Enriching Education: Club 15

I recently learned about 11-year old animal advocate, author and CEO of Kids Can Save Animals, Kate Gilman Williams. Kate recently partnered with Microsoft Senior Architect and Founder of Project 15, Sarah Maston, to launch Club 15. 

Club 15 is focused on connecting young learners with scientists, advocates and technology experts through 15-minute episode that serve as launch pads for kids. Club 15 launches with an esteemed list of guests that Kate will be interviewing to get to the core of how machine learning/artificial intelligence is used to save animals. Her guests include the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Dr. Eric Dinerstein (RESOLVE, Lead author on Global Deal for Nature), Dr. Koustubh Sharma (Snow Leopard Trust), Stuart Gibbs (author/advocate), and Petronel Nieuwoudt (founder, Care for Wild). Kate hopes that kids will get their hands on the cutting-edge technology that is being used out in the field, gain a new appreciation for the animals they love and are inspired to become advocates.In addition, Kate recently released a song "Kids Can Save Animals" with Austin-based singer-songwriter Jenn Hartmann Luck, with 15% of the proceeds of the song benefitting Re:Wild.

I had a chance to learn more in this interview.

Why did you create Club 15?I was participating in a televised covid-relief fundraiser for rangers in Africa, and Sarah Maston, Founder of Project 15 from Microsoft, was also a participant.  Sarah showed a video that explained that we lose one elephant from our planet every 15 minutes.  I did the math - that meant by the time I turned 21 years old, all elephants could be gone.  At the end of Sarah's video, Microsoft executives and scientists all said, "Join us."  So...I messaged Sarah Maston on Instagram and asked her if kids could get involved and if kids could help.  She said yes.  Over the course of a few months, Sarah and one of her colleagues, Daisuke Nakahara, mentored me and together we came up with Club 15.  The goal of Club 15 is to speed up the learning timeline.  Kids learn technology fast, so why not teach things like computer vision and Artificial Intelligence (AI) now!  When you click on different podcast episodes on the Club 15 tab on my website, you learn from world-renowned technologists, scientists and conservationists what they are doing to save animals - and how kids can help!

Why is it important for kids to realize that they can have an impact on the world around them?

I think this is the most important thing that any kid or teenager can realize - that advocacy has no age limit.  We have been handed a mess of a planet, and it will be up to my generation to fix big things.  So whatever it is that you care about - clean oceans, healthy rainforests, reducing plastics, or saving endangered animals - take it upon yourself to become an expert and start advocating for what you are passionate about.

How did you get involved in advocating for animals?

I went on safari when I was 7 years old.  It was amazing to see animals out in the wild!  My safari guide, Michelle, told me that humans were the biggest threat to the animals in Africa.  She taught me that every 8 hours, a rhino is killed for its horn and that only 7000 cheetahs are left on our planet.  I came home from my trip determined to do something to help.  I asked Michelle if she would write a book with me, and a year later we published "Let's Go On Safari."  All sales from our book go directly to support organizations working to save wildlife and wild spaces, including:  the Jane Goodall Institute, Re:Wild and The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

How can kids encourage the adults in their lives to get involved too?

This is a great question.  Another aspect of protecting animals is not to visit places that keep them in cages and make them perform.  Kids need to talk to their parents and tell them to look into the zoo before they visit - is it accredited?  Kids also need to research if a place is really a sanctuary.  If animals are performing for our entertainment - this is wrong.  Kids can influence their parents not to swim with dolphins, for example.  Another great thing to do as a family is to pick an animal that is on the RED LIST (the most endangered) and become an expert on it.  Take steps to help that animal thrive in the wild.  Oh - and don't think that kids can't raise money!  My school collected quarters and we raised over $6,000 for koalas in Australia! One quarter might not be much - but if an entire school brings in quarters - now you have a fundraiser!