The Youth Are Already Leading: Meet Green Silicon Valley

What happens when a group of high schoolers turns a $5,000 competition win into a global movement?

In this episode, Dr. Joseph sits down with Abhi Tenneti and Ayush Garg — the high school founders of Green Silicon Valley — an organization run entirely by students, for students, bringing free STEM and environmental education to elementary and middle school classrooms around the world.

We talk about how these young leaders scaled from a single middle school in Santa Clara to over 500 volunteers across seven countries — from Tunisia to Pakistan, China to Nigeria. They share the powerful story of their partnership with an organization in Lagos, Nigeria, where environmental education is being woven into a broader fight against poverty and violence — teaching not just STEM, but real skills to help young people build a future outside of military conscription and gang violence.


We get into the nitty-gritty of running a youth-led organization: the fundraising struggles, the cold-emailing strategy that landed them international partnerships, the hands-on kits that turn saltwater into electricity, and their vision for a world where peer-to-peer climate education is embedded in every school system.


This episode is a testament to what happens when we trust young people to lead, teach, and organize. The climate movement needs more than seasoned experts — it needs youth power, and Green Silicon Valley is showing us exactly what that looks like.


What we talk about:

• 🌍 Youth-led climate & STEM education
  
  
  
• 📚 Peer-to-peer teaching models
  
  
  
• 🌱 Building an international organization from scratch
  
  
  
• 🌏 Environmental justice in Nigeria & the Global South
  
  
  
• 🔬 Hands-on STEM kits for environmental learning
  
  
  
• 💪 The power of intergenerational climate action
  
  
  
  
  Visit greensiliconvalley.com or email info@greensiliconvalley.com to volunteer, partner, or bring their programming to your school — anywhere in the world.
  
  Volunteer sign-up: https://forms.gle/RuVJVtHcMP6aw2cZ9
  Teacher sign-up: https://forms.gle/aB2iHFNVpdK8c8gK9
  
  
  

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