Youth Climate Strike Los Angeles

Sim-Marcel Bilal (he/him)

“My friend, we're running out of time. Young people in LA are being cooked alive in heat islands, flooded out of their homes, and told to wait. We're not waiting. We're building power, organizing our campuses, and training youth to take power. Because if we don't, no one will save us.”

Sim Bilal (he/him) is a Black, Korean, and Chickasaw organizer from South Central Los Angeles and the Executive Director of Youth Climate Stewards 4 Local Action (YCSLA). He has nearly a decade of experience building youth power through organizing, direct action, and community-owned climate infrastructure, helping win the phase-out of urban oil drilling in LA, training over 1,000 youth organizers, and building mutual aid networks that supported 400+ families during fires, heatwaves, and ICE raids. Sim is a member of the Chickasaw Nation, a Los Angeles County Youth Climate Commissioner, and a 2025 Liberty Hill Environmental Leadership Initiative Fellow. He believes that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution, and that the future is not something to wait for, but something to build.