Susana Núñez, Second-level Education Officer, Educate Together
Sumaya Mohammed, a proud alumna of Cork Educate Together Secondary School (CETSS), was recently recognized by The Irish Times as one of the 50 People to Watch in 2025. The list highlights artists, entrepreneurs, activists, and musicians poised to make a significant impact in the coming year, and Sumaya’s inclusion reflects her tireless dedication to climate action and education.
Sumaya’s climate advocacy journey began during her time at CETSS, where she benefited from the school’s Climate Action Short Course as part of the Junior Cycle. This programme, offered by many of the second level schools in the network, empowers students with the tools to develop a strong voice and activism skills for equality, global citizenship, and sustainable change.
“Not to be dramatic, but it changed my life,” Sumaya says. “It’s why a lot of my focus now is on education—education can change how you view the world.” While at CETSS, she co-founded the Students Climate Action Network, organising climate protests in Cork to demand stronger government action on climate policy.
At just 16, she attended COP27 in Egypt with the support of Trócaire and has also contributed to the development of the Leaving Certificate Climate Action course. She is also an active member of Somalis for Sustainability, advocating for global climate justice and raising awareness of the disproportionate impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities.
Since leaving CETSS, Sumaya has continued her advocacy on a global stage. Now a law student at University College Cork, she was part of the college’s delegation to COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, where she described the summit as imperfect but vital: “COP29 wasn’t perfect, but it’s the forum we have for tackling the climate crisis.”
Sumaya remains hopeful about the future despite the challenges ahead: “I really hope that climate can become a main topic of conversation again, as it was in 2019, prior to the pandemic. We’ve faced flooding in Cork, which is terrible, but it’s nothing compared to the devastation in Somalia or Spain. We must remember our privilege and that we can still change. There is still hope; we must keep fighting for it.”
Through her transformative experiences at Cork Educate Together Secondary School (CETSS) and her ongoing work as a climate advocate, Sumaya Mohammed exemplifies the impact of the Educate Together network’s innovative approach to education. The network’s focus on ethical education and sustainability provided Sumaya, and hopefully many other of the students in the network, with the tools to develop a strong voice and activism skills, empowering them to be advocates for a better and more equitable future. Her journey continues to inspire us all across the network, encouraging us to take bold steps toward a sustainable and just world.
