“Don’t be afraid to be vocal about the issues you are passionate about, your voice and experiences are incredibly meaningful, you have the power to make the world a more equitable place.”
Ziyana Kotadia
2024 Top 30 Under 30
ABOUT
AGE: 23
PRONOUNS: She/Her
HOMETOWN: Calgary, AB
CURRENT RESIDENCE: Cambridge, United Kingdom
ORGANIZATIONS:
- Young Diplomats of Canada
- Canadian Council of Young Feminists
- Safe Campus Coalition
- Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre
- Plan International Canada
- Cambridge Journal of Political Affairs
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS I’M WORKING TOWARDS:
What specific issue(s) are you taking on, and what inspires you to do so?
I am a gender justice advocate, scholar, and activist focused on gender-based violence prevention and response, menstrual equity, and addressing structural sexism in Canadian electoral politics.
What does climate change or climate justice mean to you? To your work?
Climate justice means appreciating that in a world so steeped in patriarchal power and colonial logic, the climate crisis produces gendered, racialized, and socioeconomically-stratified harms. Climate justice requires gender-responsive crisis planning, centering Indigenous knowledge and recommendations, and strengthening mutual aid networks.
What advice do you have for other young people looking to get involved in sustainable development?
Changemaking is multifaceted: wherever your strengths lie, you can contribute to the project of building a more equitable, sustainable future. We need activists, artists, and academics who will push us to creatively reimagine new ways of existing in the world, just as we need advocates, leaders, and policy specialists who will prioritize making the institutions we move through every day more equitable. Each of us can make a difference in the spheres we have access to, and together we can create a more just world.