Dax Dasilva is no stranger to storytelling. For 20 years at Lightspeed, the commerce platform he founded in 2005, it has been the vehicle of connection with employees, customers, and shareholders to “build trust, rally people around a mission, and move ideas into action.”
This same belief in the power of storytelling emerges at Age of Union, Dasilva’s non-profit climate conservation organization. It was meeting conservationists and visiting threatened ecosystems firsthand that illuminated how crucial it is for others to witness “the urgency, heartbreak, and hope” of climate disaster in an audiovisual medium.
Visual storytelling has become an integral piece of Age of Union’s mission. Filmmaking enables people like you and me to experience remote regions and connect with the passionate individuals at the forefront of climate conservation—people and places we would never otherwise encounter. For Dasilva, “it’s not just about raising awareness; it’s about fostering empathy and showing people that the fight for our planet is one they can be part of too.”
These aren’t just passion projects: they’re critical successes. Wildcat, a 2022 documentary Dasilva executive produced, about “how deeply interconnected our healing is with the healing of the planet,” won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Nature Documentary. YANUNI, a film he executive produced and worked on alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Richard Ladkani, is about fearless Indigenous Chief Juma Xipaia in the Brazilian Amazon. It premieres this June at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.
“In today’s world, where climate issues can often feel abstract or overwhelming, storytelling becomes a vital tool … to foster a deeper connection and commitment to environmental stewardship”
The work to save our planet never stops and neither does Dasilva’s commitment to tackling this issue in newly evocative ways. A partnership with Re:wild, a global conservation organization founded by a group of renowned scientists alongside DiCaprio, joins the forces of two extraordinarily devoted climate organizations with united missions: to protect threatened ecosystems, work alongside local conservation leaders and Indigenous communities, and open up these stories and experiences to the world through various media. For Dasilva, it’s “not just about teaming up—it’s about scaling up … to amplify impact.” Their first project together will do exactly that; with a USD 1 million commitment from Age of Union, they’ll focus on protecting Madagascar’s biodiversity—one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems—by combating deforestation and species extinction.
You might be thinking: “Okay, enough! Save some greatness for the rest of us!” I regret to inform you that Dasilva only gets more impressive. Pre-sales for his second book, Echoes from Eden: A Daring Voyage to Protect Earth’s Last Wild Places, launched on Earth Day, April 22, 2025. The novel—with a foreword by the one and only Dr. Jane Goodall—weaves together Dasilva’s personal journey with the urgent call to protect our planet. Through conversations with brave and renowned conservationists, Dasilva takes readers to the frontlines of conservation efforts across some of the world’s most vital ecosystems.
For more on Dax Dasilva and Age of Union, visit ageofunion.com. All proceeds of Echoes from Eden go toward the Jane Goodall Legacy Fund.