Twenty-three year old Daniel Torres Balauro of Tafuna has been selected as one of four scholars of the Class of 2023 to receive a prestigious scholarship at Swarthmore University.
The Eugene M. Lang Opportunity Scholarship (LOS) awards students $10,000 plus to craft effective and innovative solutions to complex social challenges.
Daniel says of his project, “For Pacific Islanders, the climate crisis represents not only ecological losses, but also the threat to erase cultures and identities. Despite this fact, the narrative of Pacific communities, alongside those of others on the front lines of climate change, are often disregarded in the mainstream environmental movement. My project aims to address these inequalities by developing a program to equip Pacific Islanders with the political advocacy tools to effectively contribute to national climate justice discourse. I hope to demonstrate that an inclusive advocacy community is not just valuable, but absolutely crucial in achieving both climate and racial justice.”
