UNDER 40’S YOUNGEST WINNER

High school senior Helen Clanaugh organizes for climate justice and gun violence prevention

By Andee Erickson aerickson@pinejournal.com

Helen Clanaugh turned on her phone after a summer backpacking trip to find four voicemails letting her know she was a 2019 Duluth News Tribune 20 Under 40 winner.

At 17 years old, Clanaugh is the youngest winner of the award. For Clanaugh, that means organizing for climate justice and gun violence prevention in the community and around the state.

When talking about her various involvements — such as her stint as campaign manager for District 7B Rep. Liz Olson in 2018 or speaking in front of hundreds at the Minnesota State Capitol about working toward 100% renewable energy in Minnesota by 2025 — Clanaugh expresses humility and no burning desire to run for office.

“I thought I (wanted to) when I first started doing this work,” Clanaugh said. “But I realized how much I like to be behind the scenes and how much I really dislike speaking in front of people. I never do this stuff to get recognition or credit, but if it comes to the point where I need to (run for office), or should, then yeah. But if there’s someone else more qualified and maybe represents more communities than me, then I’m going to let them do it.”

Clanaugh received the tools to put her passions surrounding climate justice and gun violence prevention to use during the fall semester of her junior year while attending Conserve School in Land O’ Lake, Wisconsin. Students can apply to attend the environmentally minded boarding school for a semester.

“It gave me a break and a new outlook on how I do things,” Clanaugh said. “I’ve found that since I got back from Conserve, I’ve been a lot more effective and efficient in how I do my work when it comes to working with people and creating connections with the people I’m working with.”

A few months before attending Conserve School, Clanaugh entered the organizing scene when her childhood babysitter, Rep. Olson, asked if she’d be interested in working on her re-election campaign in the spring of 2017.

That same spring, Clanaugh organized her first student-led protest after 17 people died in the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Clanaugh also co-organized the first student-led climate strike in Duluth back in March that drew more than 100 students downtown. Too busy with other obligations, Clanaugh said she couldn’t help organize the most recent climate strike, but was happy to pass the torch on to younger students.

As a senior at Denfeld High School, Clanaugh takes classes at Lake Superior Community College as part of the post secondary enrollment options program.

Having a more flexible college schedule and not being tied to an eight-hour school day has allowed her to have time for the work she cares about, like working on Mike Mayou’s campaign for Duluth City Council and growing into her new position as tools and technology lead for Students Demand Action Minnesota, an organization working to end gun violence.

She was also recently accepted to represent the Eighth Congressional District with three other students on the Minnesota Youth Council, a legislatively mandated body of young people who serve as the “voice of the youth” to the state Legislature and the governor.

Throughout her organizing and campaigning experience, she has learned a few things, such as how to stay calm when something goes wrong and the importance of pacing herself so she can do the work she wants to do as long as she can before burnout intervenes.

“Something I’ve learned about people in general is to always assume everyone has good intentions and everyone is kind of trying their hardest,” Clanaugh said.