View of Smith Rock State Park (Oregon) from a hiking trail
Photo c/o Paul Wilson, Population Connection member since 1998
Six decades of leading the population movement
Nearly 60 years since our founding, Population Connection’s work is more relevant than ever. Rapid population growth presents a real challenge to solving some of our planet’s most intractable problems. In 2025, we witnessed environmental disasters, waves of social and political instability, growing inequities, and misplaced alarm about low birth rates. Thanks to the unwavering support of our members, Population Connection continues to press forward with determination in our mission to address global population challenges through education, advocacy, and international partnerships.
Building a Sustainable Future Through Education
Through workshops, webinars, and curriculum resources, Population Education equipped K-12 educators to bring population issues into classrooms across Northern America. Teachers and students engaged with vital topics such as climate change, resource consumption, and sustainable development, gaining the tools to think critically about the connections between human activities and the environment.
Expanding Global Access to Family Planning, Girls’ Education, and Conservation Efforts
In 2025, we continued investing in our Global Partners initiative. Thanks to donor-restricted funding, we supported grassroots organizations in Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, Madagascar, Nepal, Tanzania, Uganda, Venezuela, and Zambia. We provided opportunities for our partners to deliver reproductive health services, girls’ education, and environmental conservation programs to their local communities.
Mobilizing for Reproductive Rights: The #Fight4HER Campaign
Our joint #Fight4HER campaign with Population Connection Action Fund is fully mobilized in Las Vegas, Nevada; Tucson, Arizona; Research Triangle, North Carolina; and southern New Hampshire. On-the-ground organizers pulled together a diverse coalition of advocates and leaders to raise awareness and get out the vote ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Shaping the Narrative: Communications and Media Outreach
In tandem with our grassroots and policy work, our Communications team played a critical role in shaping public understanding of population trends and their relationship to health, development, and the environment. In 2025, we prioritized media engagement to counter harmful misinformation and alarm about declining birth rates.
Through letters to the editor, op-eds, social media engagement, and our quarterly magazine, we reached a broad and diverse audience. Our efforts center on providing accurate, accessible insights on the connections between population dynamics and global challenges.
Why Population Connection?
Watch the video below to hear members of our Board of Directors answer the question: Why Population Connection? Their answers are echoed in letters, phone calls, emails, and social media comments from our members and supporters every day. Then, read on to see updates about our education, advocacy, and outreach work throughout 2025. Thank you for standing with us in this important work.
Population Education for K-12 students
Over the past 50 years, since 1975, Population Education (PopEd) has built up a reputation for educational excellence. Through memorable, standards-aligned classroom activities, such as simulations, cooperative challenges, and debates, PopEd inspires students to tackle a variety of real-world problems and become positively engaged in their communities as the next generation of leaders and policymakers. As the only national program for teachers that focuses on human population issues, PopEd fulfills an essential need within Northern American K-12 educational settings.
Outside of the classroom, PopEd offers professional development opportunities, such as our Leadership Institutes, an accredited graduate course, and various networking events. These events offer a valuable platform for educators to connect, share experiences, and collaborate on innovative ideas for incorporating population issues into their teaching.
Teacher Workshops
Our PopEd program presents hands-on workshops that equip teachers with the tools to effectively teach about population dynamics, environmental sustainability, and human impacts on our planet. Every workshop is tailored to the participants’ grade level and subject area, ensuring that all participating teachers gain valuable skills and tools they can use with their students. These engaging sessions are crafted to bring real-world issues into the classroom and into non-formal education settings such as museums and zoos, fostering critical thinking among students. PopEd hosted 700+ workshops in 2025, preparing educators across the U.S. and Canada to address today’s most pressing challenges.
Educators tune in to learn about PopEd’s classroom activity “Who Polluted the Potomac?”
Professional development workshops for current teachers and non-formal educators
Leadership Institutes
To present more than 700 workshops a year, we rely on an extensive network of professional educators to contribute more than two-thirds of our teacher training workshops each year. PopEd Leadership Institutes offer immersive training for these educators, allowing them to deepen their expertise and take a leadership role in promoting Population Education.
The Summer Institute took place on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, and the Fall Institute was held in Orlando. The 2025 Leadership Institutes brought together a total of 50 educators preparing to become facilitators of teacher-training workshops in their own regions.
Attendees at the Fall Leadership Institute in Orlando
Leadership Institutes to "train the trainer"
World of 8 Billion Student Video Contest
Our annual World of 8 Billion student video contest sparks creativity among middle and high school students, encouraging them to address global challenges linked to population growth. Teachers worldwide use the student video contest to promote global learning and give students hands-on experience with essential 21st-century skills. Each year, the contest brings innovation into classrooms and highlights critical issues in fresh, student-led ways.
The 14th annual World of 8 Billion International Student Video Contest fielded over 3,250 submissions from students in 67 countries and 45 states plus D.C. The topic categories for the 2024/20205 contest were: child wellbeing, rainforest ecosystems, and sanitation.
Winners of the 2025 World of 8 Billion student video contest
National Science Teaching Association Convention
In March of 2025, members of the PopEd team traveled to Philadelphia to participate in the National Science Teaching Association’s annual convention—one of the country’s largest gatherings of science educators.
Over three action-packed days, the team hosted a PopEd exhibit and led three interactive workshops. They also engaged directly with elementary school teachers and informal educators at two special networking events. It was an inspiring few days of sharing ideas, resources, and strategies to bring population and sustainability topics into classrooms across the nation.
Teachers visit the PopEd booth at the National Conference on Science Education in Philadelphia
Lesson plans and classroom resources
I feel so honored to have been a participant in this past weekend’s top-notch, first-class, super-organized, very informative, most awesome training! Thank you for all you did to make our days together a joyous, collegial, and highly educational event. Having the opportunity to learn meaningful content alongside other educators in such an inviting environment made this experience truly exceptional. I am excited to share the excellent lessons and resources with my teacher candidates next spring! Laura Wendling, California State University San Marcos, Summer Leadership Institute attendee
Population Studies for Higher Education
Our Population Education for Higher Studies Program engages with college-level students to assess human population trends and dynamics by providing thought-provoking presentations and other academic materials, including a publication in The Encyclopedia of Biodiversity.
Presentations highlight both causes of and solutions to global population challenges. In 2025, we presented to more than 85 college and university classes across 25 states about the connections between population, health, environment, and sustainable development!
University of North Carolina Summer Course
Our partnership with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) continued into its third year in 2025! Our five-week full-credit course provides undergrads and graduate students with a comprehensive introduction to population studies, with a strong emphasis on how demographic trends intersect with social and environmental justice.
Students hear from a diverse group of guest speakers, including university researchers, leaders from our Global Partner organizations, and international advocates who share firsthand perspectives about how rapid population growth and climate change affect sustainable development efforts in their countries and communities. Their contributions enrich classroom discussions with real-world context, case studies, and professional expertise.
By the end of the course, students have learned key demographic concepts and can think critically and independently about how population trends impact the social and environmental issues they care about. They can recognize the critical role of health, education, and human rights in building a more sustainable and equitable future.
Population Connection Senior Analyst Hannah Evans presenting to a group of students at Stanislaus State
Read and download academic-style resources
The most important lesson I have learned is the critical importance of access to sexual and reproductive health care, not only for achieving ecological balance but also for enhancing the quality of life for both humans and other species on Earth. I now more fully recognize how access to reproductive health services intersects with gender equity, development, climate resilience, and sustainability. I also have a better understanding that reproductive education and healthcare, along with access to safe and effective birth control, constitute fundamental human rights. These resources are pivotal in promoting a more sustainable future. Consequently, providing all women and girls with these resources is fundamentally a matter of justice for all life on Earth. UNCG Student, 2025
Communications Efforts
A key aspect of our work is attempting to ensure that population isn’t left out of conversations about environmental crises, public health challenges, and development initiatives. Through expert interviews, in-depth blog posts, website updates, social media engagement, and a variety of publications, including a quarterly magazine, we see to it that population issues are accurately represented in broader conversations about global challenges.
Our team consistently monitors news coverage and swiftly responds to misleading or biased articles with op-eds, letters to the editor (LTEs), and press releases.
Media Appearances
Much of our media work in 2025 focused on countering the widespread sensationalism around declining fertility rates. Headlines warning of a “baby bust” routinely overlooked the reality that a world of more than 8 billion people strains the finite supply of natural resources and the planet’s ability to absorb our waste, including greenhouse gas emissions. In our responses, we pushed back against these narratives and highlighted the links between population dynamics, environmental justice, resource sustainability, and reproductive rights.
Check out our responses to articles in The Guardian, The New York Times, and other outlets, as well as our inclusion in NPR’s prominent Population Shift Series and a CNN article about pronatalism in the Trump administration.
Read recent Population Connection media coverage
United Nations Involvement
Population Connection began participating in UN conferences and other events in 2024. We have special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) as a civil society organization. This status, reserved for non-governmental organizations whose work “has direct relevance to the aims and purposes of the United Nations,” allows us to attend UN conferences, deliver written and oral statements, and comment on drafts of important publications.
In April 2025, we joined health ministers, ambassadors, and other civil society experts with consultative status at the 58th Session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD58) in New York City. Our staff member Florence Blondel attended all five days of the conference. Florence made two official oral statements on behalf of Population Connection. Additionally, we submitted a written statement in partnership with Population Matters and Population Media Center. We also hosted an official virtual side event featuring our friends at Population Media Center and Women for Conservation.
Florence Blondel giving an oral statement on behalf of Population Connection at CPD58
Read and watch our written and oral statements and official side event recordings
Quarterly Magazine
Population Connection magazine is our quarterly publication, with a circulation of over 60,000, distributed to our network of supporters, every member of Congress, and more than 3,000 public and university libraries.
Our March 2025 issue examined the steady increase in vasectomies and other permanent sterilization procedures in the US since the fall of Roe v. Wade. The June edition spotlighted the accomplishments of our Global Partner RUWDUC in changing norms and traditions that harm Nepalese women and girls. Additionally, we featured a survey we conducted in late 2024, which illuminated Americans’ fertility perspectives, preferences, and challenges. The September issue highlighted the unfounded declarations of prominent American figures regarding an impending population collapse and human extinction, while completely ignoring the actual collapse that’s happening right now: the sixth mass extinction of species. The December edition celebrated the 50th anniversary of our one-of-a-kind Population Education program.
Each issue offers timely insights into global population dynamics and department happenings.
Population Connection magazine on display at a community event in Los Altos, CA
Read archived issues of Population Connection magazine
Global Partners
Our Global Partners initiative supports the efforts of grassroots organizations in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. These organizations work to provide reproductive health care, advance girls’ education, protect biodiversity, and promote sustainable development. Our partners play a crucial role in boosting equity and sustainability in their respective regions.
In early 2025, Population Connection Senior Analyst Hannah Evans spent two weeks visiting our Guatemalan partners, including: Manos Abiertas, Maya Health Alliance, Seeds for a Future, and WINGS. She gained a deeper understanding of how each organization operates on a day-to-day basis and gathered stories that highlight the positive changes they’re making in their communities. Upon her return, she wrote blog posts and co-hosted virtual events for our members and supporters with Guatemalan Global Partner leaders.
Hannah Evans visiting with attendees at a Youth Leadership hosted by WINGS
Learn about each of our Global Partners
Pronatalism in the US
2025 saw a surge in increasingly alarming measures aimed at boosting the US birth rate. Right-wing think tanks and public figures prominently promoted pronatalist narratives, often couching them in unabashedly nationalistic, xenophobic agendas.
The growing wave of pronatalism poses a serious threat to reproductive health and rights. These efforts undermine individual freedom and reshape public policy around an agenda that ignores evidence-based health practices, human rights principles, and planetary boundaries.
We closely tracked these developments as they emerged.
See our US pronatalism trackerSurvey Research
We wanted to find out to what extent the alarmist “baby bust” rhetoric is shaping public knowledge and perception of demographic trends.
In June 2025, we worked with polling firm YouGov to launch an online survey of a representative sample of 2,000 US adults. We asked people 10 simple questions about the national population, the global population, their exposure to population-related headlines, and their concerns (if any) related to declining birthrates and global population growth.
The survey revealed that Americans have an established preference for small family sizes and do not perceive low fertility rates as a problem.
Explore key findings of our YouGov surveyField and Advocacy
Population Connection is the only national population group that mobilizes environmental and reproductive rights advocates to support US funding for international family planning programs.
In 2025, we, along with our international family planning coalition partners, faced tremendous challenges, including Trump’s foreign aid “freeze,” the destruction of USAID, and a rescissions package clawing back US funds already earmarked for critical global health investments. These actions have severely restricted people’s ability to access reproductive health care and family planning services.
Ensuring people can make their own best reproductive decisions benefits everyone, in addition to our beleaguered planet and the other species it hosts. It’s the best way to stabilize global population, and an important solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving communities’ and countries’ climate resilience.
#Fight4HER
The Field Team spent 2025 getting the next phase of the #Fight4HER campaign underway in key locations across the country. We now have field organizers working in Tucson, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; southern New Hampshire; and Research Triangle, North Carolina.
The #Fight4HER team at our Washington DC headquarters. Front, from left: Lauren Salmiery, Kat Stratford; middle, from left: Kim Ip, Rebecca Harrington; back, from left: Melvine Ouyo, Isabel Song, Kyle Devasier, Richeline Cadet
Join the #Fight4HER campaign
In-person activism
As the Trump administration stripped away essential health care services and gutted foreign aid, our staff and supporters hit the streets to protest at marches in Washington, DC, and across the country.
- January 18: We participated in People’s March events. Coordinated by a coalition of organizations led by Women’s March, the rallies were envisioned as a first act of opposition to the second Trump administration.
- February 5: We joined thousands in protesting on Capitol Hill at the Save USAID rally.
- March 12: We joined pro-choice and pro-democracy organizations at the Save Our Health Care rally against cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Planned Parenthood.
- March 31: We stood in solidarity with trans activists at a rally commemorating National Trans Day of Visibility.
- April 2: We joined Planned Parenthood and other reproductive rights groups in front of the Supreme Court to rally during oral arguments for Medina v. Planned Parenthood of the South Atlantic, a case challenging South Carolina’s attempt to block Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider in the state.
- June 7-8: We connected with hundreds of people during the World Pride event in Washington, DC, staffing a booth, distributing information, and gathering petition signatures to repeal the Global Gag Rule once and for all!
Staff attend the Save Our Health Care rally in DC
A quick look at our policy priorities
World Pride Street Festival
After a politically devastating first half of the year, the Field team was thrilled to participate in WorldPride DC 2025 on the 50th anniversary of Pride celebrations in the nation’s capital, under the auspices of Population Connection Action Fund. Despite months of attacks on abortion, contraception, health care coverage, and LGBTQ+ rights, 2025 Pride festivities were filled with joy, hope, and resolve.
The Action Fund hosted a booth during the two-day WorldPride Street Festival, a huge gathering of progressive organizations and businesses. The booth was in action all day Saturday and Sunday, where staff spoke with thousands of festivalgoers about attacks on reproductive rights, recruited people to join our joint #Fight4HER campaign, encouraged visitors to take action on the Global HER Act, and handed out Action Fund-branded swag.
Staff in front of the Action Fund’s booth at WorldPride Street Festival in DC
Blog post recap of WorldPride 2025
International Conference on Family Planning
We were honored to send a delegation to the 7th International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) in Bogotá, Colombia. The team spent the week speaking with and learning from passionate sexual and reproductive health providers and advocates from around the world. They distributed hundreds of fact sheets and branded giveaways, including our popular “Repro Rights Fan.”
Additionally, people expressed enthusiasm for our open letter, calling for an end to the panic over low fertility and for a focus instead on the real crises of unintended pregnancy, maternal death, and low rates of school attendance for girls.
Staff and associates pose with our “Repro Rights Fans” at the Population Connection exhibit booth
Blog post recap of ICFP 2025 in Bogotá
Contacting Representatives
Population Connection Action Fund mobilized supporters through digital actions, calls to contact their representatives, and collaborations with peer organizations. In anticipation of confirmation hearings for several Trump cabinet nominees, more than 500 people participated in our “Stop These Nominees” email campaign to contact their senators. Furthermore, over 700 supporters reached out to their House representatives, urging them to co-sponsor Rep. Chrissy Houlahan’s Support UNFPA Funding Act (H.R.2439).
Additionally, the Action Fund joined nearly 80 organizations in urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to halt the Trump administration’s plan to discard nearly $10 million worth of taxpayer-funded contraceptive medications and supplies—commodities that many governments and international groups have offered to store, ship, and distribute at no cost to the US government.
Repro Rundown
The Action Fund launched the biweekly Repro Rundown email newsletter in early April 2025 as a way to keep our most engaged activists up to date on the latest developments in reproductive rights. Each edition features quick policy updates, advocacy opportunities, and highlights from on-the-ground work.
Since the newsletter’s debut, we’ve expanded its reach to include our broader community of committed donors and advocates—people who consistently support reproductive freedom and seek more frequent insights into the issues we’re tracking.
Get Involved with Population Connection Action FundMember Engagement
Our virtual events provide dynamic and accessible ways for supporters to delve into population issues, connect with our team, and engage with like-minded advocates.
Throughout the year, we brought our community together online through a wide range of programs. These included webinars that featured experts in conservation, resource management, reproductive rights, public health, demography, and other related fields—providing essential insights and meaningful opportunities for learning and discussion.
These events created a vibrant virtual space for learning, dialogue, and global engagement, bringing our mission to life for nearly 1,000 supporters throughout 2025.
Page Turners Book Club
Each quarter, Population Connection members and supporters meet on Zoom to discuss a book or long-form publication.
We kicked off 2025 with Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie, an evidence-based and optimistic look at how data and innovation can help us build a sustainable planet. In May, we shifted gears to Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s What If We Get It Right?, a book that envisions hopeful, community-driven paths toward a livable climate future.
Our August selection was The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2024, edited by Bill McKibben and Jaime Green, featuring standout journalism on environmental change, biodiversity, and the human relationship with nature. We closed the year in November with Gabrielle Blair’s Ejaculate Responsibly, a thought-provoking examination of reproductive responsibility and the cultural narratives surrounding the abortion debate.
Book club attendees at our November book club meeting
Details about book club and what we're reading next
Summer Photo Contest
We hosted our fourth annual Summer Photo Contest in 2025! Supporters from around the world submitted images that capture the beauty of natural landscapes, fascinating creatures, and cultural curiosities.
We received over 130 submissions from enthusiastic photographers who were eager to share their art and inspire environmental stewardship. Each photograph tells a unique story, reflecting personal connections to the environment and the importance of protecting it for future generations. From breathtaking mountain vistas to intimate snapshots of wildlife, the submissions showcase the diverse beauty of our shared planet in all its glory.
The winning photo, featuring two chinstrap penguins at Palaver Point in Antarctica, submitted by David Newswanger
View 2025 summer photo contest submissions
Community Outreach
Population Connection members tabled at Earth Day and other community events in New York, Florida, California, and Illinois! Our volunteers reached hundreds of people in their local communities with materials and information that make the links between population growth, climate change, resource depletion, and other environmental challenges. Their outreach brought our message directly into local communities, strengthening awareness of the urgent need for sustainable, people-centered solutions.
Longtime Population Connection member, Middy Streeter at the Union Square Earth Day event in New York City
Get involved in our work by participating or volunteering
Collaborative Events
Throughout the year, we collaborated with like-minded organizations to leverage our collective strengths, share resources, and amplify our outreach.
To start 2025 off, we were thrilled to host Nandita Bajaj, Executive Director of Population Balance, to examine the roles of population growth and over-consumption in today’s most pressing global crises.
In May, we collaborated with the Center for Biological Diversity to celebrate International Day for Biological Diversity with an educational trivia game covering topics such as biological diversity, reproductive health, endangered species, and population milestones.
To mark Earth Overshoot Day in July, we hosted David Lin, Chief Science Officer at Global Footprint Network. The conversation explored what happens when we live beyond our planet’s means and what it will take to restore ecological balance between humans and wildlife.
View our archive of 2025 virtual eventsEarth Day with John Seager
We celebrated Earth Day with a virtual event featuring John Seager, President & CEO of Population Connection! During his presentation, John lamented that overpopulation is often overlooked in broader discussions about sustainability, despite its significant impact on the environment and the depletion of resources. He highlighted the urgent need for a more inclusive dialogue that recognizes population dynamics as a crucial factor in achieving sustainable development.
John also addressed the troubling policies of the Trump administration, which have posed serious threats to vital programs that support reproductive health, family planning, and environmental protection. He urged our community to continue fighting against these detrimental measures and to champion initiatives that promote sustainable population growth and environmental stewardship.
Watch John's 2025 Earth Day presentation2025 Financials
Population Connection Board of Directors
Aaron S. Allen, PhD
Director of the Environmental & Sustainability Program, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Aaron Dannenberg, JD, MBA (Treasurer)
Managing Director and Head of Private Debt Solutions at Nomura Securities International
Céline Delacroix, PhD
Adjunct Professor at The University of Ottawa Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences
Bruce Fallick, PhD
Senior Vice President, Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
Bryce Hach, MS (Chair)
Biology & Environmental Science Teacher, North Yarmouth Academy
Bob Pettapiece, EdD (Treasurer)
Professor of Teacher Education, Wayne State University (Retired)
Dara Purvis, JD, MPhil (Vice Chair)
Professor of Law at Temple University Beasley School of Law
Eleanor Unsworth, MS
Executive Director, WINGS Guatemala
Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, BVetMed, MsPVM
Founder and CEO, Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH)
Heather Smith, DMgt, MBA, MSM
Foreign Service Population, Health, and Nutrition Officer, U.S. Agency for International Development
Kevin Whaley, PhD
CEO, Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Inc.
Mark Hathaway, MD, MPH (Secretary)
Director, Family Planning Services, Unity Health Care, Inc., & Sr. Technical Advisor for Reproductive Health, Jhpiego
Mary Beth Weinberger, MA
Chief, Population and Development Section, UN Population Division (Retired)
Seema Mohapatra, JD, MPH
M.D. Anderson Foundation Endowed Professor in Health Law, SMU Dedman School of Law