Autumn Peltier is a youth environmentalist who has inspired thousands of students to walk out of class and demand action on climate change.

When Autumn Peltier was just 8 years old, she attended a ceremony at a reservation where she saw a sign warning that the water was poisonous. Growing up on a freshwater island in Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory in Canada, Peltier says she had never experienced poisonous water. The memory of that sign stayed with her.

Two years later, at the age of 10, Peltier is fighting for water conservation and water rights for everybody. She says she was inspired by her great aunt, Josephine Mandamin, a well-known activist who walked the shores of all five Great Lakes to raise awareness for water conservation.

When she was 12 in 2015, Peltier met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, telling him she was unhappy with his policies on debating pipeline projects. Trudeau promised her he would preserve the water. Since 2015, 87 long-term water advisories in Canada have been lifted; 56 water advisories remain.