People
50 Young People / Fixers

GRIST 50 ... The world feels pretty broken right now. That’s why we need Fixers

Burgess COMMENTARY
I love your thinking about measuring to understand the impact of everything. It is surprisingly similar to m own thinking about the power of measurement to change behavior. I love it. I would love you to join my own professional network. Peter Burgess http://truevaluemetrics.org
Peter Burgess

GRIST 50

The world feels pretty broken right now. That’s why we need Fixers — bold problem solvers working toward a planet that doesn’t burn and a future that doesn’t suck. For our annual list of emerging green leaders, Grist brings you 50 innovators with fresh, forward-thinking solutions to some of humanity's biggest challenges. CREDITS

DONNEL BAIRD

This Brooklynite retrofits cities.

NANETTE BARRAGÁN

This politician fights for polluted communities.

GRIST MEMBER PICK NICOLE BASSETT

This clothing expert revives dead threads.

JOHN BOURNE

This CEO provides clean energy for any budget.

REBECCA BURGESS

This innovator is stitching together a clothing movement.

VAN JONES' PICK GILBERT CAMPBELL

This entrepreneur is diversifying cleantech.

KARINA CASTILLO

This climate organizer works on the front lines in Miami.

LEILANI MÜNTER'S PICK CHRIS CASTRO

This sustainability director drives change in Orlando.

MARIANNE CUFONE

This urban farmer grows in tight spaces.

CARLOS CURBELO

This politician reps bipartisan climate action.

TOM COLICCHIO'S PICK IRVING FAIN

This farmer uses AI for efficiency.

AL GORE'S PICK CATHERINE FLOWERS

This civil rights activist takes on the South's sewage problem.

RAHWA GHIRMATZION

This housing advocate is rebuilding Buffalo.

DALLAS GOLDTOOTH

This comedian spotlights indigenous rights.

BEN HARTMAN

This farmer champions efficiency.

DAVIDA HERZL

This startup founder built a Fitbit for the planet.

Meet the fixer: This startup founder built a Fitbit for the planet. You can’t fight what you can’t measure. But Davida Herzl has a solution: Her company, Aclima, builds sensor networks that monitor environmental impacts at a hyperlocal scale. Clients can deploy sensors on city streets, inside buildings, even on vehicles, to compile data on pollutants, carbon footprint, and more.

Think of it as a Fitbit for a planet trying to take more steps toward carbon reduction. In addition to working with the Environmental Protection Agency, Aclima has partnered with Google’s Street View fleet to map greenhouse gas emissions and air quality in California.

Herzl ultimately wants her sensor networks to create changes in behavior, both from large institutions and from individuals who can follow their lead. “One of the things we know is that emissions from non-electric vehicles influence climate change — but now we’ve learned that the proximity of my house to a freeway increases my health risk,” she says. “That can influence whether I choose to buy an electric vehicle or a nonrenewable-fuel-based vehicle … That personal moment motivates me every day.”

Workplace culture matters to Herzl, too: She sees Aclima’s multiracial, gender-diverse crew as part of a new vanguard in Silicon Valley dedicated to solving the world’s biggest problems through industry and innovation.

DAVID HOCHSCHILD

This policy wonk shows state leadership on solar.

Meet the fixer: This policy wonk shows state leadership on solar. Today, California has 100,000 solar jobs, by far the most of any state. You can credit David Hochschild for some of that. In 2001, Hochschild cofounded the advocacy group Vote Solar with Adam Browning, who previously ran a pollution prevention program at the Environmental Protection Agency. The duo built out the program’s finely tuned combination of policy advising, public engagement, and coalition-building. Vote Solar is now 60,000 members strong, operates in 25 states, and has helped spur initiatives like California’s 3,000-megawatt Go Solar California program — enough capacity to power roughly 650,000 homes.

Hochschild is now a commissioner for the California Energy Commission, the state’s main energy policy and planning agency. He and his team have funded early-stage biofuel projects, crafted emergency policy responses to California’s drought, and released energy standards for next-gen light bulbs. Hochschild embraces the idea that more and more states will look to California as a leader in clean energy. “You can’t stop rooftop solar now,” he says.

TARA HOUSKA

This lawyer stands with indigenous activists.

GRIST MEMBER PICK RAJ KARMANI

This developer built an app for food waste.

JUSTIN KNOPF

This young farmer is saving soil.

L.A. YOUTH GROUPS

These teens sued for environmental justice.

MIKE LEWIS

This farmer gives vets a chance to grow.

ELENA LUCAS

This entrepreneur helps the solar industry compete.

MARK MAGAÑA

This advocate connects green Latinos.

CYNTHIA MALONE

This scientist brings social justice to her field.

XIUHTEZCATL MARTINEZ

This teenager gives the youngest generation a voice.

AHMINA MAXEY

This organizer fights for safer waste disposal.

GAVIN MCCORMICK

This founder empowers people to choose renewables.

LAUREN MCLEAN

This councilwoman keeps Boise booming.

SOPHIA MENDELSOHN

This airline exec is greening travel.

KATHERINE MILLER

This food advocate coaches up chefs.

YORMAN NUÑEZ

This Bronx community organizer is spreading the wealth.

KAIT PARKER

This weather forecaster shames deniers.

HARI PULAPAKA

This chef takes a kitchen sink approach to food waste.

GEORGE REISTAD

This civil servant cooks up smart food policy.

ERICK RODRIGUEZ

This architect designs better neighborhoods.

AVITAL SHAVIT AND RUBINA GHAZARIAN

These transportation gurus coax Angelenos onto bikes.

NICKY SHEATS

This lawyer connects justice and the environment.

TRISHA SHRUM AND JILL KUBIT

These mothers bring the future into the present.

VARUN SIVARAM

This physicist is shaping energy policy.

LIZ SPECHT

This scientist connects investors to new food tech.

STEPH SPEIRS

This CEO plants community solar gardens.

ERIKA SYMMONDS

This professional trains people for solar jobs.

CAMERON RUSSELL'S PICK CAMILA THORNDIKE AND PAGE ATCHESON

These activists want carbon polluters to pay.

ANTHONY TORRES

This organizer is uniting millennials.

RITCHIE TORRES

This New Yorker champions affordable housing.

UMA VALETI

This entrepreneur is making a better burger.

SEAN A. WATKINS

This storyteller puts people first.

EVAN WEBER

This young climate activist is demanding more.

JACKIE WEIDMAN

This strategist trains clean energy leaders.

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