About ACHA
We are an NYC-based social start-up that creates youth-inspired, creative online educational projects that reflect the dynamic voices, interests, and progressive values of youth around the world on issues related to sustainable development. At its core, ACHA, which means “sister” in Tibetan, aims to encourage youth, especially girls, in solutions towards a just and sustainable future.
Through ACHA, young girls can apply for scholarships, engage in online discussions, listen to monthly podcasts, recommend books to each other, and read online interactive stories about our ACHA characters. Our projects are interactive, youth-based, informational, and most importantly, fun.
What is Just Sustainable Development?
Just sustainable development means protecting the environment and promoting economic growth and social progress to make the world a better place for you, me, and all future generations. At ACHA, we believe that intersectionality -- which is the understanding of how different forms of discrimination impact the collective and individual experiences of people, especially those that are marginalized or vulnerable -- should be incorporated in all social movements. One cannot advocate for the environment without also advocating for gender equality, quality education, racial equality, socio-economic progress and other key determinants. It is important to ask ourselves who is being excluded from the discourse and who is benefitting from it. At ACHA, we encourage youth from all around the world to participate in discussions about sustainable development issues that matter to them in their communities.
UNICEF | United Nations Association of Norway
A short animated film produced by the production company «Animaskin» for UNICEF Norway and the UN Association of Norway to support Sustainable Development learning via unicef.no/skole/barekraft .
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ACHA Speaks
Annika Erikson-Pearson is a fierce organizer, activist, advocate and the host of her own podcast called Tribe. She is currently the Director of Search at StartingBloc, a social impact Fellowship. We joined Annika for a candid interview on spirituality, activism, and why her motto in life is: “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”
How Can I Help?
Our 100% recycled, U.S. made, magnetic bookmarks with ACHA stories show six empowering young ACHA characters and their individual stories which are inspired by Goals 4 (Quality Education)and 5 (Gender Equality) of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The first chapters will be available in September, 2017. Get your bookmarks today!
Whatcha Reading?
Sasha Savvy, is a super smart 10-year old girl, who lives in Washington, DC. Sasha must choose which class to take for summer camp. Her mom discovers that the camp is offering a new class for girls on how to code. Sasha thinks this will be boring and doesn’t believe that she is good at computer stuff. Despite this, she decides to give it a chance and convinces her best friends Gabby Reyes and Ashley Webster, to attend the coding camp with her. Sasha’s mom, a Software Developer, gives her a unique formula to help her remember how to code but will it be enough to get her through a challenging first day of camp with bugs everywhere, computing errors, that is.
See What Grows Here
The ACHA team is finally beginning the first phase of our See What Grows Here mobile app, scheduled to be released in 2018. The application allows users from any part of the world with an access to a smart phone and internet service to take pictures of tree species around them, and post them in real time on the world map using GPS technology embedded within the app.
