LOS ANGELES – Almost every year since the third grade, youth environmental activist Anushka Bhaskar has put together vision boards to remind her of her future goals.

“My personal ambitions and my definition of success is somebody who can activate everybody to create a system that is really healthy and like, a world we want to see, instead of climbing on top of people to get somewhere higher,” said Bhaskar.

The sophomore at Harvard is back home in Orange County, for Algalita institute’s 10^th annual international youth summit on plastic pollution. Since 1999, Algalita’s mission is to inspire the next generation of visionaries to combat the global problem of single-use plastics.

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“I think Algalita and the youth summit specifically has bred a generation of genuine activists who are not just activists to be self-indulgent or to help brands to break into the impact space but really activists who are genuinely looking to work with the stakeholders to create the change that is necessary,” said Bhaskar.

Bhaskar has been involved with the organization since she was 10 and is now their Chief Youth Officer. What keeps her coming back home to this particular youth summit for the past 10 years, is the genuine commitment that leaders have to the youth.

Long before the climate strikes and world marches, Bhaskar had a passion for the environment that stemmed from her family. She grew up going back to India with her parents to take care of her grandparents every year, and she saw the impact the environment had on their health.

“For me it’s been such a journey, but I think the culture they have created that it’s about culture change not trends, and it’s not about marketing and it’s about storytelling, it’s been super impactful for me as a young person,” said Bhaskar.

Her passion to change the world as a young person wasn’t always welcomed, as she was often patronized by policy makers and she felt different from her friends.

“I felt excluded or didn’t have a place in the groups at my school and once I accepted myself as someone who was never going to fit in and finding environmental work and environmental action as my way to fit out,” said Bhaskar.

She attributes most of her confidence in environmental action to the community of mentors, leaders, and students through her involvement with Algalita. Encouraged by her work with Algalita, back at school, she started the Harvard Environmental Action Leadership program, otherwise known as HEALS, combining activism and academia, Anushka created the first HEALS summit last year.

Wherever the next adventure takes Bhaskar, her vision for a sustainable future is crystal clear.