Bushra Asghar is a community organizer with over a decade of experience spanning the student movement, anti-violence organizing, and climate justice campaigns at the local and national level. Born to a migrant family in Saudi Arabia, she is a Bengali-Canadian settler based in Tiohtià:ke on the traditional and unceded territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. She is the Director of the National Campaign for a Youth Climate Corps, a youth-led movement that was pivotal in winning the federal government’s proposed YCC pilot program.
About Youth Climate Corps
The National Campaign for a Youth Climate Corps is a project of Small Change Fund, a registered charitable organization that serves as our fiscal sponsor. Active since 2022, we advocate for the creation of a federally funded green jobs guarantee for young people aged 18-35, modeled on the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps.
Our campaign brings together youth organizers, climate advocates, labor allies, and community partners to build public and political support for large-scale investment in climate resilience work — from ecological restoration and wildfire mitigation to retrofitting buildings and expanding renewable energy infrastructure.
We believe a Youth Climate Corps can simultaneously address the urgent need for climate action and the growing employment and mental health crises facing young people, while building a more just, skilled, and diverse workforce for the transition ahead. Through grassroots organizing, coalition-building, policy research, and direct advocacy with elected officials, we work to move this idea from a compelling proposal to enacted policy at the municipal, provincial/state, and national levels.