Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health

CCCEH Youth Council

Seed Germination in classroom and Growing your own Food

CCCEH Youth Advisory Council

The Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) has established an Advisory Council in partnership with youth residing in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. The goal is to learn from youth so that we may integrate youth voices and perspectives into our community engagement efforts and provide research findings that utilize existing expertise, resources, and assets in the community.  

Youth Council and LIB MS331 students Gardening

Yesibel, EHJ Advocate & Briana Black LIB Executive Director with MS 331 students

The CCCEH Youth Council is a group of young leaders dedicated to reducing disparities and enhancing the health of their communities. For the 2025-2026 academic year, council members aged 18 to 25 will focus on ensuring fair access to healthy and nutritious foods. They will continue mentoring eighth-grade students in the Bronx through a partnership with Leave it Better and local school gardens. 

With support from a new grant from the Levitt Foundation, the Nutrition Education to Engage & Develop Youth Advocates (NEED YA) initiative will empower young leaders to combat food insecurity and foster healthier communities through nutrition education, urban gardening, and advocacy to increase fair access to healthy and fresh foods.

The CCCEH Youth Council will design their own tools for a messaging campaign and incorporate some of the Center’s latest and cutting-edge research into their messaging and projects.  

Instructor discusses Gardening with students

Lew Ziska and EHJ Advocates Gardening at LIB Kids Garden 

The CCCEH Youth Council's Mission

We aim to offer opportunities for enhancing youth knowledge and involvement in public health. We hope that engagement in this youth-led council will spark interest in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).  
The CCCEH Youth Council is committed to engaging the community in environmental health efforts and to reducing disparities through community-informed outreach, educational resources, research, and policy development.  

Our Activities

The Harlem and Washington Heights neighborhoods in Northern Manhattan and the communities of the South Bronx are located in close proximity to sources of environmental air pollution and are disproportionately exposed to many environmental hazards. The CCCEH Youth Council is interested in identifying issues of importance to these communities and engaging in partnerships with communities and researchers to lead collaborative efforts to address these challenges.  

Current areas of interest:
  • Fair Access to Healthy and Nutritious Foods  
  • Extreme Weather and Air Pollution  
  • Plastics Reduction  
  • Reducing toxics in personal care products and cosmetics
  • Lead Poisoning Prevention and Awareness  
  • Integrated Pest Management and Pesticide Safety  
  • Reducing Hazardous Health Effects of Toxic Environmental Exposures  
  • STEM Education access and emerging youth leadership in science  
Recent activities: 
  • Peer mentoring and youth-led education and workshops
  • Gardening in local community gardens (MS 331 - LIB Garden)
  • Community and park clean-ups
  • Participation in national conferences/workshops on topics of interest
  • College and workforce training programs
Key Partners:
  • Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health
  • Leave it Better Foundation and MS. 331 Bronx Middle School
  • WE ACT for Environmental Justice
  • Levitt Foundation
  • Fresh Youth Initiatives / Gregorio Luperon High School