Xiye Bastida, 17, grew up around drought and then heavy rainfall and flooding in her hometown of San Pedro Tultepec, a town outside of Mexico City. When she and her family moved to New York City four years ago, she learned about the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy.

The effects of climate change were inescapable, Bastida learned. And shes since set out to do as much as she can to stop the damage.

Bastida had always been aware of the need to protect the environment. Her mother and father met in Ecuador in 1992 at a climate change conference. And Bastida is part of the indigenous Otom tribe, which nurtures reciprocity with the land.

When Bastida got to New York, she started an environmental club at her school. She joined several climate-focused groups, including the Peoples Climate Movement, the Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion, and invited their leaders to speak at her school. She began lobbying lawmakers at the New York state capital in Albany.

Bastida was further inspired by fellow young activist Greta Thunberg, who first delivered a TED talk and spoke at the United Nations COP24 in 2018. Bastida became involved in the Fridays for Future strikes in New York, in which students skip school to demand action from government officials. Since then, shes spoken at the United Nations herself and helped organize the first of two Global Climate Strikes this month. In fact, Bastida, who lives in Morningside Heights, was one of the youth organizers who lobbied City Council members to request excused absences for students who joined the demonstration that took place Sept. 20.

We spoke with Bastida ahead of the global climate strike about finding her voice, how her activism has impacted her life as a high school student and the challenges in making sure diverse voices like hers remain at the forefront of this work.