Meet The Founder
The Young Ike Project was started to create better ways for people to engage with environmental issues—and with each other.
Why I Started This
Growing up spending my summers in the woods and lakes of northern Minnesota, I fell in love with place—and with the people and communities connected to it. But I also began to notice that many of the environmental conversations shaping those places lacked the nuance these complex issues deserve. Increasingly, they were happening behind screens, driven by algorithms that flatten difficult questions into shallow talking points and reinforce division rather than understanding.
Following the 2024 election cycle, I decided to do something about it.
I started The Young Ike Project to build something different: a media and community platform rooted in honest conversation, long-form storytelling, and real-world engagement around the defining environmental questions of our time.
About Griffith
Griffith Pugh is a student at Haverford College and the founder and host of The Young Ike Project.
He holds leadership roles with the Izaak Walton League of America, helped build Minnesota’s award-winning youth-led Green Crew initiative, and worked as a Superior National Forest guide in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Through The Young Ike Project, he has interviewed experts, policymakers, advocates, and builders from across the environmental and civic landscape. His work has been featured in outlets including The New York Times, MPR, and Rolling Stone.
In his free time, he enjoys listening to the Grateful Dead, playing guitar, reading history, taking long road trips, spending time outdoors—preferably under a clear night sky—and hopelessly cheering for Minnesota sports.
Get in Touch
For media, speaking, partnerships, or other inquiries, contact: griffith@theyoungike.org