
October 21, 2026
Yenny grew up in the Bay Area, where a deep appreciation for the natural world—and a desire to protect it—took root early on. Beginning with admittedly ineffective one-person protests on rollerblades at age nine, she has since worked with environmental nonprofits focused on food recovery, environmental justice, and wildlife conservation. Across these roles, she has drawn on her background in design, filmmaking, and multimedia storytelling to shed light on the issues and solutions that need our attention. Yenny believes that celebrating the lives and work of ordinary people doing extraordinary things can inspire the collective action needed to heal our planet. She holds a BA in documentary video production from Bennington College and an MA in art activism from New York University. She joined the Prize in 2026.