Erin Schrode

Erin Schrode (born April 15, 1991, Erin A. Schrode), is an American social entrepreneur, environmental and human rights activist, speaker, brand consultant and Democratic Party Congressional candidate. At the age of 13, she co-founded the non-profit organization Turning Green, a nonprofit active in 48 countries focusing on environmental sustainability. She has been featured in , , Teen Vogue and Cosmopolitan. Additionally, she has appeared on ABC News, BBC News, CNN, Fox News, NBC News and the Discovery Channel.
Early life and education
Erin Schrode was born in 1991 and is Jewish. A native of Marin County, California, she attended Temple Emanuel Synagogue in San Francisco growing up. She travelled to Haiti, where she took part in disaster relief and brought school supplies to over 14,000 children. She helped to develop recycling infrastructure in Ghana. As a result of her environmental activism, she was nominated as one of the ten most promising Jewish teens by the Jewish Daily Forward and she won a $36,000 prize from the Helen Diller Family Foundation's Teen Tikkun Olam program.
Erin studied for six months in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she learned to speak Hebrew. She worked with an organization called Friends of the Earth Middle East, opening the first education center in the Palestinian Authority to bring together Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian youth around environmental and biodiversity issues.
Career and politics
After graduating from NYU in 2013, she has worked as a consultant for IKEA, the US State Department, Apple, the Coca-Cola Company, Nestlé, Unilever, Chipotle, and the United Nations - working on generational trends, responsible consumption, behavior change and purpose to drive positive impact.
In 2016, at the age of 24, she campaigned to become the youngest person in Congress.
Her primary focus, since co-founding Turning Green, has been environmental issues.
Schrode promotes a vegan and eco-friendly life-style, but says "from the outside looking in, I live a 'normal' life - and I like that. I believe that fact makes this whole eco/sustainable/green/healthy lifestyle seem relatable, doable and actionable, which is my goal."
In November 2016, she was shot with rubber bullets while reporting on environmental protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Antisemitic and racist harassment
During her 2016 congressional campaign, Erin Schrode faced a wave of antisemitism and racist harassment from online members of the alt-right. She received thousands of racist threats against her and her addresses were doxed.<ref name=Solomon /> In response, Schrode said: "In the face of ignorance and hatred, we must remain vigilant and true to our values. I believe that we must speak about love."<ref name=JJ />

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