Sofia Prieto Black

Sofia Prieto Black is a junior at Yale College majoring in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Film and Media and a certificate in Energy Studies. She is deeply interested in environmental communication, specifically how sustainability is framed, who it reaches, and why so much well-intentioned messaging fails to inspire real action. 

Raised across Playa del Carmen, the Bay Area, Amsterdam, and Sydney, Sofia grew up surrounded by tourism, beauty, and consumer culture, watching environmental damage hidden behind polished branding and “green” narratives. Seeing eco-resorts destroy mangroves and sustainability campaigns exclude the very communities most affected shaped her commitment to challenging greenwashing and rethinking how environmental responsibility is communicated. 

As an Afro-Latina woman, Sofia is especially focused on representation not just in who appears on screen, but in who sustainability messaging is actually designed for, whose experiences inform it, and whose voices are centered. She is motivated by work that communicates environmental urgency with honesty rather than spin, builds trust with skeptical audiences, and makes sustainability feel achievable, relevant, and grounded in lived experience.