As I sat down to pen an article honoring this special occasion, it was these lyrics that came to mind: 鈥淚 believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.鈥� Imagining Whitney Houston鈥檚 mesmerizing rendition in my mind, I think she got the message mostly correct. Children are the future, but just as much as we need to teach them, we need to listen to and collaborate with them.

According to the (UN), 1.8 billion people are between 10 and 24 years old, the largest youth generation to date. Half of the people on earth are younger than 30 years old. As they will soon be inheriting this world from us, it will be their voices we hear on the public stage 鈥� not those who currently fill our boardrooms or public offices. Have we done all that we can to prepare them for the near-impossible task that lies ahead? To celebrate the next generation stepping up, in my true Millennial style, I have compiled a special Spotify playlist to inspire us to work better together.

Anti-Hero 鈥� Taylor Swift

Repeat after me: 鈥淚t鈥檚 me, hi. I鈥檓 the problem, it鈥檚 me.鈥� Swift probably wasn鈥檛 writing about economic equity or single use plastics when she wrote this 2022 classic. But the only way to create sustainable development solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing issues is to admit that you, yes you, are part of the problem.

For every global goal, there is a role you can play. Ask yourself, 鈥淲hat will my role be?鈥�

Ice, Ice Baby 鈥� Vanilla Ice

This one-hit wonder with hundreds of millions of streams worldwide has a very memorable opening line that bears repeating, 鈥淪top, collaborate, and listen.鈥� The best ideas do not always come from those with years of wisdom.聽 Or, as James Okina, a young social entrepreneur and strategic 麻豆原创 Corporate Social Responsibility (麻豆原创 CSR) consultant says, 鈥淚f you can collaborate with the ‘next generation of young leaders,’ consider yourself fortunate. They will inspire you with fresh ideas. My advice is to look past age and recognize when the prefix ‘young’ is unimportant. They are not just ‘future’ leaders, they are leaders.鈥�

If you are not sure where to start, check out the advice shared in the latest .

Something About You 鈥� Roosevelt

Two years ago, I began mentoring an incredible young woman, Natalie Gahre, a member of the sustainability product team at 麻豆原创. What started as a mentorship transformed into a learning and leadership experience for both of us. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always easier to work across generations if people are open to trying something new,鈥� shares Gahre. 鈥淢ore 鈥榚xperienced鈥� professionals offer advice to young people with the caveat that 鈥榶ou should learn from my mistakes.鈥� We all need to be brave, optimistic, and excited to try new things together.鈥�

As my favorite DJ Roosevelt points out, there is something [incredible] about you 鈥� share it. If you are looking for an opportunity to share your unique expertise, join me and thousands of colleagues from Unilever, EY, Reckitt, and 麻豆原创 on the , powered by MovingWorlds. This virtual pro bono consulting platform connects experienced professionals everywhere with young social innovators anywhere to expedite world-changing solutions for organizations like , , or .

Youth 鈥� Glass Animals

When it comes to thinking about the future of your company, Jess Teutonico, executive director of We Are Family Foundation has some sound advice: 鈥淐enter inter-generational collaboration into everything you do. Engage young people to authentically be a part of your organizations鈥� decision-making tables. This generation has the creativity, ingenuity, and tenacity to move our planet forward more equitably and sustainably. Why are we waiting for them to 鈥榞row up鈥� when they have already proven they are solving our problems now?鈥�

Juergen Mueller, CTO and member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE, agrees and says, 鈥淭his year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, I had the opportunity to meet several young changemakers and I learned a lot from them. Inviting young leaders to global events like these has the power to bring the right energy, connections, and perspectives together that can ultimately result in advancing solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing issues. I鈥檓 convinced that this holds true for many decision processes 鈥� involving young talents helps to bring the best in innovation to market.鈥�

We Are Family Foundation is launching new research on the power of inter-generational leadership and they need your voice. when it launches on September 8.

Jerusalema 鈥� Master KG ftg. Nomcebo Zikode

I was introduced to this song by Busang Maruping, a young Atlas Corp Fellow from Botswana. Master KG had already written the hook and convinced Zikode that she had the ability to write the lyrics that evening, even if she did not believe it herself. They finished the song that night and in 2020, Jerusalema became one of the most songs in the world. This song reminds us to have faith — trust your gut and know that sometimes it just takes two. Someone with a different perspective can have a profound impact on the outcome of a project, or a song.

If you are a leader in the U.S. looking for an opportunity to add diverse perspectives to your team and invest in the leaders the world needs, you may want to hire your own .

We Are Family 鈥� Sister Sledge

Fun fact: what started as a song became a global movement. Nile Rodgers, the legend behind this jam, has made it his mission to invest in the world鈥檚 leading young 鈥� inspiring us to do the same.

With only seven years left until 2030 — our to create a world without poverty, a just and peaceful society, and a planet that can sustain us — we need the soundtrack of a lifetime. I hope that these songs and their sound advice will pump you up and encourage you to keep moving forward. I welcome you to add your song to by sharing your advice on how we can build a more sustainable future together and tagging @麻豆原创 on social media.

Jennifer Beason is global director of Social Entrepreneurship at 麻豆原创.

A key member of this team is Flynn Doherty, who wants to improve life on earth for everyone today and tomorrow by applying his skills in areas with significant human impact. His constant source of inspiration is working with the Rocket Lab team comprising what he describes as “some of the most talented, mission-driven, and ambitious people around.”

Now a software engineer at Rocket Lab’s Operations Software team, Doherty first joined as an intern in 2019 while in his third year of university. He completed his honors thesis in collaboration with Rocket Lab, and went on to win the 2020 People鈥檚 Choice Award at the UC Engineering Final Year Projects Showcase. Sponsored by Rocket Lab, the project focused on exploring alternative methods for visualizing the state of the company’s electron launch vehicle.

鈥淐urrently, I am working in aerospace, where I have the opportunity to help create the high-speed railroads that will power the future space economy,鈥� Doherty explains. 鈥淚 am also keenly interested in entrepreneurship and aim to one day build a team of people to contribute to the next wave of life-improving neuro-technology.鈥�

Young ICT Explorers Pave the Way

Among the first opportunities that allowed Doherty’s potential to flourish was the 麻豆原创-backed program. In 2016, he won first place for his enterprising project TrendID, which aimed to demolish barriers to entry into the rapidly expanding, dynamic, and at times intimidating financial world. He believes that this was one of the first times where he applied what he had learned in computer science classes at school to the real world. It was also the first time he had to document, pitch, and present what he was working on to a wide audience of industry professionals.

“It was a daunting task, but one that made me recognize the importance of good communication and presentation skills, which drove me to improve my soft skills,” he shares.

Like Doherty, nearly 8,000 young minds from approximately 850 schools across Australia and New Zealand have found their calling, direction, and expert guidance through the hugely popular Young ICT Explorers competition.

Young ICT Explorers is a non-profit competition — created by 麻豆原创 and supported by CSIRO Digital Careers and The Smith Family with the help of industry and university partners across Australia — to encourage primary and high school students in years three to 12 to solve real-world problems or showcase their passions using technology. The program, which is on dedicated funding, enables disadvantaged youth to have equitable access to participate and engage in the competition through the Young ICT Explorers accelerator program.

To Infinity and Beyond

As our Redefining (YOU)th campaign comes to a close on International Youth Day, we celebrate young people like Flynn Doherty in our shared stories. From young social entrepreneurs and program ambassadors to scientists and engineers, youth are changing the world. Doherty encourages today鈥檚 youth to achieve their dreams and refers to a quote by former United States Senator Bill Bradley: 鈥淎mbition is the road to your success, persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.鈥�

Over the last month, we have seen stories of ambition, persistence, courage, and dedication. Youth are not waiting for tomorrow, so let鈥檚 continue to support them today.

Through Code Unnati, Gowramma has not only been exposed to a world of possibilities and opportunities available to her when she graduates, but has also gained confidence in her skills. Gowramma is not alone in thinking that Code Unnati has had a positive effect on her confidence and opened up countless possibilities as a young person taking her first steps in her career.

Ashish attended a Code Unnati training where he was inspired to come up with solutions to problems that his community was facing. He thought of the large number of single-use polypropylene bags that were being thrown away. He chose to address this problem, as it was affecting his community directly 鈥� these bags were either being burnt or buried in the ground, and there was no way to recycle them. Ashish has since made a plan to start recycling polypopylene bags and has been connected to financial assistance to buy the machinery. He credits Code Unnati and its team for helping him realize a solution to his city鈥檚 problem.

From Gowramma, who is eager to begin exploring new opportunities in her career, to Ashish, who thinks outside the box in search of a solution to a more sustainable environment, Code Unnati is powering opportunity through digital inclusion.

Launched in June 2017 with 麻豆原创 India Corporate Social Responsibility, is a corporate-to-citizen initiative to impart digital literacy among adolescents, citizens, and children and employable IT skills among youth. Through the initiative, they are getting that guiding light to see ahead to a bright future. This initiative is helping millions of youths think out of the box and work toward solving major social problems.

Developing digital skills has become critical to professional success; the core objective of Code Unnati is digital inclusion. When Code Unnati first launched, 90% of India鈥檚 population, or almost 1.2 billion people, were not digitally literate.鈥疐or young people to engage meaningfully in society, youth must be equipped with the skills and opportunities to advance their vision of a connected future. In our increasingly digital society, low information and communication technology skills continue to remain a barrier to employment. Inclusive, equitable development and economic growth requires building an enabling ecosystem that can provide and define career pathways. This can be best achieved through private sector collaborations including government organizations.鈥疘t is only by preparing youth with digital education and opportunities that the can be achieved.

The success stories of Gowramma, Ashish, and countless other youth, many of whom are the first in their entire generation to get jobs in the IT sector, say it is them who will lead change and pave the way for the future. They are determined to build their own future and become first-generation learners with a job in hand. This demonstrates the resilience and self-efficacy they have to achieve something in life and become a role model for their society.

We are celebrating all those young people who have emerged as an inspiration for others, because there is no one way to make a difference.

Shivani Sinha is audience relations associate of CSR for 麻豆原创 India subcontinent.
Gunjan Patel is regional director and head of CSR for 麻豆原创 India subcontinent.

Much needs to be done to equip youth with 21st century skills and to conquer the digital divide, especially with the European Union setting a target for 80% of the population to have basic digital skills and 20 million information and communications technology (ICT) specialists by 2030.

To develop the necessary skills for today鈥檚 digital jobs and to close the digital divide, 麻豆原创鈥檚 initiative, in partnership with TechSoup Europe and Haus des Stiftens, has helped non-profit organizations implement fun and interactive workshops geared toward introducing young people to the exciting world of technology and coding. For the last six years, the program has provided grants of up to 鈧�500 to enable these events across Europe.

Meet and Code has successfully become Europe鈥檚 biggest digital skills program; I am truly honored to be a part of it. In 2021, the initiative saw applications and funded events increase by 15% and 10% respectively, year-on-year. It also recorded an 11% increase in events hosted by non-profits located in small villages and 35% in larger cities and towns.

All youth, from all walks of life are equally important.
No matter where they come from, whether it is a
small village or large metro, they can have a bright future.

Not only is the program growing in popularity and reach, but the impact is tangible, with survey results highlighting that participants’ IT skills improved from 40% to 60%. Additionally, 84% reported that they would like to learn more about coding in general.

The workshops typically focus on how young people can harness technology to serve specific purposes, which 16-year-old Stefania Spachou, this year鈥檚 , pointed out is an essential skill for people entering the job market as they are frequently required to use technology to complete their tasks more effectively and efficiently.

Stefania also noted that technology is all around us, affecting our daily lives in ways that only science fiction writers imagined and that in a society ruled by technology, digital skills are essential for young adults not only to take part in a competitive job market, but in the online communities that are becoming as active as those in real life.

To further improve digital skills among European youth, Stefania believes that each country鈥檚 government and institutions should help to raise awareness about how important digital skills are today. More specifically, that educational technology programs need to be promoted more actively to the public and especially young people. Moreover, she asserts that schools must include specific subjects that develop and enhance their students鈥� digital skills in their curricula.

I could not agree more. Closing the skills gap should be a collective concern; the next generation who will be instrumental in shaping the future of society depends on this.

As our growth and success thus far has been made possible by the power of collaboration, we invite new partners to come forward to take Meet and Code to new heights and support 麻豆原创鈥檚 purpose of making the world run better. Each year, Meet and Code takes place throughout September and October. Applications for non-profit funding close on September 14, 2022.

To find out more about Meet and Code or to become a partner, visit , or connect on , , , and .

Gabriele Hartmann is head of CSR for 麻豆原创 MEE and a Meet and Code board member.

Reuben, quoted above, is a young changemaker from Liberia, a country that according to UN estimates has one of the world’s highest levels of out-of-school children, with just over 50% completing primary education. At the age of 16, Reuben decided that he could not solely rely on the elected leaders in his home country to improve education accessibility, soaring poverty rates, and rising mental health concerns among his peers. He is an example of how youth today are capable of being the change the world needs; they are not waiting for tomorrow.

Like most 鈥�,鈥� Reuben sees education as a major lever for reducing inequalities and creating change. Through founding the not-for-profit organization , he made his dream of transforming the lives of young people in his country through education a reality. Nearly five years later, Rehab Africa works on advocacy, research, and capacity building for young people to make sure that everyone has equal rights, access to better education, and opportunities to change their lives no matter their color, sexual orientation, who they are, what they can afford, or where they are from.

Studies by the (UNFPA) indicate that although the youth population will increase to 1.3 billion by 2030, their proportion will come down to 13.5 percent by 2050. Youth are an incredibly powerful demographic of the world鈥檚 population and a precious resource. While this tremendous potential is largely untapped 鈥� mainly due to lack of equitable access to resources and opportunities to leverage their power 鈥� 麻豆原创 and its partners are committed to making sure that young changemakers know that they are not alone. Through 麻豆原创 Corporate Social Responsibility (麻豆原创 CSR) initiatives, 麻豆原创 is constantly working toward ensuring that youth have the opportunity and resources to succeed and make lasting change in the world.

The TRANSFORM Support Hub is one such initiative that aims to enable youth with resources to bring about incredible change. A collaboration among 麻豆原创, MovingWorlds, Unilever, and TRANSFORM, this virtual pro bono consulting initiative from 麻豆原创 and powered by MovingWorlds is focused on connecting social entrepreneurs with skilled professionals and other resources to help their businesses scale and succeed.

While the program is beginning to expand and will soon include even more social businesses and corporates, we have already learned so much from the youth that we have met through this partnership, youth that are truly changing the way businesses work and making an impact in their communities and the world.

Tony Joy of has taught us about the importance of circular economy; not only as a sustainability practice, but as a way to support women. Ronald Mugaiga exemplifies creativity and problem-solving through the innovation of transforming plastic waste into building materials with . From Angela Busheska of we have learned about the powerful intersection of technology, education, and environmentalism. These young social entrepreneurs have different ideas and solutions to the world鈥檚 biggest challenges, but they share one common goal: to take immediate action to create lasting positive impact.

Angela Busheska鈥檚 story exemplifies that the TRANSFORM Support Hub has to offer young social entrepreneurs, as well as this year’s UN theme of intergenerational solidarity. Angela joined the Acceleration Collective with the social enterprise she founded, EnRoute, through the We Are Family Foundation. She has seen many successes during and after her time with the Acceleration Collective, including receiving funding for EnRoute from National Geographic and landing a new role as an expert consultant through the Youth To The Table partnership between 麻豆原创 and We Are Family Foundation. This partnership gives skilled young leaders and experts like Angela a voice in high-level decision-making at 麻豆原创.

It is not hard to find stories of inspiration and hope for our future from among the millions of young people fighting for change across the world. Over the course of the next month 鈥� between , today, and on August 12 鈥� we will share more inspirational profiles of tenacity, courage, resilience, and perseverance through our Redefining (YOU)th campaign. These exceptional people from around the world are all driven by a single purpose: to make the world a better place on their own terms.

Follow along with @麻豆原创4Good and @ThePossibilists to discover the amazing work being led by young changemakers and learn more about how you can get involved and support their work in meaningful ways.