The Bloom's 30 Under 30 Social Impact

On 18 December 2024, Christine Nikander was selected for the first ever edition of The Bloom’s "30 Under 30 Social Impact" list for her work on The E-Waste Column. Along with Christine, The Bloom’s list named 29 other young entrepreneurs who are intersectional and creative in their work, focus on community empowerment and grassroots approaches, and have come up with out-of-the-box solutions.

For its annual "30 Under 30 Social Impact" list, The Bloom selects young entrepreneurs who they believe “are leading innovations our world needs more than ever”. The featured founders must “prioritize historically underrepresented groups, whether through direct action, advocacy, or resource allocation”. The selected projects must show a “potential for long-term impact through sustainable practices [and] scalable models”. Moreover, the solutions used must “work towards inclusivity by integrating multiple dimensions of social justice”.

When she heard she was being awarded The Bloom’s social impact prize, Christine had the following to say: “I started "The E-Waste Column" because I felt like the voices of historically underrepresented groups were not being heard in the corporate sustainability and energy sectors. There is so much talk about a "just transition", but it sometimes feels to me like the people doing most of the talking are the same people that got us into the current climate crisis. Especially in the tech, electronics, and mining and mineral sectors, most of the talking is being done by fairly privileged white men. It also often feels like there is a general reluctance to really talk about the social, labor, gender, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and other human rights issues that arise in the context of a transition over to renewable energy technologies. The lack of diversity and lack of representation is something I find truly frustrating. Through my weekly column and the monthly newsletter, I have tried to shed some light on social justice questions in the context of the energy transition and bring on board voices and perspectives that might not otherwise be heard.”

You can read more about The Bloom’s list and the featured entrepreneurs here. If you would like to learn more about The E-Waste Column, you can explore our database here and subscribe to our newsletter here.