Country of Residence
Kenya
Age
15
Project title
ROOTED TO LEAD: Our Voice. Our Future
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Rooted to Lead is a youth-led project that uses the Adopt a Tree Initiative (ATI) to help young people care for the environment, develop leadership skills, speak up, and make a positive difference in their communities.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
https://www.tesnetwork.org/
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Pilot-Stage (We’ve tried an activity or two)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
I did not start out as a leader. I started as a participant and later became a mobilizer. For the past two years, I have taken part in environmental and livelihood activities in Lelei, Kajiado County. I saw our community come together to restore the environment despite the harsh and unpredictable climate. Women, families and community leaders were planting and caring for trees, but I noticed that young people were not fully involved. I started mobilizing my peers to take part, and one question kept coming to my mind: What happens after a tree is planted? That became my “Aha!” moment. I realized that planting a tree is only the beginning. Young people can join community activities, but they also need opportunities to take responsibility, make decisions and solve problems. I began to see a tree as more than something that grows in the ground. It could be a living classroom where young people learn by doing. By adopting a tree, caring for it and monitoring its growth, a young person can learn responsibility, teamwork, problem-solving and how to care for their community. This is what inspired me to start ATI. I want young people to move beyond participating to taking the lead in protecting our environment and shaping our communities. A tree may take root in the soil, but I want young people's voices and leadership to take root in their communities too.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
In Lelei, Kajiado County, our community faces growing environmental challenges. Trees are cut down for charcoal, household needs and other livelihoods. When trees are removed faster than they are replaced, we lose vegetation and put more pressure on our land. I understand that many families depend on natural resources to meet their daily needs, so we cannot solve this problem simply by telling people to stop cutting trees. We need ways to restore our environment and encourage people to care for it. At the same time, I have noticed that many young people have ideas and the energy to make a difference, but they are not always given the chance to take the lead in solving community problems. They may participate in activities without getting the opportunity to make decisions, solve problems or learn through experience. This matters to me because I am a young person, and I believe we should not have to wait until we are adults to make a difference. Through ATI, I want to connect caring for the environment with helping young people grow into responsible leaders. By adopting trees, caring for them and working together, young people can learn teamwork, communication and problem-solving while contributing to their community. I want young people to see that leadership starts with taking action, accepting responsibility and learning along the way. A small action today can strengthen us.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
The Adopt-a-Tree Initiative (ATI) is about helping young people learn to care for trees while growing into leaders in their communities. We believe that planting a tree is only the beginning. What matters is what happens after planting and who takes responsibility for making sure the tree survives. Through ATI, a young person, family, school or youth group adopts a tree and becomes responsible for its care. They monitor its growth, protect it and check whether it is getting what it needs to survive. When a tree is damaged or struggles during drought, they learn to identify the problem and find ways to respond. If a tree dies, they learn from what happened and replace it when necessary. This process gives young people a chance to learn by doing. As they care for their trees, they practice teamwork, communication, problem-solving and decision-making. They also learn that taking responsibility means showing up consistently, not just planting a tree and walking away. As young people gain experience, they can take on bigger roles, such as mobilizing their peers, organizing tree-care activities, sharing lessons with the community and mentoring others. Leadership is not just about having a title; it is about taking action and being willing to help others. ATI also creates opportunities for young people to learn from elders and other community members, bringing together local knowledge and new ideas. Our approach follows a simple journey: Participate → Adopt → Care → Learn → Take Action → Lead → Mentor. Through this journey, we want to grow a generation of young people who care for the environment, understand their community's challenges and have the confidence to take action and lead change.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
ATI is still growing, but we already have a strong foundation to build on. Through activities supported by TeS Network, our community tree nursery has produced over 22,000 indigenous seedlings, and more than 15,000 trees have been planted across 8 acres, with a 98% survival rate. About 240 community members have taken part in conservation activities, including 30 young people who are starting to take the lead in protecting the environment. For us, it is not just about planting trees. We want young people to understand why caring for trees after planting matters and how protecting the environment can improve their future. Over the next 12 months, we hope to reach 100–200 young people, support 10–30 of them to become active leaders, form a youth leadership team and start an Adopt-a-Tree group. We also plan to organize youth-led environmental activities and learning exchanges between young people and older community members. Our goal is to involve more than 500 community members as supporters and mentors. We will track our progress by looking at changes in the community e.g., how young people grow in confidence, take on leadership roles, solve problems and help others learn, look at how many trees survive, how much land is restored, and community participation. Through ATI, we hope to build a generation of young people connected to their environment and take action to protect it
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
What makes ATI different is not just planting or adopting a tree, but what happens after planting. We want to use tree care as a way for young people to learn responsibility and become leaders in their communities. Through ATI, every adopted tree becomes a chance to learn by doing. Young people learn to care for their trees, monitor their growth, solve problems and work with others. As they take on these responsibilities, they can grow from tree stewards into people who organize activities, share knowledge and mentor other young people. Many tree-planting activities focus on how many trees are planted. ATI also looks at what young people learn and how they grow through the process. We connect environmental conservation with youth leadership, giving young people a chance to practice leadership while doing something meaningful for their communities. We also bring young people and elders together to learn from each other. Elders can share their knowledge and experience, while young people bring new ideas, energy and a willingness to take action. For us, success is not only about the number of trees planted. It is also about young people asking themselves: What have I learned? What responsibility have I taken? How have I helped others? What difference have I made in my community? Through ATI, we want every adopted tree to be more than a tree. We want it to be an opportunity for a young person to build confidence, take responsibility, lead others and help create lasting change in their community.
How many people are on your team?
5
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Our team has five young people, including me. We work together to mobilize peers, care for trees, monitor their survival and record what we learn. We plan activities together, mostly during weekends and school holidays, and hold feedback sessions to share ideas and solve challenges. I also work with elders, families, schools and community leaders to ensure ownership. TeS Network organization provides mentorship, safety guidance and technical support.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next year, I want to grow ATI from a small pilot into a youth-led community initiative. My first step is to form a youth leadership team, bring more young people on board, listen to their ideas and help them discover how they can contribute. I also plan to engage community members and partners through community dialogues so that we can learn from each other and build the initiative together. We will create a simple way to track our activities, record challenges, share what works and learn from our mistakes. I also want us to learn from other young changemakers through online civic leadership resources, peer learning and mentorship opportunities, including the Ashoka Changemaker community, and apply useful lessons in Lelei. Over the next year, we aim to reach 100–200 young people, support 10–30 to take on active leadership roles, organize at least six youth-led environmental and community activities, engage around 500 community members and hold at least four learning exchanges between young people and elders. We also plan to strengthen tree care by replacing trees that do not survive and expanding our community nurseries. As we grow, I want young people who gain experience to mentor others and take on more responsibility. This will help ATI grow beyond me and the current team, so that more young people can lead, share ideas and work together to improve our community.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
I want young people who join ATI to do more than attend activities. I want them to take responsibility, share ideas and help others get involved. So far, our five-member youth team has reached out to around 30 young people who are interested in ATI. They will be part of our first group of Adopt-a-Tree stewards and help us build our youth leadership team. We plan to reach more through our friends, schools, families, community activities and learning exchanges with elders. We will also give young people different opportunities to contribute based on their interests and skills. Some can monitor tree growth, while others can organize activities, bring more young people on board, share stories or lead community discussions. As they gain experience, we want young people to take on bigger responsibilities, mentor their peers and work with elders to find solutions to challenges in our community. This way, they can learn from one another and grow together as leaders. Over the next year, we aim to reach around 200 young people and 500 community members and other local actors. We want to build a growing network of young leaders who support one another and take action in their community. My goal is that one day a young person will say, “I joined ATI to plant and care for trees, but I discovered that I could lead, bring people together and make a difference, I didn't have to be an adult.
