Picture this: you come home after a long, exhausting day of school. All you want to do is slip into bed and take a long nap. Instead, you know you have loads of homework to complete. All of that must be centered around the times of your conference calls to colleagues, state and federal legislators, and former executive officials. You have to update multiple social media sites while assisting people all over the world. All of this has to be done before your head hits the pillow. Welcome to the life of Bridget Lord.

Lord, a junior at WHS, is constantly balancing her school life with her dedication to Fridays for Future (FFF). Fridays for Future is a youth led organization that focuses on nearly everything pertaining to the impacts of climate change. FFF was created by Greta Thunberg, a 16 year old climate activist from Sweden who has helped increase the popularity of climate strikes. 

Fridays for Future is an international organization that has chapters throughout the world. Lord was actually the person who began the Massachusetts chapter in August 2019.

Lord discovered Thunberg’s work sometime in January 2019, but didn’t fully learn about FFF until reading a TIME magazine article. Since then, Lord has become the chapter coordinator of Fridays for Future Massachusetts, the regional coordinator for New England, a Fridays for Future USA coordinator, and a communicator for Fridays for Future International. 

Some of the requirements of Lord’s positions include learning to talk with legislators, plan meetings, learn to how to obtain a permit from the city of Boston, work on social media and websites, and communicate with major news outlets such as the Washington Post, Politico, NY Times, and PBS. Currently in the Massachusetts chapter, FFF is working on passing legislation that will hold larger companies accountable for their impact on the environment.

But don’t be scared off, you don’t have to be as involved as Lord is in FFF. Different from other organizations, there isn’t a rigid structure of the organization. FFF is open and welcoming to people of any age, no matter if you attend school or not, can join. As previously touched upon, people 25 and under coordinate the organization with some support from adult allies. However, that does not mean adults cannot participate.

 In addition, there aren’t any time commitments; you sign up for as much or as little as you’d like to do. There are a few in-person meetings and rallies that happen, but if you can’t go to those that is no problem. No experience dealing with climate issues is needed to be accepted. The group constantly open to passionate people who truly do want to make a difference. 

So how do you become involved? You can ask someone who is already involved in the organization, message FFF on instagram, or email them using the information below. You can then be added to the online workspace where the majority of communication occurs. You can also request to join specific channels also known as working groups (for example media channel) and you’ll be added.

Why should you join Fridays for Future? “It’s easy to get involved because everyone has a personal stake,” Lord says, “[Climate change] touches every single problem in the world, so everyone knows someone or something that’s going to be affected by it, so we all need to do something about it.” 

As a part of FFF, you will grow in resilience, empathy, confidence, and acceptance of others. It also teaches you strong life skills such as communicating with parents, teachers, and colleagues. So not only would you be able to participate in combating a global issue, but simultaneously receiving incredible opportunities.

To contact Bridget Lord, you can message her on instagram @bridgetrlord

To contact Fridays for Future, you can message through instagram: @fridaysforfuturema @fridaysforfuture 

[email protected]

info@fridaysforfutureusa.org