To those that say that Gen Y is filled with egotistical self-centered coddled pre-adults, I say, well, I don’t really say anything. I just give you my Death-Stare.
But that’s probably because I’m not as classy as those Gen Y-ers who will be attending the One Young World Summit in London this week. Under the guidance of influential leaders (“counsellors”) like Kofi Annan, Nobel Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu and even Sen. John Kerry, 1500 young leaders (all born since 1984) from 192 countries will come together to shape the future.
These aren’t just Millennials who aspire to be political leaders. These are Millennials who aspire to be spiritual leaders, activists, teachers, educators, innovators. People of change. With the help of their counsellors, the One Young World delegates will work to draft resolutions concerning the environment, business, health, media and interfaith tolerance, among other things. These key issues are the ones immediately affecting Gen Y and everyone else.
The war in Iraq, the election of The United States’ first black president, and the increasing battle over immigration has created an atmosphere of increasing xenophobia and fear of the unknown. These young leaders of the future recognize that in order for us to move forward beyond, we need to be actively involved in the process of change and progress. Thankfully, leaders like Kofi Annan and Richard Sambrook (Director of BBC Global News) recognize this and have taken the initiative to actively include (and most importantly) listen to our voices.
The delegates for the One Young World Summit were chosen through a voting and donating system using social media, most notably Facebook and YouTube, where votes were tallied by Gen Y peers.
Some say that our use of social media keeps us vapid because we’re on information overload and obsessed with sharing details of our lives with strangers. But that’s not always the case. Young people fighting in Iran used Twitter to create awareness of what was happening in their country, changing everyone’s avatar to green. Even Hugo Chavez has recognized the democratizing and influential power that social media can have when he called Twitter messages terrorist threats.
Now more than ever, we’re connected digitally to our counterparts all over the Globe, and because of social media, these tools have let us realize that we’re not tied down by the old models of influencing and gaining power. Nope, we’re all about change and progress.
The One Young World Summit bridges the gap between the old and the new. The past and the future, and does so by realizing how much we all care about the same things, and that everyone has a stake in everyone’s future.
Hopefully One Young World will steer the world in the right direction to create a better future.
Image: Tony the Misfit
This is so cool. I'm always so inspired, knowing that young people can do awesome things like this. And also awesome on the part of the Summit, adding social media to the selection process!
I thought it was one of the coolest events ever. For first time it felt like someone listened to us. In addition to Christine's point, I loved, loved, loved that fact that they were streaming live videos and tweeting all the time. It was an inspiration to follow @OneYoungWorld and #owy.
Whoever thought of this event is my hero!
Awesome, looking forward to vicariously living it through you!
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