Our Children’s Trust (OCT) is an American nonprofit that provides legal services related to climate issues for youth across the United States. Founded in 2010, the organization gained national attention through Held v. Montana, a landmark climate case filed in 2020. The Montana Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the youth plaintiffs, finding that the state constitution guarantees a right to a clean and healthful environment, including a stable climate. Current accelerated MPA student Graham Stier said this legal movement creates an important avenue for youth who cannot yet vote to get involved and act on climate issues.
Stier developed a database for tracking, monitoring, and documenting the impact of OCT cases around the United States. By bringing together information often scattered across states, the database makes it easier to compare cases, track patterns in how courts respond, and see the broader youth-led climate movement taking shape.
Stier noted that these cases are often about more than winning in court. They also help shape the policy agenda and create a meaningful way for young people to engage in climate issues that will directly affect them.
“In our current system, youth don’t get a direct voice. This map, and the OCT legal movement, show one way youth have gotten involved,” he said. “They’re turning their exclusion from the system into a way to engage with it.”
He hopes that by building a tool to help youth better engage with and witness their efforts, they’ll understand their voices are taken seriously. “Hopefully these cases get youth to recognize that their experiences matter and propel them to action in their youth life and beyond,” he said.
Undergraduate public policy certificate student Amneet Kaur is also assisting on the project. “One thing that has stood out to me is how young plaintiffs are using the legal system to push for bigger structural change, even when the courts are not always receptive,” she said.
Kaur also noted how La Follette coursework has influenced her approach to communicating complex policies and laws in this project. “We talk a lot about knowing your audience and making things clear without oversimplifying…” she said. “That has influenced how I organize the database, how I label categories, and how I explain things without relying too much on legal language.”
At La Follette, an important part of the student experience is creating opportunities for students to apply their policy skills across departments on UW–Madison’s campus. This project came to Graham through ENVIR 260, an undergraduate course offered in the Nelson Institute and taught by Dr. Adrian Treves.
“Graham and Amneet are meticulous and diligent, reflecting their training as careful, independent, and trustworthy future scholars and practitioners,” Treves said.
This approach is also reflected in our new undergraduate public policy major, which students can officially declare in fall 2026.
– Story by MPA student Grace Florence