Inside the SSC > Who We Are

The Sierra Student Coalition is a broad network of high school and college students from around the country working to protect the environment. We have over 250 affiliated groups based at schools around the country. The SSC is the student arm of the Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and oldest grassroots environmental organization (founded in 1892!). Like the Sierra Club, the SSC is run by volunteers who work on national and local campaigns that promote smart energy solutions and protect the environment. We develop environmental leaders through our award winning grassroots trainings programs and work to maximize our campus-based effectiveness through the creation and maintenance of state and national networks of high school and college students. A small staff supports the work of the Sierra Student Coalition’s volunteer-run activities.

Sierra Student Coalition Mission

The mission of the Sierra Student Coalition is to empower youth to organize effective, tangible victories and develop the future leaders of the environmental movement. To that end we offer resources and support, including trainings and campaigns, to a national network of local communities of young environmental activists to assist them in running strategic grassroots organizing efforts that influence environmental policy and alter public attitudes.

The Planet – Our Future

Students have the power and obligation to act and lead within the environmental movement, and we must act in solidarity with progressive movements worldwide. We believe that environmental protection is compatible with economic growth and a high quality of life, and we are committed to work with communities impacted by environmental damage because everyone has a right to clean air and water, health, environmental justice, wild places, and a sustainable energy future. We also believe that our work must be accompanied by open, honest, and critical dialogue as well as a celebration of our efforts and the Earth.

How/Why did we get involved?:

“I got involved with the SSC because it was an organization that I found to have the most focused goals and campaigns of other organizations that I had been contacting. I wanted to be a part of a well-run student organization that had a history of making real power changes with their campaigns.” – Eli Snyder

Joining the SSC gave me a sense of belonging in to community that I had previously thought hardly existed. To have other students across the country think like me, feel like me, and at the same time be dramatically diverse and beautiful was an empowering feeling which made me realize that social change is, in fact, possible.”
– Jeff Dhungana

The SSC was about personal growth for me- I found an organization that I identified with. I needed an outlet for my passion, and the SSC provided me with a path to get involved with other students on issues I can care about.
- Anna Pierce

“I wanted to create an active and effective community of environmentalists on my liberal, but unmotivated campus” – Andrew Hunt

The SSC World Headquarters in Washington, DC

Our World Headquarters is deep beneath the bowels of Capitol Hill under the Sierra Club's Legislative Office. The National Director, Trainings Director, and Program Assistant call this high tech command center home. We often host interns, volunteer leaders and short term staff as well. Everyone working in the SSC world headquarters is young hardworking environmental organizer. If that description fits you as well, we welcome applications for unpaid internships. If you are interested in interning with us, download the application today!

Structure

National-level

The SSC is governed by a seven-member volunteer Executive Committee. The Ex-Com sets the national campaign priorities of the SSC and is responsible for allocating the annual budget, prioritizing national campaigns, and serving the volunteer membership and Chapter structure of the SSC. Every ExCom member also actively serves on a subcommittee, the venues where the rest of the SSC’s national activities are organized

Major subcommittees of ExCom include;

The Conservation Committee. Cons-Com is responsible for planning and developing the SSC’s national campaign priorities, including development of relevant campaign resources in coordination with SSC staff. The SSC’s current priority campaign is “Re-energize America!” which includes both the Campus Climate Challenge and Cool Cities campaigns. Each of these campaigns has a national strategy, but the campaign is designed to be run on college campuses or in your local community. Members of Cons-Com are available for consultation and support of campaigns run by SSC Chapters. The Cons-Com usually consists of between 3-5 members, at least one of whom also serves on ExCom.

The Trainings Committee. Trainings-Com teaches the skills that the SSC’s member activists use to organize. In coordination with the SSC Trainings Director, the Trainings-Com is responsible for conducting 6 - 8 major workshops during the school year and another 5 - 7 during the summer (our SPROGS). They also run workshops at regional and national conferences and train students who want to become trainers themselves. The Trainings-Com usually consists of between 3-5 members, at least one of whom also serves on ExCom.

The Environmental Justice Committee. EJ-Com is responsible for assuring that the SSC is upholding its commitment to the Principles of Environmental Justice. Its members work with the Trainings Committee to incorporate EJ education into SSC training sessions and with Conservation Committee to assure that EJ is incorporated into all of our campaigns. This year, the EJ Committee has also helped plan an EJ-focused summer training program with Building Bridges to the Outdoors. The EJ Com usually consists of at least 3 members, at least one of whom is on ExCom.

The SSC also has two “support” departments. Outings help keep us inspired and healthy and Communications helps the SSC operate efficiently and openly. The Outings department organizes regional trips into the wilderness that are open to local SSC members. The Communications department maintains this astoundingly cool website, works with the Program Assistant to publish our monthly email newsletter, assists with media relations, and does graphic design work.

If you are interested in becoming more involved with the SSC’s committee structure, please visit our Leadership Opportunities webpage.

Chapter-level

The lifeblood of the SSC is our nationwide network of Campus and Community Organizers. These organizers are the students on the ground who win the victories that advance the SSC and the student environmental movement. These two positions are probably the most important role that one can serve in the SSC. You can find the applications for Campus and Community Organizer on our Leadership Opportunities webpage.

Campus Organizers are charged with the responsibility of organizing effective SSC groups that run local campaigns on their high school or college campus. These local campaigns are usually consistent with SSC priority issue focus at the national and state-level (currently “Re-Energize America”). All group leaders are encouraged to apply for this position. This is an entry-level position in the SSC and no prior experience is necessary.

Community Organizers are charged with the responsibility of bringing together existing SSC campus groups and group leaders and/or recruiting non-SSC groups to the SSC that are within a close geographic proximity (say for instance all of the campus groups in one city, like Seattle, WA or one county, like Montgomery County, MD). As one community these groups pursue a local campaign that is usually consistent with the SSC’s national issue focus. A community organizer position only becomes available once there are at least two functioning and registered SSC campus groups within a community to organize and coordinate. Community Organizers often utilize Sierra Club as a recruitment partner.

A Chapter Organizing Team (or State ExCom) is formed when there are multiple campus groups or community campaigns that have a compelling reason to work together on a common state-wide campaign. The Chapter Organizing Team is simply a collection of the Community Organizers throughout a state. The team is charged with the responsibility of mentoring Campus Organizers by planning state trainings or conferences and assisting in the implementation of national or state level SSC campaigns in their community. The Chapter Organizing Team consists of up to 7 Community Organizers (representing communities in states) who each run the state-level campaign in their respective community.

A Chapter Organizing Chair is elected by the Chapter Organizing Team to serve as its representative to SSC National and to coordinate state level organizing efforts. In lieu of a Chapter Chair, a Community Organizer may serve as the representative to the SSC National. A chair position will only become available once there are at least two community organizers in a state and six active campus groups that want coordination.