Meet the Fellows!

Hey there! My name is Cross Timbol. I’m a Filipino 20 year old Political Science major thinking of minoring in Communications currently attending Los Angeles Pierce College. In my free time I like to do digital art of characters from my table top role playing games, like Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder. I am currently also an intern  with the American Federation of Teachers Local 1521 (AFT 1521) which helps fuel my passion for civic engagement. I have a cat named Bryce Parmesan and a dog named Papaya who are my beloved fur babies.

     Getting into it, my activism started fall of 2023 when I began getting into punk culture which is rich with social justice. I saw people putting on ‘punk’ like a costume without any of the history or action behind it and I didn’t want to be like those people. So I joined AFT 1521 to begin my journey. With them, I began to learn more about the political process, went out to lobby, went to talks, went to rallies and marches, passed out and put up fliers, went to classes and meetings, etc. I’m fairly new to the game, which I’m not ashamed to admit, but what matters more is that I’m in it now and I’m in it strong.

     I joined up with FFCA in order to strengthen my bond with environmental justice. My passion for environmental justice originates with my love for humanity and the support that we must give to ourselves in order to sustain generations to come. Part of this too, is finding an end to all wars, like the Palestinian genocide happening currently, which alongside its egregious death count is polluting the air with the continuous bombing. The fight to divest from fossil fuels is a great way for me to get into environmental justice as it’s such a prominent part of our lives. Environmental justice isn’t just climate change, but making sure the food we eat is healthy and sustainable, that the water we drink isn’t filled with lead. We don’t think about how often it affects our world and how, but it does. We shouldn’t have to rely on poisoning our world and the world of our children in order to pay the pensions of teachers.

      I also sat down to chat with Keiko! She’s sixteen years old currently attending Alhambra High School. She prides herself on being biracial, half Black and half Asian, and that’s also what helped her get into social justice– wanting to feel represented. She has a lot of small hobbies which mainly have to do with arts and crafts, like origami; reading, specifically subjects like fantasy, slam poetry, short stories; and also likes writing. She hopes that alongside her future major in Political Science she’ll also study Creative Writing, and hopes to publish her own book one day. Keiko loves cats, owning four named Mochi, Rocco, Lily, and Tummy! She also loves to bake things like cookies and brownies.

     A large part of Keiko’s life ties into her activism. Though she’s in high school, she serves as a student member on her Board of Education, representing peers in her district. She believes that there are a lot of problems in her world that need to be addressed, and isn’t afraid to speak up and take charge, believing that part of activism is building community. Keiko has worked in educational policy, and petitioned for students’ rights, educational equity, and addressing problems rooted in systemic biases. “There isn’t one real way to be an activist, you don’t have to be a headliner, but what matters is that you lead with passion, respect, and honesty,” Keiko says.

     Keiko has always cared about climate change, attending AAUW Tech Trek – a program to empower girls in STEM, learning about climate change and how to create sustainable solutions but didn’t necessarily know how to get involved. What really sparked her activism was attending the CTA conference in 2024, where she met with Youth vs. Apocalypse and Fossil Free CA. She was inspired by other youth of color who were passionate and empowered, not having been in a space like that before. She reached back out, helped lobby for SB 252, which would divest our public pensions from fossil fuels, and while CTA didn’t endorse that year, she was further motivated into climate work, and is still heavily involved in FFCA’s divestment fight to this day.  She’s constantly navigating the field, but with belief in herself and her fellow youth, she hopes to bring attention to divestment and why it matters.