Tokyo, Japan
2023 G7 Youth Summit
The Y7 Summit will bring together youth delegates from all G7 member countries, the European Union, and guest countries to discuss and form policy suggestions. The Y7 Summit leads to the creation of a Y7 Communiqué that will serve as the official youth recommendations to G7 leaders in advance of their international summit.
The Y7 will take place in-person with each delegate representing Canadian youth on one of the following policy tracks: Economy, Climate, Digital, and Global Health. All delegates will also work collaboratively on negotiating recommendations for global Peacebuilding.
This year’s delegation is an accomplished group of young Canadians. They look forward to engaging with Canadian youth and other young leaders in preparation for the Y7 negotiations.
Sarah Rozon, Head Delegate
Sarah holds a Master's degree in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge and an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Guelph.
She currently works for Smart Wires as a Strategy Analyst. In this role, she partners with utilities, industry stakeholders, as well as government and regulatory bodies to accelerate the energy transition. She has also worked as a volunteer with the United Nations Development Programme to align country-level budgets and development plans with SDG and AU2063 targets to prioritize future investments.
Sarah has also previously held positions as an Engineer in Training at Hydro Ottawa and a Historical Interpreter at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France. Sarah is passionate about using a systems-based, collaborative approach to address pressing climate and economic challenges. Sarah is a fluent French speaker who was born and raised in Russell, Ontario. She currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Sydney Whiting, Communications Coordinator
Sydney Whiting (she/her) is a youth climate activist and community organizer from Lethbridge, Alberta. A second-year student in Political Science, she began her environmental journey by co-organizing the Lethbridge Climate Strike. This event brought together hundreds of activists demanding systemic climate action and led her to co-found the Climate Hub of Southern Alberta, where she championed projects to promote youth artistry, interviewed climate experts, and published work with CBC News and Climate Reality Project Canada. She remains involved in her local community through political campaigns and on campus, where she serves as the Engagement Coordinator at an anti-oppression student advocacy organization.
As part of the United Nations Association of Canada delegation to the pre-COP26 youth conference in 2021, she was engaged in conversations on climate financing and international cooperation. She continued these discussions as the Communications Coordinator for the YDC delegation to UN CSW66, where she presented at the Mediators Beyond Borders (Canada) event to promote youth inclusion in policy-making. Sydney is thrilled to join the Canadian Y7 delegation, where she will serve as the Communications Coordinator and continue to advocate for ambitious climate policy.
Pentcho Tchomakov, Engagement Coordinator
Pentcho is a professional in the fintech industry specialized in artificial intelligence and data applications. He currently works at Borealis AI, a leading applied research lab part of RBC, as the product manager leading the high compute cluster platform. He currently holds a Master’s in Computer Engineering specialized in Applied Artificial Intelligence from University of Montreal (École Polytechnique de Montréal) and a Bachelor of Software Engineering from McGill University.
As part of his civic engagement, Pentcho has been a key leader and the out-going President of the Youth Council of Montreal (Conseil jeunesse de Montréal) - a think tank lobbying the municipal administration and elected officials for youth-oriented policies. He has focused on the themes of intergenerational inequity, climate change, and participative democracy, and has recently represented Quebec youth at the International Observatory for Participative Democracy. Through his local and international experiences, he has learned first-hand the complexity of competing interests within large scale institutions and the balancing act of diplomacy in conflict situations. Finally, he is fluent in French, English, Bulgarian and Spanish and is currently working towards proficiency in Mandarin.
Heather O’Watch, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator
Heather O’Watch (She/Her) is a Nakota and Cree woman from the Okanese First Nation in Treaty 4 Territory, she also has paternal ties to Cegakin (Carry The Kettle) First Nation. Heather is currently enrolled in a Masters Degree in Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Studies from the First Nations University of Canada.
Heather's experience extends in the areas of; communications/journalism, community based research, community development and policy. In her undergrad, Heather was a strong advocate for post-secondary student rights and was the provincial representative on the national executive of the Canadian Federation of Students. She currently works with Indigenous Peoples Rights International, a global Indigenous organization that works to protect Indigenous People’s Rights, and unite and amplify the call for justice to victims of criminalization and impunity. She also is a member of the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health, an initiative with the Sandbox Project in helping develop more equitable Canadian health policy for children and youth.
Heather spends her time with family and community, learning Nakota and Cree teachings, and creative writing. She is an avid storyteller and is in the midst of publishing her first children’s book.