About OUr CEO

...and founder of Trash Turtles, a youth-led nonprofit she created at age 10 after seeing trash dragged to the water’s edge on a Florida beach where sea turtles came ashore to nest.

Rather than simply picking it up, Caymus asked why it was happening. She met with her hometown mayor and later brought four proposed ordinances addressing cigarettes, single-use plastics, polystyrene foam and balloon releases before the Madeira Beach City Commission. Two issues she first advocated around eventually resulted in policy change: Madeira Beach restricted smoking on its beaches, and Florida prohibited intentional balloon releases statewide.

Since founding Trash Turtles in 2020, Caymus has helped mobilize 1,500+ volunteers through more than 50 cleanups, remove six-plus tons of debris, recycle approximately 75,000 cigarette butts, install three school water refill stations and award $8,500 in scholarships to eight young environmental changemakers.

Caymus is a 2026 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes national winner and serves on Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots Youth Council USA. At the heart of her work is #LeaveWith3™, a simple call to take your own trash and leave with three additional pieces, proving that meaningful change can begin with one small action.