Councilmember Agran has created the Community Development intern program to encourage high school and college students to engage with their Irvine community and government. Periodically, interns from the program will feature projects they are leading. This week features Mae King, who has led efforts to coordinate the Irvine Climate Coalition, a community action network of climate advocates. Out of her organizing, the Irvine Climate Coalition hosted Earth Year, a community sustainability fair, on May 14.

Hello, I'm Mae! I am a nature enthusiast and axolotl-loving junior at University High School. As part of Councilmember Larry Agran's Community Development Intern Team, I am excited to improve Irvine's sustainability and connect with new people. During my free time, I enjoy reading fantasy novels, hiking, and drawing! In the future, I hope to work in sustainable technologies.

Last week, I helped Councilmember Agran host an event called “Invest in Our Future: Starting an Earth Year.” There, more than 20 leading environmental groups invited us to get involved in Irvine on climate advocacy and sustainability action. It was a great event!

If you want to get involved with our work, RSVP for our meeting next Monday, May 23 at 6:30 on Zoom at bit.ly/irvineclimatecoalition.

Here is a video I took at the Earth Year event. It was very fun!