From Grantee to Council Member: The Unique Journey of Bow Seat Alumna, Charmaine Mupara

By Keren-happuch Garba, Bow Seat Alumni Advisor & 2024 Future Blue Youth Council member

The Alumni Spotlight Series is a celebration of Bow Seat’s alumni as they continue to make waves in the world. This series aims to highlight their journeys, showcase their creative and environmental work, and inspire our Bow Seat community with stories of impact and growth. Readers can expect monthly insightful interviews, personal reflections, and updates on how these young changemakers are using art, advocacy, and innovation to shape a more sustainable future. 

Charmaine Mupara is a 19-year-old youth leader and environmental advocate from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. With over six years of volunteer experience with Environmental Buddies Zimbabwe, she has dedicated herself to creating a cleaner, greener future for her community and beyond.

Her leadership journey includes spearheading a rainwater harvesting project funded by the True Blue Fellowship in 2022 and mentoring two successful environmental projects in Kenya. In 2024, Charmaine continued her impactful work as a Future Blue Youth Council member, contributing to global environmental education and youth engagement.

Charmaine’s work blends innovation, community action, and sustainability, reflecting her deep commitment to environmental stewardship. Driven by a dream to become a global youth leader for the United Nations, she continues to expand her impact through education, leadership, and advocacy. With plans to pursue environmental studies or environmental economics, she hopes to influence policy and champion sustainable development on a global scale.

Below is our transcribed conversation:

What environmental or social issue are you passionate about?

I am passionate about climate mobility because that’s a whole branch on its own, and that’s what I’ve been looking at lately. But in the past, I have been a part of water scarcity and food security projects, and they all tie back to climate mobility and how important it is to fix the issues of water scarcity, drought, and food insecurity – issues that have displaced a lot of people.

Before I ventured into climate mobility, I read a blog post by an FBYC about three to four years ago. It talked about climate refugees and people who had lost their homes, like those who live on islands, and had to relocate. The difficulty of leaving what they knew as home and trying to find better places to live was due to climate change. For me, climate mobility addresses the issue of people not having to relocate because of climate change.

What sea creature are you most similar to and why?

I think a dolphin – but it’s so random. I just like dolphins!

How were you introduced to Bow Seat, and what activities did you participate in?

I found Bow Seat through a family member. My aunt had been following their page for a while. She saw the Fellowship grant they were offering and told me about it, encouraging me to bring up some research and apply. I applied and was awarded the grant in 2022. In 2024, I became a part of the FBYC, where I was now mentoring Fellowship grantees as mentees, which is kind of ironic because I was also a mentee at some point.

Could you describe your experience during your time with Bow Seat?

My experience with Bow Seat was phenomenal and mindset-changing. I learned so many things I didn’t understand before, like the connectivity between the oceans and living in a landlocked country. Before that, I knew they were connected, but being a part of the Future Blue Youth Council brought a better understanding to my environmental activism. It was a time of extensive learning from the projects I was mentoring. Every Fellowship project taught me something new, learning from the different communities and how the Fellows were creating positive impacts to combat the effects of climate change. Being an FBYC member was very educational and positively mindset-altering.

If you could return to your time with Bow Seat, what would you have changed or done differently?

The hierarchy of having more males on the Future Blue Youth Council. This stemmed from a conversation I had with Ali Nasir (a 2024 FBYC member), and he wished there were more males on the Council. I love girl empowerment, but the quality of having more males on the team could have helped us expand our creativity together. But otherwise, with the Bow Seat staff and the FBYC members, we were a good team together!

There isn’t much I would like to change because everyone corresponded, played their part, and inspired whoever they were working with.

I would have loved to mentor the teams I was assigned better. But the True Blue Fellows did excellently because they continued with their projects this year.

In what ways has Bow Seat impacted your life and career?

Working with Bow Seat has taught me a lot about teamwork and the need to communicate with your team constantly. It has taught me to be a better team player and sharpened my social media skills. Working alongside Ahrin, Sophie, and Sofia (2024 FBYC members) to create the biweekly social media posts taught me creativity. I remember asking Ahrin, “How do I go about editing this or that?”. This helped me with my creativity and sharpened my leadership skills, and I think I’m a better leader and team player now.

Also, I gained valuable knowledge from the guest speakers, like Brian Skerry. He had a lot to share about the creative space and how we can do better as environmentalists.

Since your time with Bow Seat, how have you made a difference in the world around you?

I haven’t done much environmental work since this year began, because of personal reasons. But I do hold the lessons I learned from my Bow Seat experience. I have been applying to other fellowships too, so I intend to use the knowledge I gained in future fellowships and projects I will be doing.

What advice would you give to young people in ocean conservation?

There is always something to learn. You should always be open to learning and teaching the next person because there’s always information to be exchanged. Having been both a Council member and Fellow, I have observed different ways of dealing with the same problem. It’s always good to learn from the next person, take encouragement, have a listening ear, and be teachable. Teachability will get you to places and rooms you never thought you’d be in. Use your voice – your voice matters!