Moving Beyond Hope
America experienced a crisis of hope in 2020. It permeated various facets of our society and manifested in different forms. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, a triple pandemic, and historic wildfires across the West laid bare interlinked systems that have enabled deeply rooted inequity, systemic racism and climate chaos to proliferate in the United States. Like old wounds, these ills resurfaced in a year that issued a collective diagnosis to us all: the time to wake up and course correct is now.
Amid the turmoil of last year, signs of hope seemed sparse. Yet they abound. From local collective action initiatives to globally organized marches and cross-sector innovations that are tackling the climate crisis, renewable energy, food security, public health, education equity and more, we are living in an exciting time where intention and resources can meet to accelerate system-wide change that benefits both people and the planet. The evidence of this shift can be seen in corporate activity, grassroots organizing and political change across the country. Even so, it is clear that the pace of change must quicken if we are to meet the demands of the coming decades.
Enter Generation Z (those born after 1996). The most racially and ethnically diverse, gender nonconforming, technologically connected and globally interconnected generation in American history, Gen Z is challenging the status quo in government, business, and society — and we believe their altruistic values and penchant for pushing limits have the power to build a better world that truly works for everyone.
As we all work together to forge a brighter future, CreatorsCircle believes that all voices must participate in this creation process. Our mission is simple: prepare today’s youth to create a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable future for all. We specifically reach first-generation college-bound high school youth, who are often low-income youth of color, and help them explore impact careers that will help build a new, regenerative economy that advances systemic change.
CreatorsCircle was born in a pre-pandemic world when the appeals of young voices advocating for climate and social justice appeared to some as aspirational; it is now more evident than ever that transformative systems change is not an option, but essential. Similarly, we must ensure that all youth — regardless of race, color, socioeconomic status, culture, or gender — have the opportunity to be a part of this change and lead a life of purpose and impact.
Youth To Power
When Greta Thunberg began to make headlines in 2018, the world started to take note of other youth activists — and even then looked to young activists of color leading the climate movement in their communities.
Young activists from communities of color, indigenous lands, and under-resourced rural and urban communities have been disproportionately affected by racial bias, poor air quality, food insecurity, and lack of resources to respond to extreme weather events brought on by climate change. This has spurred on a new generation of young activists from diverse communities to organize. Unlike other youth activists in the media spotlight, though, these young organizers are often from working class backgrounds, the children of immigrants or the first in their family to pursue purpose-driven work.
This means that while their dedication to social and environmental justice might be as big as their resourced counterparts, they often do not have the direct access to role models, exposure to career paths, or networks needed to know how to translate their passion into a meaningful, impact-driven career. Through my conversations with dozens of students from underserved communities, it has become clear that we need a better way to educate and prepare diverse activated youth for college and career pathways that will aid in our country’s social, environmental and economic recovery — all while expanding their economic potential and providing an avenue out of generational poverty for many first-generation, low-income students and their families.
Building a New Economy
Creating new systems that are more sustainable, inclusive, and equitable for all takes more than simply opening doors and inviting more people to the table. Young people of color and those from first-generation low-income families require opportunities earlier in their academic careers that help them explore jobs, build transferable skills, and develop both personally and professionally — opportunities that many youth from resourced backgrounds receive through social networks that reflect their socioeconomic status.
If we are to rebuild a world that works for everyone, we must reach young people in high school, when their values, goals and sense of self take form in life-altering ways — and before some students are forced to drop out of the college-career pipeline altogether. A growing number of schools across the country are already engaging students in learning about sustainability, the environment, green jobs, and climate change. However, this learning must extend beyond the classroom and reach all students.
As our global economy evolves, preparing high school students to think in systems and apply ethical frameworks to everyday challenges will be critical so they may drive positive shifts in the workforce and apply those skills to future jobs in fields as varied as ESG finance, food tech, and artificial intelligence. To achieve this in a way that truly closes opportunity gaps for underserved youth, we don’t just need more opportunities; we need a whole system redesign of those opportunities that position diverse young people as empowered co-creators of our new economy.
First Healing, Then Purpose
So how do we do this? We believe that the transformative change required to heal our social, environmental and economic systems begins at the personal level. To create positive impact we need to understand our personal purpose; and before understanding our purpose we need to heal.
Despite having come of age in a world of the War on Terror, the Great Recession, the climate crisis, mass shootings, #MeToo, Black Lives Matter and COVID-19, high school students are not often taught how to navigate the connections between healing, resilience, and leadership. Even so, traumatic experiences such as the trauma of 2020, can be reframed as learning opportunities that teach students to hone the self-awareness, compassion, and empathy skills that they will need as tomorrow’s leaders.
In our effort to serve youth and accelerate systemic transformation, CreatorsCircle provides youth from underserved communities with access to free resources — including a searchable online database of impact-related youth programs, skills building workshops, and people-centered storytelling — that instill a systems-thinking mindset and provide a 360-view of how creating positive change in the world is possible. In addition, in collaboration with our partners we are building a repository of impact-focused internship and mentorship opportunities specifically designed for high school students, as well as online career readiness webinars focused on the integration of personal purpose and social, environmental and economic sustainability. This is just the start.
We may not have all the answers to today’s complex challenges, but we have hope that with our informed guidance Generation Z will help create (along with the rest of us) a better future for all.
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This article was written by CreatorsCircle Founder and CEO @NayelliGonzalez. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram to stay connected to our work. If you’re a high school student in the U.S., we invite you to join the CreatorsCircle network to hear about opportunities to connect, collaborate and co-create with other #impactcreators. To support our work, donate here.
