About Us
Avani has been twice on an expedition to Antarctica, the first time in 2016 as the youngest Indian (pre selected without an application by the Legend Robert Swan, the first person in History to walk both to the North pole and South pole) and second in 2018 when she was invited by Rob as a mentor to the expedition. The learnings from these expeditions were so immense for her and more importantly, pertinent to the cause of Climate Change, that she was inspired to do her bit and share these for the benefit of the community at large. She has conducted several awareness programs at schools, colleges, corporates, social organisations like Rotary, leveraged speaking platforms like TEDX, The Asian Network, at IAGT's summit where she shared the screen with Rob and Dia Mirza and was invited to work on a project by UNOCHA called the Human Race, as an ambassador.
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Avani's efforts have also been recognised at several prestigious forums including awards like the Karmaveer Chakra from the Government of India in association with the UN - 2019 and the UN's Women Ambassador for Generation Equality in 2021 to name a few.
Shalmali is a young passionate climate reality leader who is at the forefront of the fight against climate change and firmly believes that the Generation Z will be most affected by its consequences. Her intent with the myonepercent challenge is to offer a platform for young leaders to share innovative solutions that protect people and the planet from the devastating consequences of climate change. She loves learning about science, tech, geo-politics, and nature-based solutions. Her avidly followed kapokdrifts.blog strives to bring a broad range of current environmental issues to teenagers, hoping to encourage and inspire people to do what matters most for the planet. Shalmali is an active school council leader as part of the Debating Club, Model United Nations Society, School Newsletter, with a strong belief that ‘words make worlds’.
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Her current focus is on the disproportionate impacts of climate change on low-income, and marginalised communities around the world, the people and places least responsible for the problem. She wants to leverage climate education and engagement as a route to achieve climate justice & equity which has the power to make real and lasting system-wide change.
