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Chloe started out as an environmental activist at age 12 when she became an outspoken critic of a proposed development in Maine’s North Woods. In 2007 she founded the online youth network “First Here, Then Everywhere” which works to connect youth activists around the world.

Her current campaign focuses on getting Harvard University join the growing movement across US campuses calling for college and university administrations to divest from fossil fuels. In September 2012, after researching her university’s past divestment campaigns against apartheid in South Africa and Big Tobacco, she cofounded Divest Harvard. Divestment works!

Since then she has worked on galvanizing a student and community movement to take university funds out of corporations that make money by contributing to climate change. Her pointed arguments reframe the narrative of climate, people and the economy, – so people really get it, understand the big picture, and see their personal role in the deconstruction of the forces fueling an outdated energy industry that causes tremendous direct and collateral harm to the planet, our people and local economies.

Divest Harvard took advantage of a campuswide referendum in which 72 percent of voting undergraduates supported fossil fuel divestment. The referendum – along with outreach to alumni, faculty and various student groups – helped Divest Harvard secure meetings with trustees and started a new conversation about fossil fuels at the oldest university in the country.

Spearheaded by Harvard Students for a Just and Stable Future, Divest Harvard calls upon Harvard University to:

• immediately freeze any new investments in fossil fuel companies 
• immediately divest direct holdings (currently $17.3 million) from the top 200 publicly traded fossil fuel companies
• divest indirect holdings in the top 200 fossil fuel companies within 5 years, and reinvest in socially responsible funds.

This movement is huge, and gaining tremendous momentum, as divestment initiatives are appearing at universities across the entire nation – in the true spirit of First Here The Everywhere. For this powerhouse among us “divestment has become life”, and together with you – we are taking this global!

 

Articles: Rolling Stone Magazine. The Divestment Nerd and Green American

The movement: http://gofossilfree.org

An intimate review of Divest Harvard’s path over the past 6 months. You will be puzzled and surprised more than once. A gem of immeasurable value to every kid, student, activist and changemaker. For one of the most precious reads of your life, go here.

Chloe’s articles in The Nation: http://www.thenation.com/authors/chloe-maxmin

Blog: http://firstheretheneverywhere.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chloemaxmin