Steve Lee is a 28-year-old climate change activist, a policy advocate to the United Nations, and a global speaker. He is the founder of FES (Foundation for Environmental Stewardship) and its 3% Project, which mobilizes 1,000,000 Canadian youth – that’s 3% of Canada – through 4 national tours across 400 schools. It provides youth-friendly and holistic education on climate change and empowers them to take action on solving climate change in their local communities today. Steve is currently serving as the Capacity Building Officer in the Secretariat of the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY), the UN General Assembly-mandated space. Steve is personally trained by Al Gore as a Climate Reality Leader, featured on news channels, blogs, and newspapers, and a University of Toronto graduate of Physiology and Human Biology. In the past, Steve was an organizer for UN Women, and co-founded the REVIT consulting firm.
Shannon O’Shea is in charge of Public Partner Advocacy, Visibility and the Sustainable Development Goals in the Public Partnerships Division at the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF). She focuses on working with Governments to bring the child rights’ agenda and children and youth voices into key intergovernmental discussions and decision-making forums and working with UNICEF offices around the world to support their national implementation of the SDGs. From 2012-15, Shannon also led UNICEF’s involvement in the Agenda 2030 negotiations’ process which culminated in the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015 at the United Nations General Assembly.
Shannon is passionate about achieving the SDGs through promoting individual actions and recognizing the intersection of our everyday lives – food, art, culture, fashion — with sustainability. She believes that young people are and will continue to be the drivers of behavioral and cultural shifts that are critical to creating a more just, equal and sustainable world.
Shannon began her career with UNICEF in 2001 after receiving a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs and a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism, both from Syracuse University.
I am the Program Manager for the SDGs Launch at the Foundation of Environmental Stewardship (FES). In my previous role, I oversaw over 40 projects in urban and rural communities at 3% Project, working on a breadth of projects from renewable energy, sustainable consumption, and policy advocacy. Graduating with distinction from International Business, I have worked on multiple consulting projects including working with ANG Consultants to expand into the MENA region, Hotel Alma in its rebranding initiative, and Universal Access as it explored its qualifications to become a B-Corp.
I was the recipient of the EDC International Business Award and the SU Social Impact Award in my role as co-founder of the Literacy Society. I have presented at multiple engagements, from presenting my research in Prescription Drug Access for Low-Income Communities at University of Oxford’s national Map the System conference to teaching community-organizing models at 4-H’s 2020 Youth Conference.