Meet Mayela Fernandez Cantu: Transforming Seaweed into Sustainable Innovation

In this inspiring keynote speech, Mayela Fernandez Cantu, shares how her team is transforming invasive sargassum seaweed into a biodegradable coating for food packaging.

June 4, 2026

“Turning ocean waste into sustainable solutions.”

In this inspiring keynote speech, Mayela Fernandez Cantu, shares how her team is transforming invasive sargassum seaweed into a biodegradable coating for food packaging. By addressing both plastic pollution and marine ecosystem degradation, Mayela is proving that innovation can turn environmental challenges into scalable, circular-economy solutions for a healthier planet.

Mayela is the Co-Founder & CEO of EcoPlasticity, a startup developing a biodegradable, seaweed-based coating to replace plastic linings in single-use food packaging. With over five years of experience in digital marketing and an MBA from Cal Poly, she blends business strategy with environmental innovation to tackle global waste challenges. Her work has been supported by grants from VentureWell, Baker & Koob, and other innovation programs.

Passionate about sustainability and the circular economy, Mayela is also an avid adventurer who loves climbing mountains, exploring the ocean, and learning about the natural world.

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Learn more about EcoPlasticity

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Stories

A series of entries from our Walking Softer community that inform, inspire and support change on our planet.

10 Social Impact Solutions Spotlighted at Global Citizen NOW

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10 Steps to Create a Sustainable Wardrobe

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10 Steps To Reduce And Combat Air Pollution

Reducing and combating air pollution is crucial for the well-being of both humans and the environment.

10 Steps to Reduce Plastic Pollution

Plastic pollution is a significant environmental issue that has harmful effects on ecosystems and human health. Here are 10 ways you can help limit your plastic pollution.

2023 Impact Report

As we look ahead, we wish to express our gratitude for accompanying us on this journey. Your participation has played a pivotal role in fostering a healthier future for our planet.

2024 Impact Report: See What We Achieved Together

2024 was a year of meaningful progress, and we’re thrilled to share the Walking Softer Impact Report with you.

5 Changemakers from LA Climate Week You Should Know

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5 Gamechangers I Met in Antwerp - CEOs Leading Business for Good

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5 Things I Learned During the SF and DC Climate Weeks - Pooja Tilvawala

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5 ways Civil Society made COP30 the People’s COP

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America's Stupidest Parking Secret

Young Leaders Award recipient, Rollie Williams, has a new Climate Town episode where he discusses "a sneaky little law in almost every city in the United States that forces private businesses and residences to build way more parking than they actually need." Hit play for some outright hilarious commentary on this issue... did you know there are approximately 1 billion parking spaces in America? That's four spaces per car and it's increasing with every new development!

A Year of Impact, Powered by Community

We're excited to share our 2025 Impact Report and celebrate what we've accomplished together.

AY Young - 2030 Official Music Video

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Beyond Crops: Growing Sustainability Leaders

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Beyond The Haze

Good Climate News: March

Burning Hot Takes

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Celebrating Student Impact at Walking Softer Education’s Virtual Impact Exhibit Hall

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Changemaker Spotlight - Mackenzie Feldman

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Changemaker Spotlight - Sea Change

Rowing Around Great Britain Collecting Data and Stories for Nature and Climate.

ChangeNOW with Pooja Tilvawala

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Checking In With Abhay Singh Sachal

Young Leaders Award recipient Abhay Singh Sachal is a 22-year-old Canadian whose research and work reside at the intersection of climate justice, ecoanxiety, mental health, and spirituality.

Checking In With Allison Begalman

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Checking In With Amanda Sun

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Checking In With Apurva Iyengar

Apurva Iyengar is a 20 year old environmental activist and changemaker based in Boston. She is focused on creating a more cohesive and effective youth climate strategy and broadening access to this movement for young people around the world through her non-profit Youth.ify.

Checking In With AY Young

Young Leaders Award Recipient AY Young is a producer, singer, songwriter, entertainer, and entrepreneur. He first began writing poetry at 14, a reaction to the great disparity in Kansas City known as “the Troost divide”. While touring the USA, AY learned that over 1 billion people lack access to electricity. So AY began powering concerts using renewable energy, raising awareness about sustainability, and fundraising to bring people electricity.

Checking In With Brayan Cruz

Young Leaders Award recipient Brayan Cruz (He/They) is located on the traditional lands of the Acjachemen people in Santa Ana, OC. As a migrant person, their work is driven by the preservation of culture through seeds and food.

Checking In With Dyson Chee

Young Leaders Award recipient Dyson Chee is a youth activist living on the Hawaiian Island of Oʻahu. In 2018, Dyson founded Project O.C.E.A.N. Hawaii to take on single-use plastics, and since 2019 he has been serving as a director for the Hawaiʻi Youth Climate Coalition.

Checking In With Jack Hanson

Young Leaders Award recipient Jack Hanson is the co-founder and executive director of Run On Climate. He started Run On Climate in 2021 to support local-level leaders and climate activists working to advance climate action in their own communities.

Checking In With Jade Algarin

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Checking In With Jasmin Graham

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Checking In With Kennan Adams

Young Leaders Award recipient Keenan Adams played college football, studied forestry and wildlife, and got a PhD from Clemson University. He has spent the last 15 years working as a land manager and scientist for several agencies in many parts of the country. He started a farm in Puerto Rico to make a positive impact on the land and the community.

Checking In With Lauren Castelino

Young Leaders Award Recipient Lauren Castelino is the founder of the Green Career Centre, where she prepares underrepresented youth for green careers. Over more than six years, Lauren has reached thousands of youth through developing environmental programs and sharing career development resources.

Checking In With Mackenzie Feldman

Young Leaders Award recipient Mackenzie Feldman is an environmental activist from Honolulu, Hawai'i. She is the Founder and Director of Re:wild Your Campus, an organization that works with students and groundskeepers around the country to advocate for an end to the spraying of synthetic herbicides at schools and a transition to organic land management.

Checking In With Miswar Syed

Young Leaders Award recipient Miswar Syed is a researcher, published author, inventor, TEDx speaker, and panelist, having participated in numerous conferences worldwide. His expertise includes renewable energy systems, energy storage technologies, and AI applications in smart grids.

Checking In With Pooja Tilvawala

Young Leaders Award recipient Pooja Tilvawala is a climate justice community connector who was born in India, but grew up in the US. She has degrees in Economics and International Studies and first worked at the Meridian Institute to advance ocean policy in Mexico and federal climate policy in the US, form alliances to act on plastic pollution, and more.

Checking In With Rollie Williams

YLA recipient Rollie Williams is a Brooklyn-based comedian, video editor, and guy with both student debt and a Climate Science & Policy degree from Columbia University. He is the creator and host of the digital comedy series Climate Town which has been described as a low-budget Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Over the past two years, the channel has amassed 421,000 subscribers, over 10 million video views, and has won a handful of digital video awards.

Checking In With Sage Lenier

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Checking In With Serena Mendizibal

Young Leaders Award recipient Serena Mendizabal (she/her) is a Cayuga Wolf Clan-Panamanian woman from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Serena has dedicated her life to Indigenous self-determination, climate justice, environmental health impacts, and clean energy transitions through studies, work, and extracurriculars.

Checking In With Suzanne Pierre, Ph.D.

Young Leaders Award recipient Suzanne Pierre is an ecologist and biogeochemist who is pairing science with social organizing to address the climate crisis. She is the founder and executive director of the Critical Ecology Lab, a national environmental research and social impact institution producing original scientific research, training professionals and the public, and changing the climate narrative to create pathways to justice and sustainability.

Checking In With Tez Steinberg

Young Leaders Award recipient Tez Steinberg is an ocean explorer, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker on mindset, resilience, and personal growth. As Chief Engine Officer of the United World Challenge. Tez has been named “One of the 50 Best Young Minds in the World” by the World Economic Forum, has founded four nonprofits, and is passionate about harnessing the power of business for positive change.

Checking In With Turner Wyatt

Young Leaders Award recipient Turner Wyatt is a social entrepreneur focused on reducing food waste and improving our environment and economy. Turner is the co-founder of four award-winning organizations: Denver Food Rescue, Bondadosa, Fresh Food Connect, and Upcycled Food Association.

Checking In WIth Von Wong

Young Leaders Award recipient Von Wong's work lies at the intersection of fantasy and photography and combines everyday objects with shocking statistics. It has attracted the attention of corporations, like Starbucks, Dell, and Nike, and has generated over 100 million views for causes like ocean plastics, electronic waste, and fashion pollution.

Checking In With Win Cowger

Young Leaders Award recipient Dr. Win Cowger is the Research Director at the Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research. Win’s primary objective with science is to identify solutions to plastic pollution and assess their effectiveness.

Climate, Equity & the Power of Science for Change - Suzanne Pierre

As an ecologist and biogeochemist, Suzanne is redefining what climate leadership looks like - merging cutting-edge science with social activism.

Climate, Mental Health & the Power of Connection - Abhay Singh Sachal

Meet Abhay Singh Sachal, a Young Leaders Award recipient whose powerful work with Break the Divide explores the deep connections between climate justice, eco-anxiety, mental health, and spirituality.

Climate Town: America's Dumbest Crop

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Climate Town: Chicago Doesn’t Own Its Own Streets

Young Leaders Award recipient continues his Climate Town series with an in-depth look at how Chicago gave up control of their streets.

Climate Town - The Forbidden Film Oil Companies Tried to Erase

After years of searching, we uncovered a long-lost oil propaganda film parody of the movie Clueless. It's an absolute train wreck of a film that was unfortunately distributed to public schools.

Climate Town - Turns Out America’s Roads Didn’t Just Accidentally Fill Up With SUVs

Car companies make WAY more money selling these little glorified tanks than regular cars and, thanks to a nifty loophole from the 1970s, they don’t even have to meet the same safety, emissions, or fuel efficiency standards as typical cars.

Climate Town - Your Single Use iPhone

Each year, millions of Americans damage their phones and make the unfortunate discovery that repairing their device costs almost as much as just buying a new one.

COY19 and COP29: Insights from Pooja Tilvawala

Have you been hearing the terms COY and COP in the news lately? Discover what they mean with insights from Young Leaders Award recipient Pooja Tilvawala.

Cross-Pollination and Collaboration: How Our First Pitch Showcase Reflected the Full Spectrum of Climate Innovation

Walking Softer hosted our first in-person pitch showcase, highlighting our cohort of young innovators building transformative solutions to our planet’s biggest challenges.

Cycling for Change

Spencer McCullough's bike journey to all 51 national parks to influence policy

Dairy Is Milking America Dry

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Education All-Stars Competition

Congratulations to University City High School in San Diego, California for winning our inaugural All-Stars competition.

Empowering Students: Walking Softer at NAAEE 2025

During the NAAEE 2025 conference, the NAAEE Podcast Stage showcased a series of enlightening conversations with leaders in environmental education. This platform was designed to highlight educators' innovative work and provide listeners with insights into their missions and initiatives.

Empowering Youth for Green Careers - Lauren Castelino

Meet Lauren Castelino, a Young Leaders Award recipient, and the powerhouse behind the Green Career Centre!

Evolving The Young Leaders Award: Introducing Walking Softer Young Leaders

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Fast Fashion Is Ruining Merch

Young Leaders Award recipient Rollie Williams dives into the realm of merchandise, examining what it takes to produce it sustainably and ethically.

Food Rescue for the Environment

A Q&A with Ali Dunford, Founder of Hole Food Rescue in Jackson, Wyoming.

How Oil Propaganda Sneaks Into TV Shows

Watch Young Leaders Award recipient, Rollie Williams, in Climate Town’s latest episode - a 30-minute deep dive about the oil industry and who is really behind the oil propaganda on television.

How Social Events Are Reimagining Food Sustainability

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Joshua Tree Reflections: A Transformative Retreat

We had the opportunity to gather Cohort Two of the Young Leaders Award in Joshua Tree, California, for their second and final retreat. This momentous experience marked the closing of their yearlong journey together.

LA Climate Week: Five Organizations You Should Know

Los Angeles has no shortage of Changemakers and organizations committed to climate solutions…and what better place to experience this than the third Los Angeles Climate Week?

Leadership Summit 2024

Witness Changemakers in action at Walking Softer's Arctic Summit, where leaders across generations came together to spark meaningful climate solutions.

Meet 10 Changemakers from ChangeNOW

There were many amazing individuals at ChangeNow! Here are 10 standouts that are accelerating our transition to a sustainable world.

Meet Mayela Fernandez Cantu: Transforming Seaweed into Sustainable Innovation

In this inspiring keynote speech, Mayela Fernandez Cantu, shares how her team is transforming invasive sargassum seaweed into a biodegradable coating for food packaging.

Meet Nick Okafor: Empowering Communities Through Innovation and Data

In this powerful keynote speech, Nick Okafor shares the vision behind trubel&co (pronounced like “trouble”), a tech-justice nonprofit mobilizing youth and communities to harness local data and solve the challenges that matter most.

Mountain Magic at Davos

The WEF is an annual convening in Davos, Switzerland, whose mission is to improve the state of our world through public-private partnerships.

My Experience: Jacob Alder and the Young Leaders Award Retreat

My experience at Walking Softer’s Inaugural Young Leader retreat provided me with much-needed respite. I am often overwhelmed by the insurmountable devastation that climate change, biodiversity loss, and rampant global inequality pose to each of us fellow travelers on our worldly home - Turtle Island, Spaceship Earth. Yet, for two grateful days at Riverbend Ranch, I found peace and gratitude in the sage, pine, aspen, birdsong, and flowing Weber - Jacob Alder

Nature Narratives: What I Learned From Attending The Garden of Tomorrow

The Garden of Tomorrow Festival brought together speakers and changemakers from diverse backgrounds and industries to explore how imagination, creativity, and language could shape activism.

New York Climate Week Media & Storytelling

I found myself immersed in conversations, ideas, artistic expressions, and workshops that took climate action beyond the traditional panel format.

New York Declares War On Traffic (A Congestion Pricing Story)

Watch as Young Leaders Award recipient Rollie Williams takes a humorous deep dive into congestion pricing on Climate Town.

Planting Change: How GreenAllies is Rewilding Their Community

During the NSTA conference in Phillidelphia, our team visited GreenAllies in nearby Pottstown, where students are leading inspiring rewilding projects.

Powering Climate Justice & Clean Energy Futures - Serena Mendizábal

Meet Serena Mendizábal, a recipient of the Young Leaders Award, who is advancing clean energy transitions and environmental health across her 28,000-member Nation and beyond.

Powering the Future with Clean Energy Innovation - Miswar Syed

Meet Young Leaders Award recipient Miswar Syed, who is driving innovation in clean energy.

Reflections from Lake Tahoe: Launching the Young Leaders Award Cohort 3

The beginning of our Cohort 3 journey in Lake Tahoe felt nothing short of extraordinary. It was a week filled with growth, connection, and inspiration that left me deeply grateful and excited for what lies ahead.

Resilience in Action - Tez Steinberg

Meet Young Leaders Award recipient Tez Steinberg, a bold leader and founder of the United World Challenge.

Restoring Land, Nourishing Community - Keenan Adams

Meet Young Leaders Award recipient Keenan Adams, who is transforming sustainable agriculture in Puerto Rico.

San Francisco Climate Week

Climate work is all interconnected and our progress really does depend on how we can bridge and cross-pollinate industries, skills, and even everyday actions.

San Francisco Reflections: A Transformative Retreat

When I reflect on Cohort 3 of our Young Leaders program, I am most inspired by how this group showed up for one another with a genuine spirit of generosity, encouragement, and care throughout their journey with us.

Seeds, Sovereignty & Stewardship - Brayan Cruz

Meet Young Leaders Award recipient Brayan Cruz, whose work focuses on preserving culture through seeds, food, and land stewardship.

Six Conversations with Changemakers During Hollywood Climate Summit

Three days at the Hollywood Climate Summit connecting with Changemakers, engaging in panels, and exploring how storytelling across the entertainment industry can drive meaningful climate action.

Stop The Perpetual Plastic Machine

Young Leaders Award recipient Von Wong constructed a colossal 15-foot tall art installation laying out the toxic union of fossil fuels and plastic production.

Styling with Beth Jones

Watch as Beth shares exclusive insights on thrifting to reflect your individual style, all while minimizing your environmental footprint.

Surf and Sustainability: The Startups Highlighted at Progression 2025

Six early-stage startups shared how they are approaching conservation and addressing the threats to our oceans today. From seaweed solutions to ecosystem restoring robots–each presentation was as innovative and inspiring as the next.

Thank You To Our Inaugural YLA Cohort

As the first year of the Young Leaders Award program has come to an end, our awe and gratitude remain front and center.

The Dark Side Of Free Returns

Why are free returns such a problem? Young Leaders Award recipient Rollie Williams breaks it down for us.

The Net Zero Conference & The Changemakers Working Toward A More Sustainable Future

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The Thinker’s Burden

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Think Of The Mother

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Tracking Plastic, Creating Change - Win Cowger

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Turning Climate Goals Into Community Wins - Jack Hanson

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