Kimi Waite is yonsei fourth-generation Japanese American and has received awards for her work in environmental education and social studies education. She is a 2019 Environmental Education 30 Under 30 awardee, recognized by the North American Association for Environmental Education, and is the 2021 California Council for the Social Studies Outstanding Elementary Teacher of the Year. As a public voices fellow on the climate crisis with The OpEd Project and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, her writings about the intersections of race, education, and the environment have been published in outlets such as Ms. Magazine, Grist, Cal Matters, The San Diego Union-Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Progressive. She has also written environmental justice curriculum for Rethinking Schools, PBS, and American Documentary. Kimi is involved with statewide policy initiatives and serves on the UC-CSU Environmental and Climate Literacy Project Summit steering committee, and also the in-service sub-committee.
She has an M.Ed. from UCLA and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Sustainability Education at Prescott College. Her research and professional praxis are situated in the intersections of environmental justice education, geography, critical pedagogy, and social studies. She is passionate about inspiring and leading PK-12 students and teachers to take local action for global environmental change. In addition to her teaching and leadership experience in South Los Angeles Title I public school districts, she has also taught in South Korea and Guyana.