Documented path
Delaney Reynolds founded the Sink or Swim Project at age 15 to educate about sea level rise in South Florida. She gave a TEDx talk at 16, helped implement the first solar mandate in Florida in South Miami at 17, and became lead plaintiff in Reynolds v. State of Florida at 19. She addressed the UN General Assembly and participated in COP27 and COP28 conferences.
Born and raised in Miami, Florida, with family roots in the Florida Keys spanning four generations; grew up between Miami and a solar-powered community on No Name Key.
Graduate student pursuing a dual J.D. and Ph.D. at the University of Miami's Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy; Founder & CEO of the Sink or Swim Project.
Where the conditions came from
Each is placed on a −1 to 3 scale from documented evidence, and the three are never added together. A combined total would rank Delaney Reynolds against other people. Held apart, they explain why this path ran differently from another one—which is the only comparison this project supports.
The marble itself
+2Tailwind
What capability, drive, or early skill is documented in the person rather than their surroundings?
Founded Sink or Swim Project at 15, wrote 3 children's books on ecology by 9, gave TEDx at 16, helped implement first solar mandate in Florida at 17, lead plaintiff in climate lawsuit at 19. Exceptional early achievement across activism and policy.
Where it was dropped
+2Tailwind
What money, family standing, network, or permission was already in place before the work began?
Father Robert Reynolds is a third-generation insurance agency owner in Miami (Morris & Reynolds Insurance, founded 1910). Family has lived in South Florida for four generations. Grew up in affluent Pinecrest. Attended Palmer Trinity School (private). Affluent business family.
The shape of the track
+2Tailwind
What place, timing, institution, or peer group made the next step available?
South Florida is ground zero for sea level rise — direct geographic exposure. Palmer Trinity School (private). University of Miami. TEDx platform, Al Gore/MTV special, Hillary Clinton introduction. Frontier geography + private school + media platforms.
A −1 is a documented headwind, not a missing value; a 0 means the sources record nothing notable either way. Annotation confidence: Medium. These are analyst readings of what the sources record, not measurements of merit, talent, or effort. The twenty-two scored dimensions remain available inside the deeper research detail.
What moved through the conditions
Silence in a biography is not evidence that perseverance was absent.
This is an unchosen opening or condition in the record, not an estimate of how much luck caused the outcome.
Strongest documented signals: Direct domain exposure, Family financial platform, Frontier geography.
Describes the starting position, not what the person later made of it.
Strongest observed levers: Domain proximity, Started serious reps before 20, Structural wave / timing.
Measures what was present, not whether it was inherited, earned, self-built, external, or mixed.
The timeline below shows the sequence of work and transitions around the selected early milestone. It is evidence of a path, not proof that every step was necessary.
Notable, but primarily known within a niche. The tier summarizes documented career recognition through the data cutoff—not Delaney Reynolds's worth or future potential.
Question four · where did the leverage come from?
Each non-zero lever gets a best-supported origin, evidence signals, and confidence. Unresolved is the honest default when the biography cannot distinguish self-built, advantage-enabled, earned, external, or mixed.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
A structural wave is external to the person, even when their position improved access to it.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
This is a bounded inference from the current annotations—not a claim about private effort, merit, or the percentage of Delaney Reynolds's outcome attributable to any origin.
Structural luck, Encounter luck, Event luck, Outcome variance can change every arrow in the path. This successful-only dataset cannot observe the near-identical paths that did not break through, so luck stays visible and unscored.
Multiplying capacity documented later in the path. Measures what was present, not whether it was inherited, earned, self-built, external, or mixed.
Access or conditions documented near the beginning of the path. Zero means "no clear evidence in reviewed sources," not "advantage was absent."
Born and raised in Miami/Pinecrest, Florida. Father Robert Reynolds is mentioned in sources. Family has lived in South Florida for four generations, giving deep geographic roots in the area most threatened by sea level rise. Pinecrest is an affluent Miami suburb.
Not documented in reviewed sources. No evidence of parental domain expertise in climate science, law, or activism. Father's profession is not specified.
Delaney Reynolds's activism was driven by direct geographic exposure to sea level rise in South Florida, where her family has lived for four generations. Growing up in affluent Pinecrest provided some financial stability. Her TEDx talk, website, and social media provided distribution channels. The youth climate litigation wave, led by Our Children's Trust, provided structural support for her legal advocacy. No family domain advantage is documented. Her primary advantage was frontier geography immersion in Miami, the US city most threatened by sea level rise, combined with direct personal experience of climate impacts like hurricanes and coral reef bleaching.
advantage confidence: Low · source count: 4 · audit: source_verified · status: subagent_researched_beta