Cydney Justman
I am a dreamer, and I’m a CEC Climate Steward.
“Knowledge creates agency, and the Climate Stewards course gave me both. I walked away more confident, more connected, and better equipped to inspire the next generation of climate leaders.”
About Cydney
As the former Executive Director of Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara, Cydney Justman built her career around helping girls become Strong, Smart, and Bold. She knew preparing them for the world they are inheriting also means helping them become climate-literate, solution-oriented stewards of a planet already in crisis. To do that, she enrolled in CEC's Climate Stewards course, deepening her understanding of climate science and building the skills she needed to become a stronger climate advocate and educator.
The inspiration for her Stewardship Project came from the girls themselves. Their repeated requests to explore a wooded area on the Girls Inc. campus revealed a need for safe, meaningful access to nature. For Cydney's Stewardship project, she worked to transform that underutilized space, which includes 4 torrey pine trees, into a restored natural habitat and outdoor classroom where girls can connect with, learn from, and steward the natural world.
Volunteers cleared invasive weeds and debris from the grove, and the girls are already exploring the space and sharing their visions for what it could become. The Climate Stewards course equipped Cydney with the ecological knowledge to guide the restoration, the communication tools to inspire action, and the community-building skills to engage volunteers in the project. Cydney envisions the “Torrey Pine Grove” becoming a peaceful place for girls to rest, imagine, and grow a genuine sense of responsibility to protect our planet — planting the seeds of environmental stewardship to grow the next generation of climate leaders.
