NRCM recognizes Anna Siegel ’24 with 2022 Brookie Award

The Natural Resources Council of Maine has awarded sophomore Anna Siegel with a 2022 Brookie Award for her environmental leadership. The Brookie awards honors Maine’s young environmental changemakers for their leadership, creativity, and positive impact for Maine’s environment.

Anna spearheaded Maine Youth for Climate Justice’s efforts to pass LD 99 to divest the Maine Public Employees Retirement System from fossil fuels, a first-in-the-nation bill. A passionate birder since childhood, she first got involved in climate advocacy after learning about the impacts of climate on birds. Anna started Maine Youth Climate Strikes (now Maine Youth Action, where she is the Campaigns Director) and worked with youth statewide to pass climate emergency declarations at city councils and select boards through climate strikes.

In 2021, Anna got involved in the legislative process for the first time. She worked directly with State Representative Maggie O’Neil to introduce LD 99 and led a youth coalition to generate grassroots communications into lawmakers. The fossil fuels divestment movement has largely been worked on by college students on college campuses, but Anna realized that Maine’s pension fund was complicit in the climate crisis and took action. Now she is collaborating with divestment movements in other states to divest their state employee retirement systems from fossil fuels.

Anna is a demonstrated climate leader who employed creative tactics, motivated her peers, helped pass legislation, and is now working to ensure it is implemented. She is also a founding member of the Maine Youth for Climate Justice coalition and member of the Yarmouth Committee for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability. Congratulations Anna!