Ojas Sanghi

Tucson, Arizona

Harnessing schools for climate action and leadership

More About Ojas

Growing up in New Delhi, India, Ojas Sanghi often experienced days with air so polluted that it was painful to breathe. When he moved to Tucson, Arizona as a high schooler, he was immediately struck by the cleaner air and the power of environmental regulation. It didn’t take long for him to become a devoted climate activist.

In 2022, as Sanghi embarked on his first year at the University of Arizona, the city of Tucson adopted a climate action plan. But the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) — with its 85 schools and hundreds of buses — still didn’t have one. So, Sanghi set his sights on his former district. The benefits of districtwide climate action were clear: It could not only lower TUSD’s greenhouse gas emissions in a meaningful way, but also reduce student exposure to air pollution — which is known to impact learning — and foster youth engagement with the climate crisis.

Sanghi used his role as co-lead for the Tucson branch of the Arizona Youth Climate Coalition (AZYCC) in to pursue this goal. For 16 months, beginning in 2023, he led a team of 15 students who developed and advocated for a district climate action resolution. Following AZYCC-led letter campaigns, climate strikes, and a Tucson climate summit, in 2024 TUSD adopted the most comprehensive school climate action resolution in the country.

Since then, Sanghi has led efforts to implement the resolution and help other student groups across the nation replicate the coalition’s success.