The making of a climate storyteller
Yessenia Funes, by Carmen DeCristo
Who: Yessenia Funes
What: Climate journalist
Where: Queens, New York
Our early experiences shape us. Growing up on Long Island, Yessenia Funes was surrounded by strong Black, Latinx and immigrant communities, but also noticed substantial wealth disparities. She saw early on that “some people are struggling and some people are not.” Visiting El Salvador with her parents, who are from the country, she encountered more extreme poverty and disparity. Noticing that different people had such different experiences led Yessenia to develop “a passion and sense of righteousness of wanting to do something about this.”
As a high school student, “Writing was the one subject that came really naturally to me,” Yessenia recalls, so she set her mind to studying journalism. At first, climate wasn’t part of the plan. “I knew I wanted to do the sort of journalism that called out the bad guys and shed light on injustices,” based on her early experiences, “but at the time I didn’t really recognize climate change as part of that.” It would take a firsthand encounter with climate impact to ultimately bring its importance to light.
While studying journalism at SUNY Plattsburgh, Yessenia also interacted with nature in a new way. Moving from the more urban environment of Long Island to the more bucolic surroundings of upstate New York, she not only visited the Adirondacks for the first time, but also met other students who cared about nature: “Upon seeing how beautiful our planet could be and meeting other students who were passionate about climate issues, it became that much more clear to me that climate is not just about rivers, forests, wildlife–it’s about people’s lives.”
Idawriter, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A clarifying storm writes a new path
Experiencing Hurricane Sandy firsthand in 2012 was another major shift for Yessenia, as it was for so many others. Her family lost power for weeks, and the storm marked the first time she heard the term “climate justice.” Witnessing the storm’s disproportionate impact on certain communities clarified the intersection of environmental and social issues for her, and she decided to dedicate herself to a career investigating climate justice.
After graduating with a double major in magazine journalism and environmental studies, Yessenia began working as a racial justice editor at YES! Magazine. At YES!, teams worked very collaboratively and she was able to do “a ton of climate reporting,” even writing about the Green New Deal before it was formed. YES! “covered solutions journalism before it became what it is now,” and taught Yessenia about writing stories “rooted in communities, activism and local issues,” all of which are crucial to a just transition.
Later, working at Colorlines, Yessenia was able to develop a “really sophisticated racial analysis lens.” Before joining the publication, her perspective had been slightly more one-dimensional. A rejected pitch she offered about a white teacher helping her black students opened her eyes to what makes a story a racial justice story: the pitch didn’t meet that criteria, as the teacher was just “doing what she should be doing” – not anything worthy of note.
Her time at Earther taught Yessenia how to read scientific studies, making sense of the research and relating the information in a way that people could use, while Atmos developed her sense of creative storytelling. “Most other publications don’t foster” the level of creativity that Atmos does, so the publication really let Yessenia “tap into her creative side and let emotions and creativity guide stories,” an experience that now comes through in new ways in her freelance work.
Rewriting perspectives
One of Yessenia’s favorite stories is this tale of communities of color going solar in her hometown of Uniondale, N.Y., on Long Island, which notes, “Finances can be the driving force behind when and why families of color ultimately decide to utilize [solar] technology, but finances don’t tell the entire story of how this shift impacts and shapes their community… For people of color, solar can mean cleaner air and bigger savings.” The story’s solar panel investments were enabled in part by lower costs and financing options made possible by the the 2012 NY-Sun incentive program; now, 11 years later, New York has passed the Build Public Renewables Act, giving the state clean public power, green union jobs and affordable energy. Each victory opens the door to another.
AITFFan1, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At Atmos, Yessenia delivered a powerful account of the impacts of climate change on migrant crossings, informed by her firsthand experience in the desert. The story shows how the brutal realities of desert crossings into the U.S. are growing worse, with migrants expected to soon need 30% more water to make trips that are already difficult. In addition to data on the growing impact of climate change, the story includes devastating details, like how migrants paint water bottles black to try to keep them from being seen (though it just makes the water warmer) or how those searching for lost migrants always carry a cross with them – in case they find a body to bury. "The border crisis is bad now, but climate change will make it exponentially worse," Yessenia explains, a stark indictment of the far-reaching impacts of burning fossil fuels.
Looking back, Yessenia can see how each publication she worked at gave her important experience on her path: “Every publication has given me a little something to shape the way I tell stories now.” Solutions journalism, racial analysis, scientific literacy and creativity are all important components of climate stories. Climate coverage can’t be complete without recognizing and talking about the people causing and the people affected by climate change.
Words of advice
The time for climate reporting is here. “Any good reporter can now recognize that, regardless of their beat, climate change needs to be a part of their coverage,” Yessenia says. Although the scale of the climate crisis can seem daunting, and the media industry can seem rather cisgender, white and straight, “There are so many of us who are not. Don’t let obstacles stop you from finding the communities who care and will welcome you,” she urges.
“Any good reporter can now recognize that, regardless of their beat, climate change needs to be a part of their coverage.”
-Yessenia
Recently, Yessenia wrote, in the Before Brands newsletter, “Only the communities that can unlock the tools they need to stay afloat can survive. But what if those with the key simply made copies and distributed them for free? Better yet, what if we destroyed the locks keeping resources hostage? What if we abolished the box? What if help flowed freely?”
This is what a climate career can be – helping each other. (Serving, even.) As Katharine K. Wilkinson says, find your superpower – and translate it into climate work. You’re the key.
Insights from Yessenia
Personal experience makes a difference.
Each publication has something to teach you.
Find your community, but don’t be afraid to set out on your own.
Yessenia’s recommendations
All We Can Save, an essay collection with “a lot of excellent voices”
Eco Cult, website and newsletter with “analysis of fashion and sustainability”