Risalat Khan is an activist and intrapreneur from Bangladesh passionate about addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and other existential challenges. He was featured by The Guardian as one of the “young climate campaigners to watch” (2015). As a campaigner with the global civic movement Avaaz (2014-17), Risalat was part of a small core team that spearheaded the largest climate marches in history with a turnout of over 800,000 across 2,000 cities.

After fighting for the Paris Agreement, Risalat led a campaign joined by over a million people to stop the Rampal coal plant in Bangladesh to protect the Sundarbans World Heritage forest, and elicited criticism of the plant from Crédit Agricolé through targeted advocacy. Currently, Risalat is pursuing an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy at Columbia University as a SIPA Environmental Fellow. He also regularly consults with mission-driven organizations on building effective and loving team cultures. Previously, he graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College, where he launched a campaign that eventually resulted in the replacement of the College’s racist mascot ‘Lord Jeff’ with a cuddly ‘Mammoth’. Finally, Risalat is absolutely blown away to be alive at this amazing time in history, and approaches life like a roller-coaster ride.