Nalleli Cobo is an American activist.
Biography Nalleli Cobo was raised in South Los Angeles in a Latino family. Like many of her neighbors and family members, she grew up suffering a range of severe ill-health symptoms medically attributed to toxic emissions from the nearby petroleum operations.
In 2015, she co-founded South Central Youth Leadership Coalition which joined other organisations to successfully sue the city of Los Angeles for rubber-stamping oil projects in communities of colour. The oil industry countersued, and lost. Cobo is best known for leading that coalition that helped shut down permanently the local toxic oil-drilling site and changed Los Angeles environmental law.
At age 19, in 2020, Cobo was diagnosed with stage two reproductive cancer, necessitating multiple surgeries and procedures such as radiation, chemo, and battles with infections, in treatment alone because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cobo and Greta Thunberg have worked together on environmental campaigns.
In 2022, Cobo was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize list. for North America . She was also included on the Time100 Next list.
In 2025, Cobo was a keynote speaker at Verdical Group's annual Net Zero Conference.
In 2023, Cobo was the keynote speaker at The Climate Center's annual Climate Policy Summit in Sacramento, California
Awards and recognition 2022: Goldman Environmental Prize 2022: California Energy Commission Clean Energy Hall of Fame 2022: TIME 100 Next 2022: Apolitical Top 100 Most Influential People in Climate 2022: Sachamama Top 100 Latinos Committed to Climate Action 2022: Business Insider Top 100 People Transforming Business 2020: Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism 2019: Aris and Carolyn Anagnos Culture of Liberation Award 2019: Center for Diverse Leadership (CDLS) Fellow 2018: Women in Green Youth Trailblazer Award 2018: Liberty Hill Foundation Leader to Watch 2017: South Coast Air Quality Management District; Youth Leadership in Air Quality 2017: KCET Local Hero 2017: Univisión Agente de Cambio
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