Profile: Amanda Zhang

The moment I learned about the 3 R’s as an elementary school student, I’ve had a passion for protecting the environment. It was never a question about whether the environment was important and worth saving. Rather, it was always a question of how. As a hopeful, naive eight-year-old, I never knew about the decades-long climate crisis or that water levels were rising or that actions of companies today have been causing fundamental damage to the future of human, plant, and animal survival. I thought that reducing, reusing, and recycling was enough to be a good citizen. I didn’t realize that our world needed much more action beyond the 3 R’s. Unfortunately, I think society, at the time, also held that same view. Luckily, I, and the world, have changed since then.

Today, I’m an environmentalist, aspiring impact investor, and proud milk-before-cereal supporter. I’ve read the stories about burning forests, watched videos of turtles choking on plastic, and seen the mountains of plastic waste littered in my community. It’s been sickening, which is exactly why I’ve been restlessly exploring how I can intertwine my deeply held interests in impact investing with politics and social activism.

I am proudly part of Gen Z, the generation of change. However, with the dangerously tiny carbon budget, we don’t get the luxury of waiting until we “grow up”. Our world can’t afford to wait for us to become business leaders, politicians, and scientists. It needs unprecedented action now. That’s why I joined FXB, so I can meet like-minded people to learn, collaborate, and fight for our world now.