Xiye Bastida: Indigenous Climate Justice Activist and Re-Earth Initiative Founder
Early life and family background.
Xiye Bastida Patrick was born in Atlacomulco, Mexico, but was largely brought up in the nearby town of San Pedro Tultepec (a village of around 10,000 people) in Lerma, which is located south west of Mexico City. As of January 2026, at the time this article was written, she is 23 years old. In the Otomi language, Bastida’s name means “soft rain,” and is a tribute to her indigenous roots. Bastida has dual citizenship of both Mexico and Chile. Her father, Mindahi Bastida, is of Otomi-Toltec indigenous ancestry, and he is also a leader in wetland preservation and the promotion of indigenous cosmology. Her mother, Geraldine Patrick, is Chilean of Celtic ancestry, and is an ethno ecologist. Both of her parents are strong environmental advocates, they met at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where world leaders signed the first framework agreement on climate change. Growing up in San Pedro Tultepec, Bastida experienced firsthand the impact of climate change. The community had suffered through a very severe three year drought which resulted in crop failure and increased food prices; then in 2015 there were severe floods that transformed streets into rivers of polluted water. Many families lost their homes due to these natural disasters, and demonstrated how vulnerable poor and marginalized communities can be. When the floods occurred in 2015, her parents accepted new jobs at the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, so the family moved to the U.S. when Bastida was 13 years old. After settling in New York City, Bastida quickly learned to speak English fluently and graduated eighth grade as Valedictorian and Class President. Upon graduating from middle school, Bastida attended the highly competitive public high school, The Beacon School, in Manhattan. It was during this time, that she began developing her activist skills.
Education
Bastida attended the Beacon School in NYC, where she graduated in 2020. While attending high school, Bastida continued to be involved in social movements, which were in part responsible for an increasing amount of environmental activism, organizing many of her classmates for environmental causes. After graduating from high school, Bastida entered the University of Pennsylvania as a college freshman in Fall 2020; she was accepted to the College of Arts and Sciences and studied Environmental Studies with a focus on Policy; her curriculum also included aspects of Latinx Studies and how it related to low-income communities. Bastida earned a B.A. in 2024. In addition to providing Bastida with a theoretical framework of climate science, policy, and justice through her academic pursuits, Bastida’s time spent in college enabled her to apply this knowledge to her real-world advocacy.
An Increase in Climate Activism
Bastida started becoming an active advocate for climate issues, in 2001, when she moved to New York, as an adolescent. She was 15 years old when she joined the environmental club at her high school, but instead of simply viewing films or attending lectures about the environment, she changed the direction of the club, by turning their attention to advocacy efforts, such as meeting with government officials and staging protests at the state capital in Albany and at City Hall in New York City, to push for legislation such as the Climate and Community Leaders Protection Act.
Inspired by Greta Thunberg’s school walk-outs, Bastida also began organizing for the NYC chapter of Fridays For Future. On March 29, 2019, Bastida organized 600 students from The Beacon School for the first major climate protest in New York City. The protest blocked traffic in a busy intersection. In September 2019, Bastida and fellow activist Alexandria Villaseñor welcomed Greta Thunberg to the UN Climate Summit, where she arrived by boat. Bastida has resisted being referred to as “Greta Thunberg of America”, saying that comparison minimizes the unique experiences of each individual.
She received early international recognition in 2017, when she attended her first United Nations climate conference; she brought indigenous peoples’ views into decision-making forums. When she was 16 years old, in 2018, she gave a speech entitled, Indigenous Cosmology, at the 9th United Nations World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; for this presentation, she was awarded the “Spirit of the UN” for her contributions.
In 2019, she organized large-scale protests in New York City (one of which included 300,000 people marching in the streets) and was the largest youth-led climate protest at that time. Additionally, she worked with the administration committee of the People’s Climate Movement, to develop training programs for activists.
In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bastida co-founded the Re-Earth Initiative, a global, youth-led non-profit organization, whose mission is to make the climate movement more inclusive, more equitable, and more accessible. As the executive director of the organization, Bastida works with frontline youth in more than 27 countries, providing them with resources, educational opportunities, and financial support for nature-based projects. The Re-Earth initiative focuses on solutions from the Global South and seeks to change the narrative around climate change from fear to hope.
Recognition and Major Accomplishments
Bastida’s work has been recognized by many individuals and organizations across the globe. In 2018 Bastida received the Spirit of the United Nations Award. She wrote the opening piece in the 2020 anthology “All We Can Save,” an anthology of writings from women who are leading the way in the fight against climate change. In 2021 she spoke alone as a youth leader at the Biden Administration’s Leaders Summit on Climate, where she addressed 40 world leaders. She has spoken at all 5 COP conferences (25-28), the Nobel Prize Summit, TED events, Global Citizen festivals and side-by-side with the likes of Al Gore, Jane Goodall and Leonardo DiCaprio. Further recognition of her efforts have included being named to TIME100 Next in 2023 for emerging leaders, 2023 Woman of the year in Elle magazine, 2024 Forbes Changemaker Award and she was also named to Forbes 30 under 30 lists. She has also sat on jury panels for prizes such as ANDAM and Earthshot, supported the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, and advocated for climate justice in sustainable fashion, including participating in New York Fashion week and being on the cover of Vogue magazine. She has also appeared on numerous other news outlets and publications, including The New York Times, CNN, BBC, Teen Vogue etc. Her focus includes using Indigenous knowledge as a solution to the climate crisis and promoting land rights (indigenous lands account for 80% of global biodiversity). As of 2026 she will continue as a 776 Fellow (she began this fellowship program in 2024) and will be working to scale youth climate leadership and will be involved in projects such as executive producing a documentary about gray whale migration.
Networth
Bastida’s work as a nonprofit leader, activist, and relatively new college graduate is largely driven by her commitment to her mission, rather than generating a profit. Reliable public estimates of her net worth could not be found as of 2026. She likely earns money through her speaking engagements, fellowship (i.e., the 776 Fellowship), book contributions, and other fundraising efforts related to her organization, Re-Earth Initiative, which has successfully raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for grant funding. No credible source reported Bastida’s net worth as of 2026. Her primary focus remains advocating for equitable climate solutions, and not accumulating wealth.
Xiye Bastida’s experience growing up in a Mexican town affected by climate change to becoming an internationally recognized figure at the age of 23 illustrates youth-led, intersectional activism. Her ability to bridge Indigenous knowledge with modern policy demands for a sustainable world inspires millions of people around the globe. Bastida’s experience demonstrates that individual actions, based upon one’s connection to their community and culture, can create systemic change during this increasingly dire time of environmental degradation.
