2022 was a year of challenges and opportunities, but let’s not forget that it has also a year of powerful HOPE! One of Dr. Goodall’s most powerful reasons for hope is the courage and passion of young people to make a difference. In 2022, this was truer than ever as people around the world took action to bravely stand up to the threats they face in their communities and lives, and show what we are capable of when we work together.
Our inspiring Roots & Shoots community was one of the most incredible models of this spark of hope. Around the U.S and beyond, young changemakers used their 🔗 compassionate traits to act locally for the causes they care about, creating a tapestry of hope in 65 countries worldwide. While we can’t share every single story we were inspired by this year, here are the highlights from this 2022 Roots & Shoots year of compassion and action.
2022 Roots & Shoots USA By the Numbers
- New members: 2,524
- 1-Click actions completed: 127
- Project Grants Awarded: 261
- Projects started: 419
POWERFUL PARTNERSHIPS
2022 was another year full of making connections through powerful partnerships! In 2022, JGI worked with Mattel through the amazing collaboration that led to the new 🔗 Dr. Jane Goodall doll and Barbie Career of the Year 🔗 Eco-Leadership Team dolls, as well as our 🔗 #NaturallyCuriousJane Roots & Shoots challenge! Our partners at Delta sponsored many of our inspiring Roots & Shoots Good for All Action Fair events this year, and we were able to join together with program partners like Children & Nature Network and others who have multiplied our impact and helped make a difference for people, other animals, and ecosystems all over the U.S.
IMPACTFUL PROJECTS
In 2022, Roots & Shoots members around the U.S. started over 400 community projects! The themes of these projects covered everything from 🔗 native pollinator oases to 🔗 hydroponic gardens, and from 🔗 wildlife fundraisers to 🔗 celebrations of art & music. We also featured some of the most outstanding Roots & Shoots Projects of the Month including 🔗 Support Your Local Animal Shelter, from Jupiter, Florida, in which students made and donated pet toys to their local animal shelter; 🔗 School supply Drive for Children in Cali, Colombia, which saw backpacks full of necessary school supplies sent to young scholars and their families; and 🔗 Hope Festival 2022 from Seattle, Washington—an annual celebration of community through donated goods and services. Check out even more of the projects we’ve featured and get inspired to start your own!
Making Your Ideas a Reality
Across the U.S. so many changemakers are dreaming of incredible ways to make a difference, and thankfully through our grants program, we’re able to support turning those dreams into a reality! Our Spring Mini-Grant recipients (over 150!) demonstrated the power of investing in good ideas, including a series of 🔗 traveling classroom activities, like building mini solar cookers to demonstrating how CO2 affects pH of water and to educate on the climate crisis and provide hope through solutions; a youth-led 🔗 silent auction to raise funds for the endangered manatee, complete with art, food, and music; a group of 🔗 pollinator gardens that not only benefitted native pollinators, but also provided flower arrangements to a local elderly home and women’s shelter; and an 🔗 anti-racist book festival that promoted anti-bias and inclusive children’s books through an event featuring over 40 local authors. This is just a handful of projects that highlight the variety of incredible ideas that our Roots & Shoots changemakers are capable of dreaming up and implementing!
We can’t wait to see how recipients continue to use these funds to incorporate service-learning and the Roots & Shoots 🔗 4-Step Formula into their classrooms and communities! Learn more about the 🔗Roots & Shoots grants we offer and explore our other 🔗resources.
EXCITING IN-PERSON EVENTS
We can’t talk about a year full of hope without mentioning one major hope-filled part of 2022: all the in-person events! While the COVID-19 pandemic is certainly not over, and we must each continue to take public health seriously —especially for our immuno-compromised friends and family—widespread availability of vaccines in the U.S. have allowed us to slowly start meeting in person again.
We started off strong with our first in-person 🔗 Good For All Action Fair at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in April, celebrating both the opening of the 🔗 Becoming Jane exhibit and inspiring Roots & Shoots projects and groups from around the L.A. area. The event even included environmental activist Saad Amer, wildlife veterinarian and activist Dr. Evan Antin, and Dr. Jane herself!
We also hosted our first in-person Roots & Shoots National Youth Leadership Council (RSNYLC) 🔗 Summer Summit since 2020 at the JGI headquarters in D.C., bringing together our remarkable🔗 youth leaders! Over the three-day event, our youth leaders presented on their impactful community work, participated in fun service project at Rock Creek Park, and took part in a 🔗 community-mapping training—a vital part of Step 2: Observe of the Roots & Shoots 🔗 4-Step formula which helps young people understand their neighborhoods and ways to take action! Participants also developed their storytelling for activism skills with a training from the JGI USA Communications & Partnerships team modeled after Dr. Jane’s own effective style.
We were also thrilled to host our youth leaders when they joined for Dr. Jane and the Jane Goodall Institute’s U.S. tour events! We were honored to have youth leaders Maddy G., Sierra S., and Yoyo W. speak on stage at a 🔗 Templeton Prize foundation event, celebrating Dr. Jane as a laureate of the prize last year.
We hosted two more Good For All Action Fairs—one with the 🔗 Seven Arrows Elementary School in Los Angeles and the other at the 🔗 Oakland Zoo. Both events showcased inspiring Roots & Shoots groups and projects from each area, as well as other local non-profits doing vital work to help people, other animals, and the environment we all share. RSNYLC member April Z. even stopped by the Oakland Zoo to share her own Roots & Shoots story!
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2023
While 2022 brought many challenges and moments of celebration, a new year brings new opportunities! 2023 promises even more inspiration and collaboration to look forward to. We can’t wait to see how our Roots & Shoots family continues to work together to create much needed change every single day. You inspire us with all that you do and remind us why young people are not just the future, but the present – changing the world today for a better tomorrow. Thank you for showing us the power that young people have to shape their world, and we’ll see you next year!
