Ava Havidic-Youth Advisory Council Member 2025-2026
About This Event
Ava Havidic (she/her) is a 19 year old Robert W. Woodruff Scholar at Emory University and a Florida native, staying a mix of global business and international affairs. She is a changemaker in environmental policy, with a lifelong commitment to ocean advocacy that began at age 5, shaped by a childhood spent largely overseas. Overall, she is passionate about human rights, especially for youth in sectors of education and public health. At Emory, Ava serves as a Zero Waste Ambassador, promoting sustainability across campus operations. She has led the Emory Sustainable Food Fair, volunteers at Lullwater Park, and advocates weekly at Congress. Ava has consulted over 50 companies, including Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola, advising on corporate sustainability strategies and presenting to senior executives, from CEOs to CSOs, at their headquarters. Ava founder and Executive Director of SEAS Connections, the first organization to deal with revitalizing a “greener” travel and tourism industry. It has been supported by the beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship, GripTape, EarthEcho International, and others to raise thousands of dollars in operational funding. She helps steer the Youth Advisory Collective, an initiative supported by leaders from institutions such as Stanford, Harvard, the United Nations, the White House, and Fortune 500 companies. Ava was one of 60 students nationally selected for the U.S. Youth Advisory Council for the UN Ocean Decade and one of 40 globally for the FXB Climate Advocates Program. As a NOAA Ocean Guardian Youth Ambassador, her workshops have reached over 70,000 subscribers. She drafted the 2023 National Youth Statement on Climate as one of 150 delegates at LCOY USA, later presented at COP28, the U.S. Department of State, and the White House. As Co-Climate Education and Chapter Leader for Florida with FXB International, she bridged science and education to empower youth-led climate action, researching the longleaf pine. Ava is the founder of the Broward County chapter of Fridays for Future USA and served as a national organizer, mobilizing a network of 65,000+ youth activists. She has translated 120 one policy briefs of UNFCCC processes into accessible content for public engagement, while tracking over 245 bills. As one of the youngest UNA-USA Global Goals Ambassadors, she directly works on the SDG 14, Life Below Water, to protect marine ecosystems, organisms, and resources. Ava is a worldwide public speaker and storyteller, being hosted at UN Global Goals Week, UNICEF USA Pillar events, Climate Week NYC, the United to Beat Malaria Leadership Summit, and The Allstate Foundation National Service Summit, to name a few. She has been published by ABC News, the Associated Press, the Washington Post, CBS News, Yahoo, and more for her humanitarian work and expertise in youth engagement in governance. She is always willing to connect, so feel free to reach out to [email protected]. You can check out her Linktree (https://linktr.ee/avahavidic) for more information. Ava’s integrity and leadership continue to shape the future of public service, inspiring women around the world!