FBC Youth Advisory Committee

We are recruiting for the 2025-2026 FBC Youth Advisory Committee! Read on to learn more about the Committee and how to apply

Young people are leading the way for change when it comes to social, environmental, and climate action, yet they are still vastly underrepresented when it comes to positions of power, especially within organizations engaged in sustainability work. The Fraser Basin Council (FBC) recognizes the importance of creating and sharing spaces for youth to be involved in conversations around some of the biggest challenges we all collectively face, and youth stand to inherit – topics such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and inadequate community resilience.

To ensure that FBC’s impact reflects and is inclusive of youth voices, FBC has an appointed youth director on our Board to braid youth perspectives into our decision-making processes.

Our Youth Program initiatives are actively informed and shaped by our Youth Advisory Committee.

About the Youth Advisory Committee

The FBC Youth Advisory Committee is composed of up to 16 youth (aged 16-30) living across BC, who are a voice for youth in their communities on sustainability and climate change issues. Committee members share their unique insights into key sustainability and climate priorities facing their regions and can identify ideas for projects they would like to see FBC initiate that address those specific challenges.

The Committee’s high-level input will shape FBC Youth Program initiatives to better serve youth across the province. Committee members also support fellow youth in implementing exciting sustainability initiatives and in fostering their practical skills and confidence to act on pressing issues in their communities.

The Youth Advisory Committee is one way FBC hopes to build our capacity to work collaboratively alongside youth in BC, as well as to combat the prevalence of youth input not being sought out or genuinely valued on issues that directly affect them.

The Committee will serve a one year term starting in November 2025 and will meet online approximately once every two months for 2 hours. Occasionally there may be minor tasks to be completed in between meetings which may take up to an additional 2 hours. Committee members participate on a voluntary basis.

Youth Advisory Committee members meet bimonthly to:

  • Collaborate and have fun with other passionate, impact-driven youth from all over the province
  • Help plan exciting sustainability initiatives for fellow youth that make a positive impact locally, regionally, and provincially
  • Network and learn from sustainability and climate leaders working in civil society, business, and different levels of government
  • Gain and strengthen leadership and governance skills by helping to steer the future of FBC Youth programming

How to apply

Thank you for your interest in joining the FBC Youth Advisory Committee! There are two stages to the application process:

  • Stage 1: Fill out this survey and let us know why you would be a good candidate to join the Youth Advisory Committee. You can preview the application questions and make notes in this Word document. We also accommodate applications via video, over the phone, or other preferred non-text-based mediums. Please email us at youth@fraserbasin.ca for more information.
  • Stage 2: After we have received your application, if you are selected as a potential candidate, we will arrange for a virtual meeting to get to know you better and answer any questions you may have about participating in the Committee.
    • If you encounter errors viewing the application form, please use an Incognito/InPrivate browser window.

Stage 1: Survey Application
If for any reason you would prefer for a person who knows you well (relatives excluded) to comment on questions 11 and/or 12 (speaking to the skills and experiences that you hold concerning your community engagement/volunteer history), please ask your representative(s) to provide their name and contact details in place of an answer. If you are selected as a potential candidate, we can also interview your representatives regarding your skills and experiences on your behalf, if you prefer.

Stage 2: Virtual Meeting
Please let us know if you have any accessibility needs and considerations for this stage of the application process. We will try our best to meet these requests and will follow up with you to confirm if we can make accommodations. As part of our commitment to equity and accessibility, we encourage you to contact us to begin conversations about how we may be able to support you throughout the application process.

KEY DATES:

  • November 7, 2025 – Applications due
  • Monday, November 17  to Friday, November 21, 2025 – Virtual meetings with shortlisted candidates 
  • Tuesday, November 25, 2025 – Successful candidates notified

Contacts

Reach out to the Youth Program by contacting:

Sonja Dodig

Youth Program Manager

Sonja Dodig joined the Fraser Basin Council in 2013 and worked on both the Smart Planning for Communities and Climate Change and Air Quality programs. Since 2017 she has managed the Fraser Basin Council Youth Program, scaling up youth engagement and spearheading the initiative, Co-Creating a Sustainable BC, and various storytelling projects.

Sonja is a strong believer in the power of creativity and experimentation. She believes that creative thinking and learning from nature is crucial to solving today’s crises. Through the Youth Program initiatives, Sonja and her team integrate safe spaces for young people to try out and test new ideas for a sustainable future as they imagine it. She brings to FBC a unique combination of skills: extensive design, illustration and communication experience as well as skills in environmental and community planning.

Hollis Nelson

Program Coordinator, Youth Program

Top banner photo: Fraser Valley youth cohort on a tour of Archway Urban Farm in Abbotsford. Photo: Cherry Tam, FBC.