In his volunteer service, Evan Nied has made notable contributions on the local and national levels. He is the founder of Planting Shade, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has planted more than 14,000 trees through 10 local chapters in 7 states. Planting Shade also hosts educational events for students to learn the benefits of planting trees.  

Since starting Planting Shade on his own, Evan has forged relationships with arborists and forestry agencies in Virginia and elsewhere; collaborated with private landowners, country clubs, homeowners’ associations, and colleges to identify places to plant trees; solicited cash and in-kind contributions ranging from regional banks to national home improvement companies. Not the least of this, he also had to convince, directly and indirectly, hundreds of teenagers to go outside and spend time digging in the dirt and to take part in educational events that came about through his collaborations with school administrators and teachers as well as faith-based groups. 

“Evan is too young to have training to solve community problems. But he has the will, the will to act,” says his nominator and father, Joel Nied. Indeed, despite his young age, Evan has already created a legacy for himself. Evan has instituted a leadership succession plan so that Planting Shade continues to cultivate new local leaders, creating a corps of volunteers who learn organizational skills to improve our country for years to come. And, of course, there are the forests of trees that continue to grow year after year — providing more and more shade and habitats for wildlife — and to improve flood mitigation and soil conservation. “As a Scout, Evan hiked through forests. Because of his efforts, other Scouts will hike through forests that exist because of him,” says Carla Hesseltine of the Virginia Beach Human Rights Commission. “We are lucky to have him in our community.” 

Evan also successfully lobbied to change admission policies for Virginia Beach’s annual Neptune Festival business networking “Royal Court” in order to remove gender restrictions and allow women to be included for the first time in 2022. The same year, Evan received the City of Virginia Beach Human Rights Commission’s City’s Human Rights Award — the only teenager to receive it — and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Virginia Business Magazine named him one of the “100 People to Meet in 2023” for his community service. Evan also received the 2022 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award, which was awarded to 15 teenagers nationwide for exceptional leadership and engagement in initiatives making the world a better place, as well as the 2021 Barron Prize for Young Heroes, both for his work to create and grow Planting Shade.