Author: Grace Li
We are so happy to welcome Raya, the President of The Green Mindset Project, on this installment of the Student Spotlight Series! In this interview, we discuss how youth are raising awareness for overlooked climate and political issues.
Q1: Please introduce yourself and The Green Mindset Project.
Hello! My name is Raya Mohammad Ali, President of The Green Mindset Project. I’m a student who’s passionate about climate action and political science, and loves cats. The Green Mindset Project is a youth-led organisation I founded in the early summer of 2025, which focuses on raising awareness on often overlooked climate and political topics. We, at TGMP, firmly believe that every crisis, big or small, should be heard and acted upon, which we aim to support through fundraisers, engaging posts, and reels.
Q2: Is there a specific moment or idea that inspired you to start The Green Mindset Project?
The idea for The Green Mindset Project mainly came from a sense of frustration. As I learned more about global politics and climate change, I came to notice how many important issues, especially those affecting marginalized communities and the Global South, were either oversimplified or completely ignored in mainstream conversations, until they were too big to overlook.
A turning point for me was when the Sudanese civil war came into light. I had done research and found out; though the public came to know of it only this summer, the conflict had been going on since April 2023. I had finally realized that delayed awareness and inaction by the public were what allowed it to escalate into one of the largest displacement crises in recent history.
That silence, throughout those 2 years, made me question how many other emergencies were unfolding unnoticed, which is why I started The Green Mindset Project. It isn’t a lack of care that allows crises to be ignored; sometimes, they simply don’t reach the public because of limited media coverage.
Q3: What is your process in choosing environmental or humanitarian issues to cover in your articles?
That’s a great question! Generally, we decide what to cover by comparing the level of impact and attention. I research issues with severe environmental or humanitarian consequences that receive limited media coverage and public attention, and then bring them into light. If an issue is urgent and underreported, it’s the exact kind of story The Green Mindset Project exists to highlight. We argue that drawing attention to the absence of media coverage on specific crises may trigger some sort of tipping point and spark action, by pushing these overlooked issues into public consciousness.
Q4: How do you think being a youth-led organization in the environmental space uniquely shapes conversations and sparks change?
Being a youth-led organisation really shapes everything about how we approach global issues. For me and many others, we view current crises not as distant, but as something that directly affects the future we are inheriting.
This perspective, unique to youth, gives us a sense of urgency and honesty in the actions we take or the stories we highlight. Unlike approaches that rely on long-term deadlines, youth understand that delaying action only shifts responsibility onto future generations, who did not create these problems.
Being youth-led also allows us to speak to our generation in a more relatable, authentic way. When other youth see themselves reflected in our mission and the work we do, it empowers them to take action instead of relying on adults. I feel like this peer-to-peer connection allows us to amplify overlooked issues faster and mobilize youth action more effectively than traditional approaches.
Q5: What are some goals you have for The Green Mindset Project going into 2026?
Our main goal is to build enough youth engagement and media coverage to ensure our mission is taken seriously and actually acted upon. To do this, we aim to reach a wider audience and establish credibility through both digital and traditional platforms. By the end of next summer, we hope to gain 1,000 followers on Instagram, be featured in a newspaper or magazine, and launch our first few fundraisers.
These are really just a kickstart into making a long-term impact on the way the public views overlooked crises, and to encourage real action.
Q6: Are there any new campaigns, series, or initiatives you’re excited about in the near-future?
Yes, we just so happen to! After officially forming our executive team, we’re planning to start our first post and article series, ‘Nations of the New Tomorrow’. The title already says a lot, so we’ll leave it at this: sometimes, highlighting progress is just as important as highlighting problems.
Other than this, we have a lot of ideas for fundraisers brewing! We’ll mainly be focusing on countries like Congo, Mozambique, and Sri Lanka, which have been facing long-term challenges both mentally and physically that urgently need to be addressed. One example is the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where over 21 million people require humanitarian assistance as of 2025, despite decades of ongoing conflict.
Q7: How can students get involved with The Green Mindset Project?
There are many ways to get involved with The Green Mindset Project, and I’d love to guide you through them. If you’re looking to just support our cause, you can start by engaging with our posts or reels; by liking, commenting, or sharing them with a friend. This helps amplify the overlooked issues we highlight to a wider audience.
For those who want to take a more active role, we currently have staff writer applications open for passionate young writers who want to contribute alongside TGMP! We’ll be holding fundraisers for various crises and countries very soon, where every donation, no matter the size, will make a meaningful impact.
Lastly, if you have an opinion, question, or a crisis you believe deserves attention, you can always reach out to us via email or Instagram. We’d love to hear your inputs and will make sure to reply to every one of them!
Thank you so much to The Green Mindset Project for joining us in this interview! Please check out their work at this link: https://linktr.ee/thegreenmindsetproject?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=354e4246-aecf-4e07-bb6b-57904f8a2dbc.
The Megaphone 