VARSHINI PRAKASH, 26

COFOUNDER, SUNRISE MOVEMENT

“The science is settled. Now let’s talk about the solutions,” says Varshini Prakash. She’s cofounder of the Sunrise Movement, a climate-change nonprofit that rocketed to fame in 2018 after staging a sit-in at Nancy Pelosi’s office to back the Green New Deal. This September, her group organized the Global Climate Strike, mobilizing more than 3 million people in 150 countries to hit the streets to demand climate-change action. A first-generation college graduate, Prakash saw firsthand the devastation wrought by floods in her parents’ home country of India. Along with cofounder Evan Weber, she launched Sunrise to organize legions of young people to fight for climate reforms. With $6.5 million in funding from foundations and grassroots donations, Sunrise has 50 full-time staff and outposts in more than 200 cities. —Marley Coyne, Anne Glusker, Christian Kreznar