Erin Schrode is an activist and social entrepreneur. A lifelong grassroots organizer and vocal advocate for climate action, youth leadership and systemic change, she is a leading voice and recognized expert on sustainability, social justice, public health and food systems. Since co-founding the nonprofit Turning Green in 2005, Erin has built and scaled innovative education and action platforms to inspire, educate and mobilize millions of students and changemakers worldwide. She also ran a pioneering campaign for US Congress in California — with an enduring mission to redefine civic engagement, reinvigorate a culture of public service and inspire a new generation of leaders, political and otherwise.

 

A passionate writer and orator, Erin speaks internationally, lectures at leading international universities, and consults and collaborates with corporations, governments and organizations — including IKEA, the US State Department, Apple, The Coca-Cola Company, Microsoft, Nestlé, Unilever, Chipotle and the United Nations — on sustainability, responsible consumption, generational trends, behavior change, and purpose-driven impact. She was on air with ABC News for the election season and writes for Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and Fusion, among others. Erin moderates events, joins panels and hosts videos with influential voices across sectors, including physician and author Dr. Mark Hyman, actor and environmental advocate Adrian Grenier, chef and restaurateur Tyler Florence, #MeToo founder Tarana Burke, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and supermodel and sustainability advocate Amber Valletta.

 

For two decades, Erin has been featured in and tapped as an expert by The New York Times, CNN, Vanity Fair, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Post, Seventeen, Teen Vogue, National Geographic, ABC, NBC, BBC, FOX, Glamour, Forbes, Discovery, E!, The Huffington Post, OK!, AOL, Sundance, as well as other media outlets, books and publications worldwide. CNN profiled Erin as a Green Pioneer, one of six “leading lights in the environmental movement: a role model for young environmentalists who inspires others to follow in her footsteps." Participant Media recognized her among ten Inspiring Climate Leaders alongside Al Gore, Bill McKibben and global luminaries, Refinery29 selected her for its 29 Under 29 and OK! Magazine named her America's Green Girl. The White House called Erin “a dynamic, passionate and ambitious young woman committed to creating big change everywhere she goes.”

 

Throughout her career, Erin has bridged activism, entrepreneurship and culture to advance sustainable innovation and conscious living. She has served as a brand ambassador for IKEA, spokesperson for leading organic brand Nature's Path, face of Seventh Generation's personal care line, advisory board member for Myspace and Intel, and the creator of a green skincare collection sold at Whole Foods Market nationwide. Her work extends into eco fashion and design, walking New York Fashion Week, collaborating with leading designers on ethical collections, and working with will.i.am to launch EKOCYCLE products. She has also testified before California lawmakers and advocated for environmental and social policy in Washington DC.

 

Erin regularly addresses influential global leaders at forums including the White House Summit on Environmental Education, Mashable and UN Foundation Social Good Summit, World 50, Sustainable Brands and One Young World, where she has served as a US Ambassador. She was selected for a delegation to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, named a Young Challenger at Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus' Global Social Business Summit, and honored with the Diller Tikkun Olam Award for outstanding leadership in community service and commitment to improving the world, as well as the Natural Products Innovator Award and formal recognitions from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Magic Johnson, among others. Erin serves on the Board of Directors of the Captain Planet Foundation and advisory boards of Kiss the Ground, IsraAID, Conservation Lands Foundation, the SWU Center for Combatting Anti-Semitism, Birthright, Run for America, and founding board of Zioness.

 

Her commitment to civic leadership and environmental stewardship has taken her into communities around the globe. Following disaster response work in Haiti, Erin founded and launched The Schoolbag, a youth education initiative providing essential learning tools and materials while fostering active citizenship and environmental awareness. The program reached over 30,000 students in Haiti, with additional deliveries in East Timor and South Africa. She has developed eco curriculum for Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian students, helped build recycling infrastructure in Ghana, and amplified the stories of Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees across the Mediterranean and Middle East, as well as Native Americans at Standing Rock, working in solidarity with communities on the ground.

 

Following Hurricane Maria, Erin served as COO of #ChefsForPuertoRico, leading a massive emergency feeding operation alongside Chef José Andrés and World Central Kitchen that served over 3.7 million meals to US citizens in need. Working amid extraordinary challenges, she mobilized teams, developed operations and helped build an effective, replicable model for community-centered disaster response — for which the organization was recognized among Fast Company's most innovative companies and José Andrés was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Her leadership extended beyond immediate hunger relief to investing in local farmers, sustainable agriculture and food systems islandwide, helping strengthen Puerto Rico's long-term resilience.

 

Through Turning Green, Erin continues to drive two transformative initiatives: Project Green Challenge and Conscious Kitchen. Project Green Challenge is an annual global climate action program that empowers and equips young people to address pressing environmental and social challenges, translating knowledge into meaningful action. Through thirty days of challenges, hands-on learning, leadership development and community engagement, the program has directly mobilized over 360,000 students in 185 nations to become informed, conscious changemakers.

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Conscious Kitchen, founded in 2013 in Marin City, California, is transforming school food systems through a model rooted in fresh, local, organic, seasonal and nutritious food. What began as an effort to revolutionize one school's meals has grown into a far-reaching initiative reshaping procurement, institutional purchasing, supply chains and access to healthy food. Conscious Kitchen now reaches over 2 million students daily across California, working with school districts and partners to bring organic, nutritious food to children while supporting local farmers, public health, environmental sustainability and more equitable food systems. Erin also expanded the model into rural Guatemala. Recognized as a 2026 Food Planet Prize finalist and grant recipient, Conscious Kitchen demonstrates the potential to transform institutional food systems at scale, with lasting benefits for people and planet.

 

Erin is a graduate of New York University, where she was a Dean's Scholar and later named 2019 Young Alumna of the Year. She earned a degree in Social and Cultural Analysis while spending terms abroad in the Middle East, West Africa, South America and Europe. From her hometown in Marin County, California to New York University to communities in ninety nations, this bold innovator is on a lifelong journey to empower and equip people to discover and activate passion for social impact and policy change — cocreating a just, safe, thriving world for future generations.