Teaching people who want to do good how to do good.

The Sierra Sustainability Summit is not an ordinary speech and debate competition. We don't treat speech and debate as a game—our priority is not trophies or titles. We focus on activism and advocacy aimed at increasing sustainability and equitable access to public lands for everyone. Our present-and-defend style case competition is judged by local officials with real-world decision-making power.

Putting students in front of officials who can make change means our judges are interested in making public lands accessible to everyone regardless of their backgrounds or identities. This serves the pedagogical function of creating a competition that exhibits fidelity to the working conditions advocacy professionals in this field face. Every student who competes in the Summit has the potential to make lasting, real-world change that expands who visits, works, and lives in and near our public lands through their participation in the competition.

We understand that this may not be the most comfortable situation for some students. Creating change is rarely a comfortable experience, and our judges report working to implement policies our participants have presented.

Lasting change always starts with small steps. Let’s take the first one together.