Activist Spotlight: JY Fores-Pimental

Q: What is your current role with the Surfrider Foundation?
Treasurer for Vancouver chapter
Q: Why and when did you get involved with the Surfrider Foundation?
This is my 2nd year with surfrider and I got involved because my friend was the previous chapter Chair and I was looking to get more involved in our community.
Q: What are some environmental issues that are affecting your local community?
I am a beach girl and the cleanliness and health of our oceans and beaches are important to me. When I was younger I made a lot of uninformed choices in my beach behaviour so making sure the public is informed and educated is very important to me. I love how surfrider provides a lot of education on this!

Q: What has been the highlight of your Surfrider experience (i.e., campaign, program, victory)?
My highlights are our annual retreats and Surfrider Canada conference. It’s so inspiring to get together in groups like this to plan and learn on ways to improve the health of our oceans and beaches.
Q: Do you have any personal experiences or campaigns/issues that you're passionate about where the social justice and environmental movements have intersected? If so, can you tell us about them?
Hold onto your butts, ziggy the orca

Q: What can Surfrider do to foster an inclusive and welcoming experience? Do you have any examples from your experience where this is successfully happening?
I think making the offering to all minorities in our communities is important and involving the indigenous communities is extremely important…I firmly believe that in order for a sustainable initiative to be successful the Indigenous communities must be consulted as they have the land history and knowledge of how to be the most sustainable communities. It’s built into their culture and their knowledge and history is integral to the health of any community.
Q: What is the most important thing you tell others about Surfrider?
Getting involved doesn’t have to be a major change it can be small steps. Those small steps and changes inevitably lead to mindset shifts and major change. Every little bit counts.
Q: Why is being a part of the Surfrider ocean conservation community important to you?
It’s important to me as a mother as I want to do everything I can to ensure our children have oceans and beaches that are healthy and clean.