Leading animal welfare nonprofit, Born Free USA, announced the appointment of its first Youth Ambassador, Kate Gilman Williams, an 11-year-old animal advocate, entrepreneur, author, and singer who believes that advocacy has no age limit and works to get young people involved in wildlife conservation.
Kate has launched several projects designed to inspire young people to take action for animals. When she was only eight years old, she authored the book Let’s Go On Safari!, which takes readers on a safari adventure and encourages children to speak up for animals who do not have a voice. She then founded Kids Can Save Animals to connect her generation with world-renowned conservation organizations, technologists, policy makers, and global leaders who work to save wildlife and wild spaces. She also launched Club 15, a podcast so named because we lose one elephant from our planet every 15 minutes. Club 15 was created in partnership Microsoft, an extension of Microsoft’s conservation initiative, Project 15. Each episode of Club 15 introduces young people to top scientists, technologists, and conservationists working to save animals from extinction. In June 2021, she released a song along with singer Jenn Hartmann Luck titled “Kids Can Save Animals,” which features a catchy beat and inspirational lyrics that stress the role kids can play in safeguarding the natural world.
Says Angela Grimes, Born Free USA CEO, “We are very pleased to welcome Kate to the Born Free USA family as our first Youth Ambassador. Kate has worked hard to further the Born Free mission even before her appointment. She visited our primate sanctuary to interview Dr. Liz Tyson for Club 15, participated in our virtual event to support the sanctuary monkeys, and traveled to South Africa to go on a conservation safari, where she visited Shamwari, Born Free’s big cat sanctuary. She also recently took part in the IUCN World Conservation Congress, where she discussed how innovative partnerships could be key to successful wildlife conservation efforts. With our new Youth Ambassador Program, Born Free USA hopes to forge precisely those kind of dynamic partnerships to bring our mission and message to the next generation of conservationists and animal welfare activists.”
Kate says, “I was seven years old when I went on safari in South Africa and learned about the threats facing wildlife. I knew I had to do something and got to work! I meet kids all the time who are as passionate about protecting animals as I am, but don’t realize they have the power to take action and create change. That’s why I founded Kids Can Save Animals and Club 15 and that’s why I am so excited to be Born Free USA’s first Youth Ambassador.”
The Born Free USA Youth Ambassador Program will bring the Born Free vision and mission to younger generations, helping to advance wildlife protection into the future. Youth Ambassadors have the opportunity to speak out for wildlife to educate and empower other young people to become wildlife advocates.
Grimes continues, “We are facing a time of acute danger for the natural world – climate change, biodiversity loss, an extinction crisis that could lead to the disappearance of a million animal species in the coming decades, to name only a few challenges. Born Free USA’s Youth Ambassador Program will amplify the voice of the generation whose future could be profoundly altered by the threats facing wildlife and natural habitats.”
Kate continues, “Kids and teens are the ones who will have to live with the consequences of decisions made today. We can’t sit back and wait – we have to do all we can now to protect the planet. We need to raise our voices and not let people make decisions that will negatively impact our future. I invite kids everywhere to join Born Free USA and learn how to save animals, protect the environment, and keep wildlife in the wild.”
To learn more about Born Free USA’s Youth Ambassador Program, please click here.
