The Youngest Leader

Jeevan Sivasubramaniam Posted by Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, Managing Director, Editorial, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.



In 1992, at age 12, Severn Cullis-Suzuki raised money with members of ECO to attend the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. There she presented environmental issues from a youth perspective at the summit, where she was applauded for a speech to the delegates. The video has since become a viral hit, popularly known as "The Girl Who Silenced the World for 5 Minutes". This video has been seen over 20 million times. In 1993, she was honoured in the United Nations Environment Programme's Global 500 Roll of Honour. She continues her environmental efforts to this day and has had a bestselling book and documentary released. Leadership knows no age.