Miracle Gatling, a changemaker in youth empowerment and social impact, has dedicated her life to cultivating people power. Whether organizing local communities around anti-trafficking in their streets and industries or collaborating with fellow eco-innovators in the youth-led revolution for sustainable action, her work has focused on educating, engaging, and mobilizing youth around causes critical to preserving our environment, human rights, and freedoms.
At Columbia University’s Global Columbia Collaboratory, Miracle collaborated on a grant pitch with Litro de Luz, an NGO addressing digital poverty with sustainable lighting solutions. Desiring more experience, she furthered her expertise with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she researched climate policy in North Africa. As her knowledge base grew, Miracle took to her community to combat unsustainable practices with Freedom Group, an initiative raising awareness about labor trafficking in agro-based industries. Her commitment to advocacy and sustainability is evident through fellowship and volunteer roles with Laura Flanders and Friends, Meridian International Center, the City University of New York, and the USDA Forest Service.
Combining her passions for sustainable development and our youth, Miracle has ventured into social innovation by founding her sustainability education initiative, Pashm, a project supported by beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship. In September of 2024, Miracle, seeking to connect with other youth concerned with the world’s environmental and humanitarian crises, joined H2OO’s U.S. Youth Action Council for the UN Ocean Decade as the Education Working Group Committee Co-Chair. Her experience with H2OO’s Programming not only empowered her to learn, grow, and advocate in ways she hadn’t before, but inspired her to get directly involved in providing youth the same transformative experiences as Head of Programming at H2OO, where she remains dedicated to her mission of creating a more empathetic, just, and equitable world.
Chloe McKenna is a recent graduate of the Marine Systems and Policies MSc Program at the University of Edinburgh. Her Master’s thesis focused on the socio-ecological and cultural impacts of marine plastic pollution on Scottish island communities. In 2023, Chloe graduated from Eckerd College with a BA in Environmental Studies and a BA in Animal Studies.
Chloe has been involved with Heirs To Our Ocean (H2OO) since 2017 when she founded the H2OO Orange County, California Chapter. She has been involved in various H2OO programs over the years, including Summit for Empowerment, Action, and Leadership (SEAL) and Regenerative Agriculture and Indigenous Systems for our Environment (RAISE) initiative. From 2020-2022, Chloe served as the Co-Chair for the 1st and 2nd Cohorts of the U.S. Youth Action Council for the UN Ocean Decade. Her experiences with H2OO starting at just 15 years old drive her continued advocacy for meaningful youth inclusion in ocean governance spaces.
Chloe’s LinkedIn
Since joining the H2OO team in 2019, Emily has supported hundreds of young leaders as they navigate their unique advocacy journeys and connect deeper with themselves, others, and our Blue Planet.
Emily has furthered H2OO’s mission by coordinating its global programs that allow youth advocates to reach their full potential. In 2020, she helped to develop and launch the U.S. Youth Action Council for the UN Ocean Decade and has coordinated several of H2OO’s global leadership summits. Emily additionally coordinates H2OO’s communications and mentors youth in best social media practices.
Prior to H2OO, Emily worked with the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales, Australia, to stop degradation of Kosciusko National Park’s water resources, and thereafter she worked as a leader with AmeriCorps, Montana Conservation Corps, and the U.S. Forest Service conserving Custer Gallatin National Forest bordering Yellowstone National Park.
Emily graduated from UCSB majoring in economics and environmental science.
In 2016, after having left her law practice to ensure her children received a meaningful education wherein real-world problems were addressed, April supported her children in starting Heirs To Our Ocean (H2OO) along with 11 other tweens who were concerned about what they are inheriting.
After stepping into her voluntary role as Founding Director, April applied the project-based interdisciplinary, real-world-theme focused learning model she had developed in 2010 to H2OO’s programming. April has worked tirelessly to ensure all H2OO programs have an empathetic leadership foundation, are holistic and comprehensive, connect youth across barriers, and serve youth who are most vulnerably situated and traditionally marginalized.
In working with youth through the years, April has actively elevated youth in their development and skill building with hands-on, real-world leadership opportunities. She has supported youth as they move from H2OO’s programming to internships to staff and to the Board of Directors, with the vision of H2OO since its inception being to transition youth ultimately into making up the organization’s executive team. April is so very happy to now be in an advisory role to H2OO’s new executive team of youth leaders.
April believes that the survivability of humanity is dependent upon education — all youth should have an opportunity to understand the value of intact life sources on our planet and human impacts on those life sources today, as well as opportunities to develop essential empowering skills to effectively advocate for themselves and others and solve problems together.