At 14, Coco Yoshizawa of Japan recently became the youngest medalist at the 2024 Summer Olympics, using a skill she mastered during primary school to bring her to the podium. Coco and her peers are proving on an international stage that it is never too early to accomplish incredible feats. The Olympic Games are not the only place we can look to for young, driven leaders.
A recent global study by We Are Family Foundation (WAFF), produced in part with support from SAP, introduced the complexity of incorporating intergenerational collaboration into projects, highlighting how youth in particular face a lack of opportunities to lead and contribute. Young people are often left out of the conversation when it comes to the world’s unprecedented challenges, despite offering a unique and personal perspective on shaping the future.
People under the age of 30 make up more than half of the world’s population. Why block these important voices?
Laalitya Acharya is an impact entrepreneur who invented an AI-driven device to detect water contamination in seconds. In parallel, she founded an organization aimed at finding the intersection of research, advocacy, and policy work through summits discussing action to scale clean water solutions. She continued as an active activist on the topic of closing the water gap by attending events like COP28 as a We Are Family Foundation delegate — all before the age of 20.
Age has not stopped either of these accomplished youth from taking action. In fact, in most cases, being young can be an asset. Young people embody the qualities needed to lead in an increasingly unpredictable and technology-driven time — from the determination to be a leader in one’s athletic field to enacting meaningful change on climate issues.
In honor of International Youth Day 2024, here are three reasons we should never let age become an obstacle to actualize powerful ideas.
1. Young Entrepreneurs Offer Fresh Perspectives
Young impact entrepreneurs like Laalitya are governed by their life experiences and insights, shaped by a rapidly changing global landscape and unprecedented access to technology. Laalitya’s innovation, for example, was born out of a family trip to India, where she was inspired to research solutions when she was personally affected by contaminated water. With an interest in AI, she wanted to find a unique way to blend technology with advocacy to change the “mold of what we think about as water advocacy.”
When given the opportunity, youth can bring groundbreaking ideas and challenge traditional engagement models at the corporate and policy levels. Companies like SAP are leveraging these unique insights with initiatives like Youth to the Table, in which they enable young leaders to rethink the status quo in conversations with key partners at events like COP and The World Economic Forum.
2. Young Innovators Show a Strong Sense of Resilience and Adaptability
In an era characterized by constant change, from the onset of COVID-19 to the developments in AI, young people have an intrinsic ability to navigate uncertainty and apply a dynamic approach. While the entrepreneurial journey is rarely easy, tech-driven acceleration adds a level of urgency that forces them to remain scrappy and leverage the resources available to them in the moment.
Renata Koch Alvarenga, a young activist from Brazil, understood the power of accessibility when she founded EmoderaClima at 22. The initiative looks to tackle the climate crisis through the lens of gender equality in the Global South, providing an online database with multilingual educational content to empower young people impacted by climate change in Latin America. As she looks to make resources accessible to all, she is required to adapt to the ever-changing business and policy setting in Brazil. Young people like Renata leverage resources like technology to adapt to difficult environments, a testament to their unique strengths as leaders.
3. Young People Emphasize the Importance of Community
Technology has not only given young impact entrepreneurs activists a louder voice than ever, it gives them a community at their fingertips. Whether it was the community they were born into or the community they’ve created, young people are more likely to support the causes and people they care about than former generations. Per a study on young changemakers by The Possibilists in partnership with SAP, 92% of respondents are motivated by the opportunity to do something for their community.
Young people know how to mobilize for their cause or community. Innovators like Larissa Napoli (27), who is the coordinator and member of the Quebrada Agroecológica, a project that promotes water security and agroecology in several Brazilian communities, are fueled by a sense of dedication. Much like the 70% of gen-Z were involved in social or political causes in 2021, she and her colleagues started locally and scaled their initiative through the power of digital channels. Their passion translates into meaningful action that can influence key decision-makers.
SAP believes in the power of collaborating with young impact entrepreneurs and innovators. Through partnerships with ChangemakerXchange, Generation Unlimited, The Possibilists, and We Are Family Foundation, we gather insights and promote initiatives that enact inclusive change. From bringing youth delegates to COP28 to introducing young changemakers at SAP events, we aim to give young innovators a valued voice.
If you are interested in learning more on how to close the intergenerational gap, We Are Family Foundation’s study offers interesting insights on the competitive advantages of working with young leaders.
We invite you to join us in this work; let’s inspire future solutions through meaningful solutions that erase age as an obstacle and ensure everyone’s opinion is valued.
Selina Henn is Strategy and Operations associate for Corporate Social Responsibility at SAP.