Around the world, our ocean and its inhabitants face many challenges

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs awarded a $150,000 Project Grant to the Boys And Girls Clubs Of American Samoa under the Economic, Social, and Political Development of the Territories program (CFDA 15.875). This grant, awarded in April 2024, supports the "Making Waves - Empowering the Next Generation of Ocean Coastal Conservation Champions" initiative, which aims to provide Samoan youth with the tools and resources necessary to assume leadership roles in addressing challenges facing marine ecosystems in the Pacific region and globally. The funding enables the non-profit organization to deliver educational programs and mentoring services focused on sustainable development, environmental conservation, and youth empowerment. Additionally, the organization has received multiple sub-grant awards, primarily from the national Boys & Girls Clubs Of America, to further support its mentoring initiatives for Samoan children and teens as they develop into community leaders and environmental advocates.

As humanimpacts continuously threaten the health of our marine ecosystems, both in thepacific region and globally, IT is imperative that we involve youth in campaigns tosolve these problems. The making waves- empowering the next generation ofocean coastal conservation champions initiative aims at providing the toolsand resources necessary to achieve sustainable development because IT is importantthat our samoan youth, as future leaders and decision makers, be afforded theseopportunities to assume their critical role in this process.