Margaret Wang

SubjectToClimate addresses the failure of our education system to prepare and engage students for the realities of climate change – by empowering teachers with the tools, confidence, and cross-disciplinary resources they need to bring climate change into every classroom in a hopeful, just, and actionable way.

SubjectToClimate (StC) is an innovative, educator-driven movement to address the dual problems of climate illiteracy and student disengagement. At a moment when teachers are yearning for content that lights a fire in their students, Margaret and her team have built both a digital tool and a growing national coalition that does just that: educating the next generation about the world’s most complex problem in a multi-disciplinary, deeply engaging way that fosters critical thinking and changemaking. At the heart of this innovation lies a bold paradigm shift: moving education away from largely serving an extractive economy toward nurturing ecological balance, long-term sustainability, and student agency.

For many teachers, the entry point to StC is via an online platform with over 3,000 vetted, standards-aligned resources for every subject and grade level, 300+ teacher-developed lesson plans, professional development opportunities, and more. SubjectToClimate enables them – regardless of expertise to seamlessly embed climate content into the curriculum, from math to drama. This immediately solves a perpetual problem which is that a majority of teachers want to teach about climate change but don’t know how to reliably do so in alignment with their required curriculum. But the idea doesn’t stop there. StC is creating a national ecosystem: state-level Climate Education Hubs (nine states already as of 2025), partnerships with public school systems and higher education, professional development opportunities, and coalitions with funders and policymakers all of which together take fragmented pieces into a coherent whole that treats climate education not as an extracurricular or a niche topic, but as a national imperative and central pillar of 21st-century learning.

What began as a digital platform to support teachers in more effectively teaching about climate change is rapidly becoming a network of educators teaching more effectively about anything. Via coalition building, partnerships, mobilizing funding and more, SubjectToClimate is positioning climate education both as a key climate mitigation strategy (by shifting knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors over time starting with teachers and students, but then rippling into families and communities) and as the canvas upon which an entire generation of students can ignite their agency and purpose, and apply their learning in immediately relevant ways. In the long run, SubjectToClimate aims to make climate literacy a core educational competency for every child in the United States, and a vehicle for societal transformation via young learners who understand the climate crisis and are activated to lead in response.

Despite climate change being the defining challenge of our time, the U.S. education system is vastly unprepared to teach it. Fewer than 40% of teachers address climate change in their classrooms, and most feel ill-equipped to do so. Young people, in turn, are left anxious, underinformed, and unsure of how to respond—often turning to social media, where misinformation is rampant. This gap is not just an educational failure—it is a systemic barrier to climate action. A 2022 UNESCO survey revealed that 70 percent of students feel unprepared to understand and act on climate change.

The root problem isn’t a lack of will among educators, but a lack of support and infrastructure. Teachers don’t have access to high-quality, standards-aligned resources about climate that integrate with what they already teach. Professional development is rare, fragmented, and underfunded. Policy mandates for climate education are emerging, but usually without any budget or implementation help. Most of all, teachers do not have time, both in their curriculum and their day, to easily and effectively teach about climate. Meanwhile, climate education itself receives only a fraction of climate funding and is rarely seen as a “core” solution compared to technology or policy innovations.

The consequences are far-reaching: millions of students graduate each year without basic climate literacy, and without the opportunity to understand or participate in climate solutions. Civic engagement suffers. Workforce development stalls. And a generation is left without the tools or mindset to address the crisis they will inherit. Worse even: they will largely be educated to participate in an economy that continues to be organized, financed, and fueled in ways that are wildly out of balance with ecological stability and planetary health.

All of this fuels two complementary problems: a lack of engagement among learners, who have increasing difficulty seeing the real-world relevance of their learning. And climate anxiety, which is fast on the rise. A 2021 study reported 60 percent of 3,000 students surveyed being very or “extremely” worried about climate change, and 20 percent of young people aged 14-24 afraid to have children.

The right investments in climate education can address these problems simultaneously, helping teachers bring engaging content while equipping the next generation to lead the transition to a sustainable future.

SubjectToClimate’s strategy is rooted in a practical yet transformative ambition: to make climate literacy a core competency in K–12 education by meeting teachers where they are, supporting systemic adoption, and building the field so climate education becomes part of how society responds to the climate crisis – and a vehicle for deeper engagement in learning. This work unfolds across three interdependent pillars.

The first pillar involves equipping teachers with high-quality, easy-to-use tools – without asking them to do more. SubjectToClimate’s free online platform gives educators access to over 3,000 vetted, standards-aligned resources that integrate seamlessly into existing curricula. The platform was designed with a deep understanding of teachers' time constraints and instructional demands. For example, a lesson like “Bias in Charts: Temperature and Climate Change” helps math or social studies teachers explore how data can be misleading, using real-world climate graphs. This kind of interdisciplinary resource makes it possible for non-science teachers to teach climate content without needing new curricula or extensive training. The platform, meanwhile, is optimized to reach teachers looking for engaging content of any kind – not just climate – because so many teachers begin their search via keywords like “hands on learning for math” or “engaging reading lessons.” SubjectToClimate partners with districts and the National Education Association to offer professional development too, both for basic technical assistance and more robust modules focused on climate education, project-based learning, and even co-design of new lesson plans. To further support usability, StC is developing an AI-powered assistant that helps educators find, adapt, and personalize materials to the local context, dramatically reducing prep time, increasing adoption across all subjects, and making these lessons more actionable in their communities.

The second pillar focuses on embedding climate education within school systems, primarily through place-based State Climate Education Hubs – which builds demand for content, professional development, and more. These hubs are tailored platforms that localize content to a state’s curriculum standards and cultural context, provide targeted professional development, and build local educator networks. In New Jersey, for instance, SubjectToClimate partnered with the state’s Climate Change Education Initiative to align resources with newly adopted climate standards, train teachers, and support implementation in schools. In California, it partners with higher education systems through initiatives like ECCLPs (Environmental and Climate Literacy Projects) to bring climate literacy into teacher preparation programs, embedding climate into the DNA of new educators. In Oregon, StC launched a hub that reaches rural and underserved communities through a stakeholder-driven model, including a “Thought Leaders Committee” of more than 60 local participants. And in Maine, StC partners with the Maine Environmental Education Association and Teach ME Outside, which directs teachers to dozens of outdoor learning opportunities across the state. Across these efforts, the theory of change is clear: when a critical mass of teachers is equipped and supported to teach climate, it creates a culture shift within schools and districts. As adoption grows, administrative and policy support follows—resulting in deeper change from the ground up.

Already the results on both educators and students are promising: with 90 percent of participating teachers expressing confidence in embedding climate content into required academic standards, a significant boost from pre-StC engagement confidence – and a more than doubling of climate content in their classrooms. 98 percent of teachers report that their students expressed a greater sense of responsibility to act on climate change, and initial surveys captured notable decreases in powerlessness and increases in determination and hope. Additional impact data will emerged from a Spencer Foundation-funded partnerships with Suffolk University and the University of Washington: even brief climate lessons increased understanding, hope, and action. In fact, twice as many students were more willing to engage in civic climate action after a single unit.

The third pillar focuses on building the field of climate education itself – mobilizing attention, funding, and legitimacy around a solution that is being overlooked. Margaret and her team are not simply delivering a platform; they are working to position education itself as a core climate mitigation strategy and a national imperative. Their 2026 strategic plan sets an ambitious goal: to elevate climate education as a lever for societal transformation, ensuring it is recognized and resourced alongside technology, policy, and finance as an essential part of climate action.

At the center of this effort is coalition-building. SubjectToClimate has learned that partnerships are the entry point – but what matters most is what those partnerships do. In 2025, several leading NGOs came together with StC to respond to an emerging crisis: the rapid decline in state and federal funding for climate and sustainability education. From those conversations, Margaret and team co-launched a new Coalition for Climate Ready Communities with several nonprofit organizations such as Earth Force, iCrest Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, North American Association for Environmental Education, SEI Inc, The Climate Initiative, Jane Goodall Institute, and The Wild Center. The coalition’s purpose is twofold: first, to identify and influence the key actors – philanthropic foundations, individual donors, and corporations – whose investments could shift the field with data and narrative proofs that climate education drives climate resilience; and second, to provide a space for climate education nonprofits to work collaboratively to effect more impact. Members are already developing shared metrics to demonstrate measurable returns on these investments. The analogy Margaret often draws is to early childhood education: once dismissed as peripheral, it is now universally understood to deliver extraordinary ROI – every dollar invested returns many times that in long-term societal benefit. StC aims to make the same case for climate education.

Alongside coalition work, SubjectToClimate is expanding its public voice and thought leadership to elevate education within climate discourse. Despite the centrality of climate literacy to long-term resilience, education is still largely absent from major climate convenings. When Margaret and her team discovered that Climate Week NYC 2024 included no formal programming on education, they responded by hosting a high-visibility convening at the American Museum of Natural History, followed by roundtables with funders and policymakers. Similar efforts are planned for Aspen Climate, SXSW, and other flagship events—leveraging established platforms to make education impossible to ignore. Through these efforts, SubjectToClimate is positioning itself not just as a content provider, but as a movement catalyst– amplifying the collective voice of educators, NGOs, and systems leaders who see that the climate crisis is, at its core, a learning crisis.

The field-building strategy also extends beyond the climate sector. SubjectToClimate is exploring collaborations with education initiatives that have successfully mainstreamed new competencies—such as nonprofits focused on AI literacy – where skills once considered optional are now seen as essential. By aligning climate literacy with this broader push for future-ready education that is deeply relevant to all aspects of the world we live in today, StC reframes climate knowledge not as a niche topic, but as a foundational skillset for today’s world.

This broader paradigm shift is central to Margaret’s vision. She draws inspiration from Christina Kwauk’s green skills framework for the three layers of climate-ready education: skills for the green workforce (preparing students for emerging jobs); skills for green living (sustainable daily choices); and skills for green transformation – the capacity to reimagine and rebuild unjust systems toward mutual thriving between people and planet. These transformative skills – systems thinking, complexity navigation, social justice, environmental stewardship, changemaking and collective action – represent the true long-term horizon of SubjectToClimate’s work.

To get there, the organization is taking a two-pronged approach: bottom-up and top-down. On the bottom-up side, StC is building a growing base of habitual users and educator ambassadors. In 2026, the team will continue to expand collaboration with the most engaged teachers in each of states they have hubs in– those who have created personal libraries on the platform, contributed resources, or participated in professional development. This network of early adopters will form the foundation for peer-to-peer support, shared learning, and advocacy from within the system. By cultivating this community identity, StC is turning isolated classroom action into a collective movement for change.

At the same time, the top-down approach focuses on integrating climate literacy into the preparation of future educators. Recognizing the challenge of reforming a decentralized education system, SubjectToClimate is targeting pre-service teacher programs – particularly in key hub states – so that new teachers enter the classroom already equipped with climate awareness and agency-based pedagogy. Partnerships with higher education systems like the University of California and California State University (UC-CSU) network through ECCLPs—where one in nine U.S. teachers earns their credentials – represent a major opportunity to embed climate education into teacher training at scale. Once integrated into these institutional pipelines, the ripple effects could redefine what it means to be a “prepared” educator in the 21st century.

Together, these strategies – coalition-building, thought leadership, educator networks, and pre-service partnerships – are establishing the scaffolding of a new field that not only normalizes climate education across the U.S., but also cement it as a cornerstone of climate resilience and societal renewal. In doing so, the goal is to push the education system at large to pivot from preparing students for jobs in a legacy economy into cultivating changemakers who can shape a more sustainable economy and world.

Supporting this ambitious field-building effort is a growing organization with solid infrastructure. Since its founding in 2021, SubjectToClimate’s team has grown to approximately 30 staff and contractors, including 12 full-time employees, and now manages an annual operating budget of $1.6 million, up from $800,000 in 2022. This growth has been fueled largely by private family foundations (which make up roughly 80% of total funding), alongside support from institutional funders, individual donors, and small amounts of consulting revenue. While SubjectToClimate currently does not operate revenue-generating programs, the organization is exploring diversified funding strategies to support long-term sustainability – including opportunities to adapt and extend SubjectToClimate’s offerings for additional education ecosystems, such as energy state agencies, afterschool programs, libraries, and families, while continuing partnerships with universities and school districts. The current momentum offers a clear signal: funders and institutions are beginning to understand that equipping educators is one of the smartest, most scalable climate strategies we have.

Margaret Wang-Aghania brings to SubjectToClimate a rare fusion of educator insight, entrepreneurial drive, and systems-level vision. She’s had a passion for teaching as far back as she can remember and was the only student in her class at Princeton to do the teacher preparation program. She began her career as a high school economics teacher, where she saw how climate change topics instantly transformed student engagement – for example, doing a module on the true cost of red meat production, and how much of that is externalized and subsidized. When young people were given the opportunity to connect their learning to real-world issues, including the cost of a hamburger at McDonald’s, they showed a new level of curiosity, critical thinking, and purpose. That classroom experience became the catalyst for her life’s work. Determined to better understand how education systems could respond to global challenges, Margaret pursued an M.Ed. in International Education Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. There, she worked closely with Professor Fernando Reimers to research and co-author publications on education reform and climate education, deepening her belief that systemic change in education was not only possible, but essential for preparing young people to lead in an increasingly uncertain world.

Alongside her academic and teaching work, Margaret built a strong foundation in entrepreneurship and product development at an ed-tech firm in Portland, Oregon where she developed an obsession with designing products that actually benefit users – especially teachers. She later co-founded Novustack, a venture that trained and placed recent African college graduates into startup teams across the continent. The goal was to strengthen innovation ecosystems and create pathways for young people to build careers in technology, and while she soon pivoted from Novustack to found her current venture, the experience taught Margaret how to manage distributed teams, lead product design with user needs at the center, and adapt rapidly to a changing landscape.

In 2020, Margaret co-founded SubjectToClimate, driven by the conviction that educators could play a transformational role in the climate movement—if only they had the tools and support to do so. Since its launch, she has led the organization from idea to national influence, growing a team of 30+ staff and collaborators, developing state-wide Climate Education Hubs, and building partnerships with institutions ranging from New York City Public Schools to the University of California system. Under her leadership, SubjectToClimate has reached nearly one and a half million users and has been featured in outlets including NPR, The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Washington Post. Margaret is also an avid runner, triathlete, co-author of Educating for a Climate Changed Future, and soon-to-be professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education.