About Hikaru

Hikaru Wakeel Hayakawa is a Caribbean and Japanese American social entrepreneur, climate justice activist, and Indigenous Studies researcher.

He is the Executive Director and a founding director of Climate Cardinals, one of the world’s largest youth-led climate organizations, mobilizing 16,000 volunteers across 134 countries. He developed its signature translation program in partnership with Translators Without Borders and Google Cloud. In 2023, Climate Cardinals became one of the first youth-led organizations to secure six-figure funding from Google’s philanthropic arm.

Hayakawa represents Climate Cardinals on UNESCO’s Youth Climate Action Network Steering Committee and has spoken at events hosted by UNESCO, Columbia University, Google, Deloitte, and the Smithsonian. His work has been featured in Forbes, Grist, and Teen Vogue.

A magna cum laude graduate of Williams College, he earned highest honors in Global Studies for his thesis on the global Indigenous rights movement. He has worked with the UN Environment Programme, the Ecologic Institute, and the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation.

He has been recognized as a Global Student Prize finalist and named to the Grist 50 (Class of 2024) and American Councils' 50 Alumni for 50 Years.