speech on modern youth

We asked young people what changes they want for the future. Here's what they said

How will Millennials and Generation Z shape an inclusive post-COVID future? Image:  Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash

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Have you read, youth recovery plan, how do millennials and generation z see their future.

Over the past year, the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers community has organized dialogues and surveys on what young people see as the most pressing issues facing society, government and business.

On the Shapers’ tenth anniversary the community has published Davos Labs: Youth Recovery Plan – a series of 40 policy recommendations on 10 key issues to help policy-makers integrate the voices of the next generation.

In parallel, the Millennial Manifesto offers a modus operandi to young people as they mobilize to shape an inclusive post-COVID period.

Transparency, accountability, trust and a focus on stakeholder capitalism will be key to meeting this generation’s ambitions and expectations. We must also entrust in them the power to take the lead to create meaningful change.

Why are young people critical to the recovery?

15% of the world’s population – some 1.2 billion people – are aged between 15 and 29 . The world gets ever younger, with 10 billion more people yet to be born in this century.

This exponential growth will continue to be uneven, with concentration in more populous and less developed countries, resulting in more mouths to feed, more young people to educate and more jobs to provide.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected young people, and especially young women and girls. It has disrupted their education, their training, their jobs, their relationships and their mental health.

On last week's International Youth Day, the YMCA, together with other key youth organizations, called for this to be redressed and for young people to be given a platform , “They knew all these challenges prior to the pandemic, and then they became its pariahs: largely ignored in policy response and often blamed for the spread.”

What changes do young people want?

The youth recovery plan: 10 pillars, 1. conscious consumerism.

Current global rates of consumption require the resources of about 1.6 earths. At this rate, we risk exhausting our planet's life support systems that provide us with fresh water, nutritious food and clean air.

• Incentivize sustainable consumption and penalize production that’s not
• Corporate accountability and executive compensation to follow specific ESG targets
• Investors to work with consumer groups to transform the way big business operates
• All stakeholders to take urgent action to safeguard nature and future food production.

2. Digital access

• $2 trillion Digital Access Plan to increase global internet connectivity to over 80%
• Telecoms to provide affordable data priced at no more than 2% of monthly GNI per capita
• Sanctions against institutions that resort to internet blackouts to supress citizen freedoms
• Activists to share connectivity indicators to put digital inequity higher on the global agenda.

3. Digital literacy: Tackle misinformation

• Tech companies to be transparent about misinformation and its spread on their platforms
• Governments to implement policies to protect individual citizens against harmful content
• Media entities to appoint trusted flaggers and experts to identify misleading information
• Capacity-building programmes and education to help citizens better identify fake news.

4. Democracy with a future

• Philanthropic donors to support young progressive voices into government
• Strengthened laws against media monopolies to protect democratic freedoms
• A Global Convention for Cybersecurity to uphold the integrity of political systems
• Capacity-building and incubation programmes to ignite ambitious policy-making.

2021 can be a turning point but only if inclusive political participation is prioritized.

5. Inclusive jobs and social safety nets

The turn of the decade has given rise to the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression. Nearly half of the global workforce is at risk of losing their livelihoods, with the most acutely affected being the working poor, youth, women and minorities.

• A global wealth tax on assets worth more than US$ 50 million to fight growing inequality
• Tax credits for companies and investors who spend revenue on reskilling employees
• Universities to end the exorbitant tuition fees that stifle social mobility
• Universities to reformed curricula for job acquisition in today’s labour market.

6. Mental healthcare

• Governments to guarantee universal access to mental health services
• Investors to support mental health awareness campaigns to reduce stigma
• University curricula to tackle the mental health crisis growing on campuses
• Media entities to shape positive perceptions and attitudes about mental health.

7. Net Zero: Limit global warming to 1.5°C

• Governments to invest in communities most at risk from climate change
• Financial institutions to stop bankrolling companies initiating fossil fuel exploration
• Companies to significantly reduce the GHG emissions of their operations and supply chains to help keep global heating within 1.5°C
• All stakeholders to ensure accountability for urgent green recovery plans.

8. Next generation ESG: Stakeholder capitalism

• Governments to implement fit-for-purpose policies and regulations on big tech
• Universities to ensure ESG literacy is integrated into business and tech curriculums
• Companies to integrate technology ethics into the design of their products and services
• Incubators to provide ESG upskilling to early-stage founders to deliver long-term value.

9. Equitable access to healthcare worldwide

• World leaders to safeguard equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines
• Governments to prioritize the immediate needs of healthcare workers and their families
• Companies to drive digitalization in healthcare services to improve patient care
• Increased support for community health workers to rebuild public trust in health systems.

The Global Shapers Community is a network of young people under the age of 30 who are working together to drive dialogue, action and change to address local, regional and global challenges.

The community spans more than 8,000 young people in 165 countries and territories.

Teams of Shapers form hubs in cities where they self-organize to create projects that address the needs of their community. The focus of the projects are wide-ranging, from responding to disasters and combating poverty, to fighting climate change and building inclusive communities.

Examples of projects include Water for Life, a effort by the Cartagena Hub that provides families with water filters that remove biological toxins from the water supply and combat preventable diseases in the region, and Creativity Lab from the Yerevan Hub, which features activities for children ages 7 to 9 to boost creative thinking.

Each Shaper also commits personally and professionally to take action to preserve our planet.

Join or support a hub near you .

10. Public safety

Public security policies involve rethinking the educational system, drugs policy, fighting structural racism that targets black and poor people's likings.

• Governments to end qualified immunity in law enforcement for police officers
• Increased action against gun violence, including bans on homemade firearms
• All stakeholders to take a stand to end domestic sexual and physical violence
• Criminal justice training reform to protect the safety of vulnerable communities

How will young people achieve those changes?

The millennial manifesto.

To mount the response required to usher in this new world, the Millennial Manifesto team - a component of the Davos Lab - held dialogues on what a matured form of youth activism could look like. Through a process that engaged diverse Global Shapers from every continent, some of the world's most impactful social entrepreneurs, and experienced grassroots activists, the purpose of the dialogues was to devise principles to guide young people as they advocate for a more inclusive post-COVID period.

Two critical questions guided these dialogues: What are the barriers that have hindered progress? And, what key values, principles and practices will enable us to foster long-lasting systemic impact for the next decade?

6 principles for a Millennial Manifesto emerged from this process:

1. We will create space for intergenerational dialogue

2. We will ask big questions to advance bold solutions

3. We will pursue systems change and collective action

4. We will make space for diverse lived experiences

5. We will embrace uncomfortable conversations

6. We will care for ourselves, others and our ecosystem

Youth Recovery Plan in numbers

Cities hosted dialogues, countries hosted dialogues, dialogues conducted in total, young people surveyed, cities where surveys were conducted, total reach of the dialogues, policy recommendations emerged, pillars of recovery.

As many around the world push for the creation of a more just, equitable and sustainable future we must remember that technology is one of the greatest tools for achieving these goals , but without ethical considerations at the fore... this will likely only perpetuate the very inequalities that we hope to address.

Optimism and justice

Experts say youth engagement is 'crucial'.

The red line that runs through the Youth Recovery Plan and the Millennial Manifesto – the surveys, dialogues, and recommendations – is optimism.

Abdullahi Alim, Specialist, Africa and Middle East, Global Shapers Community, and Natalie Pierce, Community Lead, Experiences and Partnerships, Foundations at the World Economic Forum believe , “Young people are fighting these crises and reimagining a better future…Behind the plan is the conviction that by giving young people a say in decision-making, solution-building and lasting change – post-pandemic recovery plans will be more effective, sustainable and inclusive, and ensure a better future for generations to come.”

And Wadia Ait Hamza , Head of the Global Shapers Community explains, “Now more than ever, the world needs young people to step up to address the many other challenges ahead of us. But hurdles remain. While the last decade saw the power of youth activism to highlight and uproot systemic problems, it also showed that young people face challenges of experience and credibility.”

He warns that it is crucial to engage young people in decision-making – but in parallel – it’s also important for young people to think differently about how they want to engage. The sweet spot will be the balance between the energy, optimism and fierce sense of justice that Millennials and Gen Z bring to the table, combined with the conviction of policy-makers to see these ideas through to realization.

Young people hold the key to creating a better future

The 'millennial manifesto' outlines principles for an inclusive future, the 'millennial manifesto' will elevate and empower youth activism, why young people must be at the heart of the covid-19 recovery, international youth day: the global challenge of unemployment, how ethical, inclusive tech can help us create a better world, how can we create a youth-led recovery 10 global shapers explain.

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32 Young Activists Who Are Changing the World

These are the teens and young adult activists, aged 6 through 22, raising awareness and fighting gun violence, police brutality, immigration reform, and more.

Image via Getty

You would be forgiven for thinking we live inside a huge, literal steaming pile of garbage. The American political landscape continues to grow increasingly frightening each day, as the world is forced to respond to an ever-increasing series of threats. From raging wildfires on the California coast to Europe recording its worst flooding in decades , environmental crises continue to rampage across the globe. And with police brutality and systemic racism  across  smultiple communities adding to this chaotic climate, times are extremely tough. So it would be easy to resign yourself to these discouraging realities, especially if you’re young. After all, young people are made fun of for every aspect of how we live. How could anyone really take us seriously if we tried to stand up for what we believe in?

But today's young people are no longer taking the guff from anyone—let alone the dinosaurs responsible for how they are living. While those dumpster fires rage on, the indomitable spirit of Gen-Z and younger millennials have made everyone take these matters seriously. Complex is excited to highlight these young voices who are advocating, fighting, and actively taking on the powers that be to stand up for what we all should believe in.

All it takes is one idea and the right mix of determination and willpower to effect change at the local level. Start with one thing you’re passionate about then find small, local ways to organize and find solutions to the problem. That’s what the 32 people on this list did—some starting at 6 years old. They’re here to prove that no matter the obstacle, and no matter your age, you can work hard to leave behind a world that is just a little better than when you found it.

Thandiwe Abdullah

View this video on YouTube

In 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement sprouted in response to the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. A couple years later, in 2015, Thandiwe Abdullah helped launch the next generation of Black rights activists—the Black Lives Matter Youth Vanguard. Now, Abdullah is sixteen and she’s hailed for playing a tremendous role in getting the BLM message into U.S. schools. Not only has she furthered the conversation regarding Black lives, she’s worked to offer resources to other young Black organizers who are seeking to challenge conventional ideas on racism and blackness. At such a young age, Abdullah is truly leading the charge.

Teens 4 Equality

Zee Thomas, Jade Fuller, Nya Collins, Kennedy Green, Mikayla Smith, and Emma Rose Smith do not limit themselves to the Nashville community they are a part of. As members of Teens 4 Equality, this collective of change agents organized one of the largest peaceful protests in response to the death of George Floyd this spring. After this year’s election, praise from the likes of former President Barack Obama and other top political leaders only highlights the need to bring more awareness to systemic racism. In speaking out about this subject and other topics, this group of critical thinkers is giving some adults some much-needed food for thought.

Nupol Kiazolu

In the wake of the murders of Black Americans such as Trayvon Martin, Atatiana Jefferson, John Crawford III, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless others stands Nupol Kiazolu. The president of Black Lives Matter Greater NY uses the freedom of speech as a harness to boost the power of oppressed voices around the country. Focusing on civil rights, domestic and sexual violence, and homelessness, Kiazolu is putting her Brooklyn organizing roots to work as a political science major at Hampton University. With her dedication being recognized outside her HBCU community, this do-something activist is paving the way for others to also change the world.

Kenidra Woods

First things first, her name is Kenidra Roshay Woods, and already her will and ingenuity has changed the world. Her short story  A Heart of Hope  and CHEETAH, an organization she also founded, would bookend the narrative of mental health anguish she faced at a young age. With confidence fueling her movement to end bullying, gun violence, and stigmas surrounding mental health, Woods continues to better herself through activism and passion, using film and writing. Hers is a voice for hope and healing.

Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez

This 17-year-old has been in the business of trying to save the world since age six . His powerful speech at the United Nations in 2015—when he was just fifteen years old—cut straight to heart of the biggest threat of the world’s inability to take meaningful action on climate change: “What's at stake right now is the existence of my generation," he said. Two years prior, in 2013, he received the United States Community Service Award and served on President Obama’s Youth Council. He also works as the youth director of Earth Guardians , a worldwide conservation organization (that he founded!) that brings together activists and artists with an environmental streak. He’s also taking his activism to court: he’s one of the 21 people who have sued the federal government and Donald Trump for failing to act on climate change.

Bana Alabed

At the 2018 Academy Awards ceremony, Common and Andra Day performed their Oscar-Nominated song “Stand Up For Something” with a group of activists behind them. The youngest was 8-year-old Bana Alabed, a Syrian refugee who took to Twitter to broadcast the nightmarish experience of living in Aleppo during the siege, airstrikes, and hunger. Her family was eventually able to escape to Turkey, but her experiences stuck with her and led her to write a book , Dear World: A Syrian Girl’s Story of War and Plea for Peace, which was released in October of last year. Bana’s childlike honesty and innocence adds a layer of urgency to the conflict in Syria and the refugee crisis that is hard to ignore; as she grows up, she will be someone to watch.

I... Hate... War. And the world has forgotten us.. Aleppo pic.twitter.com/yeTjREZWmj — Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) September 24, 2016

Oluwatoyin Salau

Many new voices rose to the surface, during the national outcry over George Floyd’s murder. Among those voices, 19-year-old Oluwatoyin Salau’s seemed to permeate through Tallahassee, Florida and social media. Her message was strong and clear: “...there is no negotiating with racism. No Justice no justice no peace.” She advocated for all Black lives, and rallied for justice in the case of 38-year-old Tony Mcdade, a Black transgender man who was killed by Tallahassee officers. Unfortunately, Salau was aware that as a Black woman her fight was more multifaceted. After divulging information about her recent rape she went missing and was later found dead. Though her life was tragically cut short, her impact, influence, and story will be felt for years to come.

Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Alex Wind, Jaclyn Corin, Cameron Kasky, and survivors of the Marjory Stoneman shooting

Something different happened after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14. Instead of the usual cynical narrative of thoughts and prayers and a total lack of political action, the students spoke out. Senior Emma Gonzalez had a particularly powerful speech, in which she “ called BS ” on all the typical narratives that are so closely associated with gun control in this country. She then brought that same intensity to a CNN Town Hall , in which she knew exactly how to question the NRA’s Dana Loetsch about her contradictory and outdated beliefs about guns. Another student, David Hogg , who has been equally outspoken in his fight for gun control, became the target of a disgusting and surprisingly prevalent conspiracy theory that he was a “crisis actor.” He squashed those theories live on CNN with the grace and steadfastness of a true hero.

As a group, the students who survived the shooting have made many promises: theirs will be the last school shooting. In an effort to keep people’s attention, they have organized the March For Our Lives , a nationwide demonstration on March 24 that will demand change from Washington D.C. All of the students from Parkland who are involved in the gun control movement are taking a distinctly 2018 approach to their activism: they’re active on Twitter, where they roast the ignorant politicians and conservatives who dare defy them into oblivion. More importantly, they know that their true power lies in voting, and they are actively working to encourage everyone to vote out politicians who think it’s more important for people to have military-style weapons than for high school students to survive a day at school. It’s one of the most inspiring stories to come out of 2018, and thankfully, it’s just getting started.

Vanessa Nakate

Vanessa Nakate has made her advocacy for climate change known in her native homeland. For several months, she was the single, solitary protester outside of the gates of the Parliament of Uganda. Those actions galvanized other youth to respond and help draw attention to the plight of the Congolian rainforest. This grew into Nakate founding the Youth for Future Africa and the Africa-based Rise Up Movement, which led to her joining other climate activists in Spain to speak at the COP25. Since then she spoke at Davos at the World Economic Forum in January, urging world leaders to “wake up,” and at the Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture in October.

“Climate change is a nightmare that affects every sector of our lives,” she stated. “How can we achieve zero hunger if climate change is leaving millions of people with nothing to eat? We are going to see disaster after disaster, challenge after challenge, suffering after suffering (...) if nothing is done about this.” Nakate notes that this is a “matter of life and death” and started the Green Schools Project, a renewable energy initiative, which aims to transition schools in Uganda to solar energy and install eco-friendly stoves in these schools. As of this year, Vanessa Nakate’s project has carried out installations in six schools and aims to double that for 2021.

Mari Copeny

Flint, Michigan, has been without clean water for over four years. In 2016, at just 8 years old, Mari Copeny wrote a letter to President Obama, asking him to meet with Flint activists in Washington, D.C. President Obama instead visited Flint directly, and in the years since, Copeny has continued to raise awareness for the Flint Water Crisis and bring joy, resources, and community to the kids of Flint. In 2017, she partnered with Pack Your Back and raised $10,000, contributing school supplies and 1,000 backpacks to Flint students. That same year, the partnership also raised $13,000 to provide toys and games to kids in Flint for the holidays.

Sonita Alizadeh

Sonita Alizadeh has taken a slightly less traditional but no less effective route to fighting against the patriarchal policies of forced marriages in her home country of Afghanistan: rap. Alizadeh was almost married twice, once at 10 years old and again at 16, before she rebelled by releasing a rap video titled “ Brides For Sale ” about the experience of women being sold into marriage by their families. It was a huge risk—for starters, it is illegal for women to sing publicly in Iran, where she was living by that time. However, it paid off: the song went viral, and she was able to get a scholarship to finish her studies at a U.S. high school. She continues to perform her powerful brand of rap and inspire a new generation of women to rebel against the outdated and cruel tradition of child brides in her home country.

Sophie Cruz

Sophie Cruz proves that you are never be too young to make a stand for what is right. Her first real feat of activism was weaseling her way through tight security to give Pope Francis a letter that said, in Spanish: “my friends and I love each other no matter our skin color.” She asked the Pope to speak with “the president and Congress” about immigration: she fears that her parents, who are undocumented immigrants living in America, could be deported from the U.S. at any day with the increasingly divisive and racist rhetoric towards immigrants in this country. When a six year old has to deal with things of that magnitude—and knows to ask for help—is when you know you know there’s a problem. Cruz isn’t just a one-hit wonder, though. She spoke at the Women’s March on Washington in January 2017, when she again advocated for immigrants’ rights. “We are here together making a chain of love to protect our families,” Cruz said. “Let us fight with love, faith, and courage so that our families will not be destroyed.” Cruz was also the recipient of the Define American Award for Activist of the Year in 2017.

Melati and Isabel Wijsen

These two sisters have transformed a dream into reality. Melati and Isabel started their own company, Bye Bye Plastic Bags in 2013, at the ages of 10 and 12, respectively. They live in Bali, and were inspired after sitting through a lesson about Nelson Mandela, Lady Diana, and Mahatma Gandhi in school and decided to literally be the change they wanted to see in the world. Inspired by Rwanda, a small African country that banned polyethylene bags in 2008, the girls’ basic mission was to get the people of Bali to simply start saying no to plastic bags. They started with beach cleanups, graduated to petitions and government help, and their company has now grown to an organization with a 25-person staff and board of directors with teams in fifteen different countries  working to make the world a place with less plastic with similar tactics and campaigns. But the most inspiring part of their work is that it’s achieved real results: they successfully lobbied Bali airport to ban plastic bags in August 2016, and by January of this year, the entire island of Bali was declared plastic bag free. The country of Indonesia, one of the most populous in the world, is planning to ban all plastic bags by 2021, and Melati and Isabel are directly to thank.

Jazz Jennings

Trans activist Jazz Jennings is working the right angles at the right time. Whether it's through her YouTube video series I Am Jazz , the TLC series of the same name, or the Girl Collective (developed by Jennings with Shonda Rhimes and Dove's Self-Esteem Project), the 18-year-old Jennings is helping trans kids and teens cope in a world that doesn’t accept them as equals. Sharing her own experiences or highlighting the struggles of others, she’s a necessary voice among a group of individuals who have been held silent for far too long.

Naomi Wadler

Naomi Wadler was only five years old when the events of Sandyhook gripped the nation in tragedy and fear. A few years later in 2014, her elementary school was placed on lockdown when a serial killer randomly murdered a music teacher, which would make anyone fearful. By the time the Parkland shooting happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Florida, Wadler was desensitized to the violence, but not to the need to fight for change. “I was used to it. It was Valentine’s Day,” said the then-13-year-old during a conversation with will.i.am (Parkland Rising).

Her and an 11-year-old friend organized a walkout that lasted 18 minutes— the first 17 to honor the Parkland victims and an additional minute for Courtlin Arrington, a Black teenager shot dead at a high school in Alabama. With her continued mission to eradicate gun violence, Naomi Wadler also wants to ensure that Black people are treated equally—even during moments of national tragedy. “When Courtlin passed, she had a tiny section at the bottom of the newspaper and that was it,” she shared during that same chat. “White girls’ lives matter so much more than any Black girl who dies in the inner city, or on the way to school. We don’t hear about them, they’re statistics. As we inch closer to the new year, Wadler and the other names on this list are committed to lessening those numbers and stereotypes.

Payal Jangid

Payla Jangid has the ultimate inspirational story. After escaping child slavery in India, Jangid became a children’s rights advocate, and is currently the leader of her village’s Child Parliament, an organization that holds meetings to discuss “various issues like lack of separate toilets for girls in schools and the need to stop child marriage.” She advocates for the importance of education, even going “door to door” explaining to parents that children need a supportive environment to grow. When she was just 12, she met Barack and Michelle Obama when they visited India in 2015, and also met with Kailash Satyarthi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 with Malala Yousafzai. Of her cause, she has said : “In our society education is not given much importance but it is my duty to explain to the older generation how schooling is very much needed. We formed [the Child Parliament] to speak about the problems faced by our peers and why we need school.”

Marley Dias

Remember the viral book donation campaign # 1000BlackGirlBooks back in 2015? That was the brainchild of Marley Dias, who was then just 11. Dias wanted to donate 1,000 books with black girls as the main characters to other black girls, after becoming frustrated with the fact that she couldn’t find many to read herself (she was “sick of reading about white boys and dogs,” she told her mom ). She reached her goal more than nine times over, made Forbes 30 Under 30 list that year, and received the Smithsonian Magazine’s American Ingenuity Award. In January, she published a book titled Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You! in an effort to inspire more people to become activists. She’s concerned with the "intersectionality of being a black person and a woman and a girl,” and told the Chicago Tribune that she wants her stories to “be reflected for the black girls who are reading them, so they can identify themselves and learn about their history” as well as “open up to people who are different, to understand and to see and grow from those things we don’t understand.”

Imani Barbarin

To discriminate in favor of an able-bodied person is called ableism and you can see signage disparaging others from promoting that behavior at every AfroPunk that tours the globe. Imani Barbarin brings the message home directly from the perspective of her writing as a Black woman with cerebral palsy. A sci-fi lover and a graduate of the Masters in Global Communications program at the American University of Paris, Barbarin empowers the disabled community through her love of language and learned mastery in breaking stereotypes and preconceived notions about how they interact with the world.

Kelvin was just six when the notoriously violent civil war in his country of Sierra Leone officially ended, and despite his young age and lack of traditional engineering education, he quickly became one of the country’s leading technological inventors. When he was 11, he looked through garbage for scrap electronics that could help fix local problems. At 13, he started making his own batteries by wrapping acid, soda and metal in a tin cup with tape to help power lights in people’s homes. He built a generator out of homemade or rescued spare parts for his community, and used it to power a community radio station that he also built from recycled materials. He became the station’s DJ Focus, and his friends became the journalists and station managers. "They call me DJ Focus because I believe if you focus, you can do an invention perfectly," Doe said in a video. In 2012, when he was 15, Doe became the youngest ever “visiting practitioner” with the MIT International Development Initiative, where he had the chance to present his inventions to MIT students, took part in research, and even taught engineering students at Harvard. His mentor, David Sengeh, a PhD student at the MIT media lab, said : "In Sierra Leone, other young people suddenly feel they can be like Kelvin." In 2016, Doe became an Honorary Board member of EMERGENCY USA , which works to provide medical and surgical care to the victims of war and poverty.

Jamie Margolin

Our parents and grandparents have spent decades destroying the earth; it's great to see someone like Jamie Margolin working towards fixing those wounds and making this planet better for those who will be inheriting it from her. Margolin’s strength is in her voice; she’s unafraid to hold the government to task, doing everything from marching and creating her own movement, Zero Hour, to actually suing her home state of Washington. Her aim? To get those in charge to understand how detrimental climate change can be to her life and those of her peers.

Ashton Mota

Ashton Mota did not have fame or a leading movement to latch onto when he challenged the gender rules at his Lowell, Massachusetts middle school. At 13 years old , the now 15-year-old student came out as transgender and taught his school how to navigate the complexities of deciding which restrooms and sports teams transgender students would be assigned to. With the support of his mom, Mota created a space for students like him to flourish and took his advocacy on the road as a young ambassador for the Human Rights Council. Now, he continues to use his voice to build a safer world for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Malala Yousafzai

Perhaps the most famous young activist on this list, Malala Yousafzai is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history. Her story is particularly striking: in Pakistan, under Taliban occupation, her family ran a chain of schools, and Malala was always outspoken about her experiences. When she was 11, she wrote a blog post under a pseudonym for the BBC about her life under the Taliban; she was also the focus of a New York Times documentary about life in the middle of military occupation. She was already an activist then, saying that she hoped to found a national party of her own to promote education and to create the Malala Education Foundation to help poor girls go to school. But her passion for female education went against the Taliban, and in October 2012, Malala was shot by a Taliban gunman on a school bus. The murder attempt sparked an international movement to support her, which in turn led Taliban officials to announce a possible second assassination attempt. She and her family have since moved to the U.K., where she has continued her activism, founding the Malala Fund and publishing her first book, I Am Malala . She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her “struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.” Since August of last year, she has been studying at Oxford.

Shawn DeAngelo

While attending Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, cycling enthusiast Shawn DeAngelo founded Atlanta’s first black-owned bicycle shop WeCycle Atlanta , an organization that uses cycling as a means to promote health, economic, and environmental awareness in the local community. WeCycle Atlanta is much more than just a bike shop: it provides residents with bike riding lessons, bike customization, and educational programming. Plus, in coordination with the Ashview Community Garden, WeCycle has evolved to include an urban agricultural element that teaches the benefits of gardening. The bike shop is also a non-profit organization, WeCycle Atlanta Inc., which focuses on teaching the WHEELS (Work, Ethics, Health, Environment, Economics, Leadership, Sustainability) model through practical lessons in cycling and urban agriculture.

Desmond Napoles

You may know 11-year-old Desmond Napoles under the name Desmond is Amazing, and indeed he is. Dedmond's not only a drag artist, but he's an LGBTQ activist. He first gained national attention when a video of him during the 2015 NYC Pride Parade went viral, and he's used his fame to do everything from advocate for LGBTQ youth on social media to starting the first drag-house for kids. He's said he's been out since day one, and his motto is simply "be yourself, always."

Asean Johnson

In 2013, Chicago Public Schools announced plans to close down as many as 54 public schools. Then 9-year-old Asean Johnson did everything he could to make sure his school was not on that list, including giving a series of incendiary speeches against the mayor’s plans. He even went on to speak at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, where he invoked Martin Luther King Jr.: “Every school deserves equal funding and resources,” he said. “I encourage all of you to keep Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream alive. Help us fight for freedom, racial equality, jobs, and public education, because I have a dream that we shall overcome.” Johnson managed to save his elementary school from shuttering, and that fueled his political ambitions. He already has high-profile endorsements for his plans to run for mayor in 2025.

Indya Moore

Indya Moore is most popularly known for their role as Angel, a young wannabe trans model and debut member of the House of Evangelista, in the hit FX series Pose. But Moore has proven to be a changemaker both on and off screen. In real life Moore is a sucessful nonbinary trans model and activist whose passion for elevating marginalized groups made them one of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2019. With over 1 million followers on Instagram, Moore doesn’t hesitate to use their platform to fight for trans rights, civil rights, women’s rights, indigenous rights, and more. But the young star’s influence is not relegated only to social media. Moore has stepped up during the pandemic to provide items that the often overlooked queer trans community might need to endure the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent Variety interview .  Also she is an active speaker and protestor for trans rights.

Jack Andraka

At just 16 years old, Jack Andraka created a groundbreaking way to diagnose pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers in the world. After a family friend died of the disease, Andraka set about on a mission to find a low-cost, quick, and early screening method, He reached out to as many as 200 researchers; one accepted his proposal, and  in 2012, Andraka won the grand prize of $75,000 at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair with his method for detecting a pancreatic cancer protein with 90% accuracy. Despite criticism of the accuracy of his discovery, Andraka has successfully used the national attention he received at the time of his breakthrough to publish an autobiography, Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World , in an attempt to encourage young people to get involved in science. He is currently studying at Stanford University.

Part of executive director of 50 Miles More Katie Eder’s activism is encouraging other young people to speak up. Inspired by the 54-mile Selma to Montgomery marches of the Civil Rights Movement, 50 Miles More began with a four-day, 50-mile march from Madison to Janesville, Wisconsin, the home of House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has blocked gun reform legislation time and time again.

Eder’s mission is to make sure teens know that their voices are important and influential. She’s also a founding member of Future Coalition, which organized Walkout to Vote, the nationwide school walkout that encouraged young people to march to the polls on election day. Her activism dates to when she was 13 and founded Kids Tales, an initiative promoting creative writing among young people across the United States.

Gavin Grimm

Gavin Grimm is a transgender teenager who was thrust into the national spotlight at 15, when he and the ACLU sued his Virginia school district after he was banned from using the boys’ restroom at his high school. “I’m not really sure how using the bathroom became national news,” he told TIME . “I thought it was a pretty simple concept that could be solved quickly and privately.” His case has gone all the way to the Supreme Court and he has become the face of transgender rights in this country. Although he eventually lost the right to be heard at the Supreme Court , his continued fight further points to the inhumanity of those who classify the transgender community as second class citizens.

Blair Imani

Blair Imani gained notoriety when she was arrested in Baton Rouge in July 2016 for protesting the killing of Alton Sterling, but her activism stems far beyond that. Imani’s main focus is the intersection of Black and Muslim identity, particularly for women. She currently works full time for Planned Parenthood in New York, and is also the founder of Equality for HER (Health, Education, and Rights), which works to "generate awareness about issues affecting the global femme community" by “providing free educational resources about nuanced subjects including interpersonal violence, gender diversity, representation in media.”

Amandla Stenberg

When The Hunger Games debuted with Amandla Stenberg as the leading sidekick Rue, it was a career making move for the then 13-year-old. The role also exposed many racist fans who were upset that Stenberg, a biracial person, played a character who they always imagined as white. But Stenberg rose above that situation and has become a leading voice in representation, going on to star in movies like “The Hate U Give” that pushed the conversation on American racism even further. Stenberg has also used her social platform to educate her followers on appropriation with the video “Don’t Cash Crop My Cornrows” and has used her own experience as a young gay Black woman to add to the conversation in LGBTQ+ representation. Named as Time’s 100 Most influential teens , Stenberg by no means champions herself as a “woke activist,” but she’s been instrumental nonetheless.

Wisdom Cole

As the National Organizing Manager for the NAACP Youth and College Division, Wisdom Cole is directly responsible for the next generation being equipped with the skills and knowledge to challenge for change now. A student organizer from his University of California days, Cole teaches and advocates for other schools to host student-led courses to encourage young Black men and women to affirm their identities through cultural exploration. His work continues to strengthen the minds of the community using math and science, but as we dive deeper into refining this American system—Wisdom Cole’s wisdom will prove invaluable for unifying everyone for a greater future.

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