Each month during the academic year, the MA in Sustainable Design program invites a special guest for our Speaker Series where students, faculty, and alumni get to learn more about a leader in the field of sustainability or sustainable design. This month’s guest is Audrey Desler, a freelance art/creative director, designer, and illustrator with Auddities.What people have been most influential to your thinking or work?There are way too many to name, though if I think about what they all have in common, it’s a willingness to expose broken systems, fight for better worlds, advocate for justice, constantly question the status quo, live with integrity, be curious, serve others, build community, and celebrate the small wins along the way.What initially drew you to work in the field of climate, sustainability and social impact?I grew up in the woods in rural Idaho as a kid and young adult, and saw firsthand how a changing climate impacted the place that nurtured and fed me all those years. We had less and less snow in the winter, droughts in the summer, increasing wildfire evacuation alerts, water boil orders, and the disappearing of once-common species. I developed an overwhelming desire to want to protect natural spaces so that future generations can experience the joy and healing power that comes from having a deep connection to nature. I also grew up in a household of fear and substance abuse. I learned early on that I never want people to feel that way – scared, devalued, and isolated. The work I do is the undoing of generational trauma and both an awakening to and dismantling of white supremacy culture traits that perpetuate and harm the world we live in today. These experiences affect and inform how I show up as a leader, advocate, and mentor.What are some of the biggest challenges you foresee in advancing climate solutions and social impact today?The climate solutions space has a white-paper issue. When we throw numbers and percentages at people (i.e. 1.5 degrees, or 450 ppm), it’s not likely to resonate. There has to be meaning and feeling that comes with it. And that’s where storytelling comes in. You connect with people’s hearts and minds by telling stories, and this becomes a conduit for curiosity, awareness, and behavior change. If you had a magic wand and could completely solve one sustainability problem, what would it be?That capitalism crumbles, and in its place we build systems of support, community, balance, reciprocity, and regeneration. Goodbye to exploitation, destruction, and extraction. Not having billionaires is a close second. No one needs that much money.How do you continue to develop your skills and knowledge in the field of climate solutions and social impact? I’m curious and lean hard into having a learner’s mindset. In 2023 I completed the Terra.do climate fellowship, and just this summer I completed the Climatebase fellowship. Those both made a big impact. Not just in building knowledge within the space but in the connections and relationships I continue to build. Regarding social impact, I do a lot of listening and unlearning. I was raised in largely white spaces, and because of that, much of my adult life has been unlearning the toxic and oppressive nature of white dominant culture. It’s important to also share that I’ve made a lot of mistakes on this journey. The key is being open to learning from them.What makes you hopeful?Embedding myself even further into the climate space brings me hope because the more I do that, the more I see the multitude of ways that people are fighting for something better, and wanting to be a part of that process. People are waking up. Organizing with others. I love the power of the collective. Whether protesting out in the streets, building equity initiatives, putting on art builds for a climate action, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of fighting for something better, together. Younger generations. I see them being far more open to organizing and mobilizing for climate and social justice than older generations, and it gets me amped to see that. Thank you, Audrey!