FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: creativevisions@ellecomm.com
October 16, 2026
Global Project to Donate $5 for Every Submission
LOS ANGELES, CA – October 16, 2026 – Seatrees today announced its partnership with Students Rebuild, a Creative Visions program that harnesses youth creativity to drive real-world impact, for its new project, “Protect Our Planet.”
For every creative work submitted or student engaged, Creative Visions will donate $5 to environmental organizations, up to $1 million, supporting projects that restore ecosystems, empower young environmental leaders, advance conservation, and equip communities to take action. Students Rebuild aims to engage more than 85,000 young people and collect 100,000 pieces of creative work during this year’s project.
According to a Students Rebuild survey, 45% of young people say climate change is the top issue impacting their lives, and many feel they lack a way to do something about it. According to a global survey, older teens and young adults in the U.S. report an unprecedented level of climate anxiety, with nearly 60% saying they’re “extremely worried” about climate change. In other parts of the world, young people are seeing climate change affect their job prospects, food supply, and their families' livelihoods.
“Young people are growing up in an era defined by climate disasters, conflict, and constant uncertainty, and they need to know they have the power to make change happen,” said Pat Chandler, President & CEO of Creative Visions. “Protect Our Planet gives them a hopeful, creative way to turn awareness into action - and to help fund the organizations already doing the work of protecting our planet.”
"Young people are inheriting some of the greatest environmental challenges of our time, but they also have an incredible opportunity to shape what comes next. Through this partnership, their creativity will translate directly into action, helping restore mangrove forests in Kenya and coral reefs in Costa Rica while supporting the local communities who protect these ecosystems. At Seatrees, we believe everyone has a role to play in restoring our ocean, and we're excited to help inspire the next generation of ocean stewards," said Michael Stewart, Chief Sustainability Officer at Seatrees.
About Protect Our Planet
This year’s Students Rebuild project invites young people ages 5–25 to explore three essential elements of our environment: air, land, and water. Through original creative work - including visual art, film, music, poetry, dance, writing, and STEM projects - students can explore what is changing, understand who is affected, and turn their ideas into real-world impact.
Funds raised through the project will benefit One Earth, The Nature Conservancy, Seatrees, Green Horizon Ventures, and the National Wildlife Federation. Grants are expected to:
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Deepen One Earth's Navigator platform for 10 priority bioregions, with $10,000 to a conservation project in each
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Engage 300 young people from at least 40 countries in The Nature Conservancy's Externship Program, with seed funding for at least 30 alumni to launch community conservation projects
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Plant 7,000 mangrove seedlings and 500 coral fragments in Kenya and Costa Rica with Seatrees, alongside training and sustainable livelihoods for women and youth
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Plant fruit and indigenous trees, establish nutrition gardens and recycling systems, and organize community environmental action days across Rwanda's Kirehe and Nyamagabe districts with Green Horizon Ventures
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Fund student-led Eco-Schools projects and mini-grants across 40–50 schools in the U.S. and East Africa with the National Wildlife Federation, including Indigenous youth on the Colorado River Indigenous Youth Advisory Council
How to Participate
Explore: Educators or youth leaders register their class/group and use lesson plans and activities to help students explore air, land, and water, what’s changing, who’s affected, and how they can help.
Create: Invite students to express their vision for a thriving planet through any medium - visual art, poetry, song, video, writing, or STEM.
Share: Submit students’ creative work to Students Rebuild. Each submission or student engaged unlocks a $5 donation from Creative Visions, up to $1 million, supporting organizations worldwide that protect our planet.
Protect Our Planet runs from September 8, 2026, through June 1, 2027.
Learn more and get involved at Students Rebuild.
About Students Rebuild
Originally created by the Bezos Family Foundation in 2010 and now powered by Creative Visions, Students Rebuild is the world's largest youth-powered creative movement, engaging young people ages 5-25 in annual campaigns that turn creative expression into funding for critical global issues. Over the past 16 years, more than 1.4 million young people have created 7.1 million pieces of creative work, raising more than $17.6 million for frontline partner organizations worldwide.
That funding has gone directly to work on the ground: emergency safe spaces for displaced children in Ukraine and Syria; wildfire recovery and reforestation efforts across California and East Africa; and economic empowerment programs for women and girls in Honduras, carried out by frontline partners including CARE, Choose Love, Narrative 4, Search for Common Ground and more.
It's global citizenship, taught through doing. Students Rebuild's research-based outcomes show that young people who've participated in the program see increased empathy, perspective and civic self-efficacy. Educators report an increased culture of creative changemaking in their schools, more partnerships with external organizations that help the community and improved support for youth creative action projects.
To learn more about Protect Our Planet, Students Rebuild, and how to get involved, visit www.studentsrebuild.org/partners.
About Seatrees
Seatrees is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring and protecting critical ocean ecosystems around the world. Working alongside local communities, scientists, and conservation partners, Seatrees restores mangrove forests, kelp forests, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and coastal watersheds. By bringing together businesses, funders, and individuals, Seatrees supports science-based restoration projects that enhance biodiversity, strengthen coastal communities, and build a healthier, more resilient ocean. Learn more at www.seatrees.org.
About Creative Visions
Creative Visions empowers artists, filmmakers, musicians, and other impact media makers to raise awareness of critical issues and drive positive change through storytelling – one of our most powerful tools for creating a more just, caring, and sustainable world. The nonprofit organization and United Nations NGO, was founded in memory of 22-year-old artist and photojournalist Dan Eldon, who died in 1993 while covering the conflict in Somalia for Reuters New Agency. Creative Visions’ Impact Education programs support youth, educators, and changemakers to understand how to use media, arts, and technology to take creative action about the things they care about. For more information: www.creativevisions.org.