5 Lessons I Learned From My Youth Mentors

Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege to learn from a group of mentors. These weren’t your typical advisors—like-minded peers or industry elders. Rather, they were young leaders who sit on UNICEF USA ’s National Youth Council. I wrote at the start of the program how much I was looking forward to their guidance.

They did not disappoint.

It is difficult to boil down their perspectives and advice into a few words, but after speaking with three of my senior colleagues here at UNICEF USA who also had the benefit of youth mentors this year, I found common themes worth sharing. At the risk of sounding too “oatmeal” (a term that I learned is GenZ for boring and generic), here are five lessons our youth mentors taught us:

Lesson 1: Words matter, but action is what counts.

Young people are highly attuned to language. Voices can be catalysts for action and impact so what we say, and how we say it, matters.

Our youth mentors explained that language historically used by the world's leaders—yes, even at organizations like our own—has stolen agency from key stakeholders, often those who are already vulnerable or disenfranchised.?Rather than trying to find the right words, it is often better to cede your platform to the very people you are trying to represent.

Youth already have their own voices. It’s our responsibility as leaders not to “give them a voice” but to ensure they have the space and respect to be heard.

Lesson 2: Our future is one of global citizens.

Our mentors are passionate about social-political issues and are highly aware of the needs and challenges faced by vulnerable children. They care about their family, friends and local community, yes, but feel just as strongly about injustices across the world.

This shift toward a collective global perspective, complemented by hyper-local action, will impact how we approach development work in the future. Our mentors’ radical empathy should serve as an important reminder of the central focus of our work: justice for all people.

Lesson 3: Don’t be afraid of experimentation, even with the risk of failure.

Youth are digital natives. Innovation and out-of-the-box thinking come as naturally to them as riding a bike did to me.

At UNICEF USA, we’ve already taken inspiration from this experimental mindset by incorporating the ideas of big thinking and bold action into our organizational values. And yet, we still risk limiting creativity by a fear of failure.

Our mentors reignited in us the idea that failing isn’t always a negative. Rather, mistakes can be learning opportunities. Of course, we should take care to calculate risk, but we owe it to the children to explore a wide range of ideas and approaches to learn what can drive the most impact. ?

Lesson 4: Youth voices must be heard and, more, their ideas deserve authentic exploration.

You may recall that my youth mentors took on the role of CEO for the day in November of last year. They made a strong case for the importance of centering young voices in decision-making and how the sustainability of our society and economy depends on it. I have to agree.

The causes young people advocate for—mental health funding, climate justice, education equity, to name a few—become so deeply rooted in their identity that they consider themselves responsible for finding and creating solutions. This means they come to the table not with complaints, but with ideas for meaningful change. What is lacking is the resources, agency and, often, power to put those ideas into motion.

We, as present-day leaders, owe it to young people to treat their ideas with respect and honestly consider them as we look to create a more equitable future for all. After all, it’s their future at stake

Lesson 5: Mentorship is a two-way street.

The definition of mentorship is simply “influence, guidance or direction given by a mentor.” We so often think of a mentor as someone more senior or more experienced, but my experience with the youth mentorship program taught me differently.?

The only way I can be an effective leader at UNICEF USA and an ally in the fight for children’s rights is by taking input from those younger than me.

Conversely, these young leaders are eager to build the skills they need to tackle the world’s most pressing issues. I was pleased to learn that our mentor cohorts felt they walked away with a better understanding of what it means to lead. I have a better understanding, too, and look forward to what more I’ll learn from mentors (of all ages) in the years to come.

To our youth mentors, thank you. And to my fellow leaders, I hope you’ll consider looking to young people the next time you’re in need of advice.