Bio — Severn Cullis-Suzuki

“If you don’t know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!”

Plenary session address by Severn, age 12, to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 11, 1992.

Environment and Culture Activist, Speaker & Author

Severn Cullis-Suzuki has dedicated her life to environmental and social justice, starting from childhood. At 12, she spoke at the 1992 UN Earth Summit, fighting for future generations, delivering words that resonated around the world.

Since then, Severn has continued to challenge our society to reckon with its legacy, speaking about fossil fuel supremacy, and our relationship with the Earth and each other. Her collaborative work includes serving on the Earth Charter Commission, partnering with Japan's Sloth Club and Million Mothers Movement, and working with Haida Elders on language revitalization programs on Haida Gwaii. She has worked with filmmakers on documentaries and hosted two television series.

From 2021 to 2025, Severn served as Executive Director of the David Suzuki Foundation. She holds a B.Sc. in Evolutionary Biology from Yale, an M.Sc. in Ethnoecology from UVic, and recently completed a PhD in Linguistic Anthropology at UBC (2025). Severn lives on Haida Gwaii with her husband Gudt'aawt'is Judson Brown and their sons.