in Pittsburgh and Birmingham reflects our cities’ similar industrial and environmental history. A century ago, Birmingham was nicknamed the “Pittsburgh of the South.” Both cities have experienced some of the worst air quality in the nation. Discovering and discussing the similarities and differences between experiences in these two regions will be a key component of the collaboration.

Relevant interest areas: air quality, pollution reduction, environmental justice, climate change, environmental advocacy, environmental law, public health, local history, non-profit careers, media.

Program Details

Application Deadline:
Rolling deadline

Program Duration:
October 2023 - June 2024

Eligibility:
- Enrolled at a high school in Allegheny County (PA) or Jefferson County (AL)
- Willing and able to participate in Fresh Voices for Clean Air until June 2024, including attendance at monthly meetings on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 7PM EST/6PM CT (1 - 1.5 hrs per meeting)
- Equipped to participate in virtual meetings on a laptop, desktop computer, or smartphone
- A parent/guardian's consent will be necessary to participate in the program.

Accessibility:

Please reach out to us with any questions or concerns regarding program accessibility. We want to make sure anyone who is eligible for this program will be able to participate fully.

Program Partners:

Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP), a non-profit founded in 1969, works to improve air quality in southwestern Pennsylvania in order to safeguard human, environmental, and economic health. GASP is a diligent watchdog, educator, litigator and policy-maker on a variety of air quality issues impacting our region.
Find out more about this organization at: www.gasp-pgh.org.

Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution (GASP), a non-profit organization based in Birmingham, Alabama, works to advance healthy air & environmental justice through education, advocacy, and collaboration. GASP strives to reduce air pollution, to educate the public on the health risks associated with poor air quality and to encourage community leaders to serve as role models for clean air and clean energy development. Find out more about this organization at: www.gaspgroup.org.

Communitopia is a Pittsburgh-based non-profit organization dedicated to providing transformative climate change education that develops today’s climate leaders and advances equitable solutions. This year's Fresh Voices program will work closely with Communitopia's Pittsburgh Youth for Climate Action (PYCA) program, including opportunities for the Pittsburgh cohort to meet up in person. www.communitopiapgh.org

Program website:

www.gasp-pgh.org/fresh-voices

What to expect:

The first monthly meeting will take place on Thursday, October 12 at 7PM EST/6PM CT via Zoom.

Virtual monthly meetings will take place on the second Thursday of each month at 7PM EST/6PM CT. Participants should plan on attending as many meetings as possible.

While the program is virtual, there will be opportunities to meet fellow local participants in person, as well. It can be difficult to build rapport in virtual monthly meetings alone, so, based on the advice of previous participants, we highly recommend taking advantage of the chances to meet up in person.

The team project will be directed by participants' interests and the skills the group wishes to build together.

As the program year progresses, we will start discussing ideas for the project, which the whole group (participants in both cities) will work together on as team. The group will determine what form the project will take, including the topic, audience, and delivery format. Depending on the needs of the project, the group can split up the tasks involved. The project must be completed by the end of the program year in June 2024.

Want to find out more about the program?

We'll be hosting a brief virtual info session via Zoom on Tuesday, September 12 at 4:30PM EST/3:30PM CT. GASP staff will provide details about the program and answer any questions.

There will also be space at the end of the application to ask any questions.

Continue to the next section to view and submit the application.

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