Hamid Torabzadeh
Long Beach, California
Advancing Disaster Preparedness and Environmental Justice
Since joining the American Red Cross as a volunteer in high school, Hamid Torabzadeh, 17, has worked to expand youth and young adults’ roles in preventing and alleviating human suffering in the face of increasing climate and public health disasters. Hamid currently leads the American Red Cross Los Angeles READYteens Program, which provides interactive programs to high school students in Los Angeles County, and throughout American Red Cross national networks, to educate youth on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. READYteens trains youth in CPR/First Aid, triage, emergency communications, and more, with a focus on Red Cross-identified “vulnerable communities” where youth have the greatest likelihood of facing climate-related emergencies due to historic discrimination, geographic location, and socioeconomic conditions.
To date, Hamid has helped the program reach 10,000-plus youth volunteers across the United States, train some 350 high school students in Los Angeles, and educate 1,000-plus households in Los Angeles County on fire and earthquake safety.