Hikaru Wakeel Hayakawa is a Caribbean and Japanese American climate justice activist, Indigenous Studies researcher, and social entrepreneur. As the Executive Director and a founding director of Climate Cardinals, one of the world’s largest youth-led climate advocacy organizations, he leads 16,000 volunteers across 134 countries and 130 chapters in 33 countries.

Hayakawa pioneered Climate Cardinals’ translation program, partnering with Translators Without Borders and Google Cloud to expand climate information access. While still a student, he scaled the translation capacity to over two million words, helped secure six-figure funding—including from Google’s philanthropic branch—and now dedicates himself full-time to Climate Cardinals.

Hayakawa also represents Climate Cardinals on UNESCO’s Youth Climate Action Network Steering Committee, advocating for over 10 million youth climate activists, and serves on the WHO Youth Council alongside Climate Cardinals’ Research Director. He has shared his expertise with institutions like the Smithsonian, UN Development Programme, Italian Ministry of the Environment, UNESCO, Deloitte, and the U.S. Interagency Group on Climate Literacy. His work has been featured in Axios, The Guardian, Forbes, and Teen Vogue, and he has earned recognition as part of the Global Student Prize Top 50, the Grist 50 Class of 2024, and the American Councils for International Education 50 Alumni for 50 Years.

He also serves on the Clean Energy for Harris Advisory Board and the Youth Impact Council, led by the Duchess of York.