Portland resident Sulwan Ahmed will join Young Climate Leaders of Color program to create swim classes for Muslim youth in southern Maine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1.10.25

Portland resident Sulwan Ahmed will join Young Climate Leaders of Color program to create swim classes for Muslim youth in southern Maine.

Sulwan Ahmed, a local resident of Portland, Maine and environmental health advocate will join young climate leaders from across the U.S. in 2025 for the Young Climate Leaders of Color (YCLC) program to support the development of accessible swim lessons for Muslim youth in southern Maine. 

Swim lessons will take place in southern Maine in Spring 2025. The lessons support up to 15 emerging young leaders from Muslim communities across Maine to gain essential swimming skills. 

“Equipped with these [swimming] skills, our young leaders will be better prepared to support our Maine Muslim communities in the waters and outdoors,” says Ahmed. Her role organizing these swim lessons was sparked by her work with Young Muslim Sisters (YM) of Greater Portland, Maine. “Since its inception in 2022, this [YM] chapter [in Portland] has provided a vital space for young Muslim girls ages 13-27 to explore the outdoors, build leadership skills, and get involved in communities through a faith and culturally conscious approach.” 

Ahmed began planning this swim program as a community action project for her Changemakers Residency with The Nature Conservancy in Maine and the Maine Environmental Education Association (MEEA). This two-year residency program seeks to address career gaps in environmental organizations by providing residency positions to individuals who self-identify as coming from a background underrepresented in conservation and/or the environmental and climate movements. Ahmed is collaborating with multiple Maine-based individuals and organizations for the swim lessons, including Eisha Khan of Maine Health, YMCA of Biddeford, More Women+ Surf, in addition to MEEA and TNC in Maine.

Now, she will receive further support to develop this swim program from experienced professionals in the Young Climate Leaders of Color program, a national fellowship program through the People's Climate Innovation Center. YCLC envisions a vibrant ecosystem of young leaders of color working successfully to transform their communities and the broader climate movement for racial and environmental justice with access to support, resources, and funding. The program is yearlong, starting January 2025 and concluding in December 2025, and Ahmed will travel to California in February to gather with a network of young Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) leaders across the nation doing similar projects in climate change and environmental justice work. Learn more about the fellowship program here.

Sulwan Ahmed is a graduate of Bowdoin College in 2022 with a B.A. in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, and concentrations in Africana Studies and Sociology. She fled the Darfur genocide in Sudan with her family and eventually settled in Portland, Maine in 2003. Her passion for environmental justice is deeply connected to her identity as a displaced person. Ahmed is feeding this passion through her work as the 2024-2026 Community Initiatives Resident for The Nature Conservancy and Maine Environmental Education Association and is excited to begin her fellowship with YCLC this year!

Press Contact
Emory Harger, Communications Coordinator
Maine Environmental Education Association

207.314.6501
emory@meeassociation.org