Exclusive Interview with Kosis Ifeji!
Kosis Ifeji, a senior from Bangor, Maine, has just come off a busy year with Changemakers. A youth leader, Kosis has spent her time organizing as part of her position as a MEEA Changemakers fellow, an opportunity she cites as “phenomenal.” Through her fellowship, she was able to speak in an Earth day webinar for the Nature Conservancy Global. She has been a voice in the environmental education advocacy movement in Maine. But it’s her experience with Changemakers that she points to for helping her find her place in the environmental movement.
Kosis began with Changemakers by attending events, beginning in 2019. Before she joined, she felt that there wasn’t much she could do to advocate for her vision for the future. She had strong beliefs, but as an individual, felt isolated. She credits Changemakers for helping her find her voice, especially after attending her first event: the annual Gathering. Changemakers provided professional development opportunities that helped her step up and mature as a person. Its unique structure, where youth and adult mentors collaborate deeply, gave her a network of people who could back and support her. She notes that though there are many organizations that are youth-focused, Changemakers goes further in having adult allies who serve as mentors to youth.
In her own words, Changemakers brings together people of diverse backgrounds. Being black in Maine, it is hard to find a space with as many experiences as Kosis found in Changemakers. She feels this--the network’s ability to gather those from all walks of life--is one of the most powerful aspects of her experience with the group. Kosis’s identity shapes her experience with Changemakers in other ways too. It is the central reason why she wants to make change. She wants to pave the way for those from similar backgrounds and identities, and provide them with more opportunities like Changemakers did for her.
When Kosis isn’t working with Changemakers, she has a host of other projects. Currently, she is starting a podcast named Kosis’s Quirks & Commentary which will focus on youth commentary on today’s social and political issues. She is also a hub coordinator with JUSTME for JUSTUS, a collaborative effort between Campaign Earth and MEEA. In the future, she plans to head off to college, although she’s not quite sure what the next six months will hold. She stresses the need to focus on the moment. Despite this, she has big dreams for Changemakers in the next five years. She envisions that Changemakers will be “a national force to be reckoned with,”especially if it continues to grow at its current pace. In that national network, she sees herself working with Changemakers at any capacity that she can. To her, Changemakers and climate justice represent passions that she wants to work on for many more years.
She ends her interview with a few words of reflection, noting, “if a year ago, someone told me I’d be doing what I’ve done this past year, I wouldn’t believe them.” Changemakers has given her a launching pad into a fulfilling future of environmental activism.
