CaSA Student Ambassadors
Activating Civic Leadership
The Climate and Sustainability Academy (CaSA) Student Ambassador program is an interdisciplinary student initiative created in partnership with the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) and the Shelton Leadership Center (SLC).
While NC State students graduate career-ready, tackling complex societal challenges requires a different kind of growth: civic leadership. The Student Ambassador program bridges academic research with real-world policy conversations, empowering an interdisciplinary cohort of undergraduate and graduate students to step beyond a field of study, learn with statewide leaders and search for meaningful solutions for North Carolina.
Meet the 2026 CaSA Student Ambassadors
College of Design
College of Design
Poole College of Management
College of Natural Resources, College of Science
College of Natural Resources
College of Science
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
College of Natural Resources
College of Engineering
What Ambassadors Do
The 2026 CaSA Student Ambassadors kicked off their year-long efforts on August 28 and will meet bi-weekly throughout the academic year to receive specialized training from program partners in facilitation, values-based leadership and research-to-policy translation, while leading major campus initiatives on this year’s emerging issue: Future Forward Housing Infrastructure.
- Fireside Chats: A series of informal networking events bringing students, faculty and external civic leaders together to spark the hope and courage necessary to tackle today’s pressing societal issues. These will take place on Sept. 24, November 5 and April 15.
- A Student-Led Public Policy Forum: Ambassadors will lead a campus-wide forum, bringing major policy conversations directly back to the Wolfpack community. The forum will take place on April 5.
Tackling Housing Infrastructure
The 2026 program will align directly with IEI’s Feb. 17, 2027 Emerging Issues Forum: Future Forward Housing. Through this partnership, CaSA Ambassadors will dive deep into housing challenges and opportunities, leveraging NC State’s research to enrich statewide policy discussions. They will interact with industry executives, policymakers, and other civic leaders, learning firsthand how different sectors collaborate to find real solutions.
This program is made possible by funding from the NCSU Foundation.