Meet Gabriel Nagel | Entrepreneur & Climate Activist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gabriel Nagel and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gabriel, what do you want people to remember about you?
I’d like to be remembered as someone who put their best into everything that they did, with a sense of creativity and passion. Although I understand that my impact on climate change may ultimately be minor compared to the billions of people living on earth, I hope that I can positively impact the people and planet around me. Through finding the intersections of entrepreneurship and climate action, I’m advancing this goal.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Light CO2 is a youth-led climate action nonprofit. We empower individuals to make meaningful change in the environmental crises through carbon offsetting and environmental insights. I started Light CO2 four years ago after learning about the severity of climate change. Previously, I lived in Boulder, where a massive wildfire had confronted my home. This led to my realization that the impacts of climate change are immediate. While it is one thing to learn about something in books, it is an entirely different thing to experience that reality.

As a young person, I felt that there was no meaningful way I could impact climate change. Although I had attended protests at the capital and worked to reduce my impact on the environment, these steps seemed meaningless without collective action. Light CO2 is designed to support people to take real, easy, and meaningful climate action. Through a three question survey on your zip-code, diet, and transportation, we find how much carbon dioxide you emit into the atmosphere and offset it through planting carbon capturing trees. Additionally, through our growing collection of over 100 youth-written articles on climate topics from ESG to the re-emergence of big horn sheep, you can learn how to reduce your carbon footprint.

My journey with Light CO2 was not straightforward. Especially as a minor, I’ve had to manage my classwork and confront institutional barriers of youth entrepreneurship. For instance, when registering my business with the IRS, I had registered myself as the owner (leading to an inquisitive call from the IRS on why a teenager was starting a nonprofit). Through pitch competitions, I’ve missed school to put forward my vision of a better future. In fact, I recently achieved the major accomplishment of pitching at Denver Startup Week last year, winning with youth rounds and advancing into the final round. This granted me a $5,000 credit from Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Today, I’m working on expanding Light CO2. Currently, our team of youth are meeting weekly. We are also working on developing a mobile application to support individuals in cultivating a greater impact on climate change and making climate action more personal. At times, I have felt discouraged in running my own business through the constant challenges. However, throughout this all, I think I’ve learned the valuable lesson that persistence is crucial, failure is inevitable, and passion is powerful.

Ultimately, I think that the world should know that Light CO2 is only one of many organizations attempting to make a positive impact on the environment. We are unique in that we are entirely run by youth and focus on empowering collective action. However, many other small businesses and organizations need to work together to scale up the change that we’re beginning to make.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love skiing. If it was winter, I would take them up to the beautiful mountains of Colorado, share a cup of hot chocolate, and play a few board games together. We’d sit by the fire, make some s’mores, and tell stories. If it was the summer, I would take them on a long hike through Boulder, share a picnic, and hug a few trees. We’d enjoy our time outside together!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Anna Leer and all of the staff at Young Americans Center for Financial Education in Denver, Colorado have been crucial supporters. Specifically, Anna spent countless nights providing me with priceless feedback and watching my practice pitches.

My friends and family have made my journey in entrepreneurship possible with their constant encouragement and advice.

I’d also shout out the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. In middle school, I discovered this book and it jump started my journey on climate action.

Website: www.lightco2.org

Instagram: instagram.com/light.co2

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-nagel

Other: www.gabrielnagel.com