Meet Our Scholars
Alexia Leclercq
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Education
She/They
BIPOC
Alexia is an organizer based in Austin, Texas. They have worked in the climate space for the past five years on various issues from preserving the Colorado River, fighting land use policy and zoning that enforces race-based discrimination, passing local ordinances to address pollution from aggregate mining operations, conducting ethnographic research on climate health, to organizing mutual aid and youth programming. They have also shaped national legislation alongside members of the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum and the Environmental Justice Health Alliance. Alexia is also the co-founder of Start: Empowerment, a BIPOC-led social and environmental justice education non-profit working with youth, educators, activists, and community members to implement justice-focused education and programming in schools and community spaces. S:E curriculum and programming has reached more than 2,000 students, been recognized by the New York City Department of Education, and taught in universities. In 2021, their work was recognized with the prestigious Brower Youth Award. Alexia is also an interdisciplinary artist, and their paintings have been featured at Austin City Hall and in Strides Magazine. They love spending time with friends, family, and animals (they even have an Instagram account for a kitten they rescued with 79,000 followers).