Gen Z: Empowering People from the Ground Up Through Social Media

Young people are using grassroots tactics to take their futures into their own hands. This group of Gen Zers are harnessing the power of social media to impact public policy and broaden the discussion of the next generation of advocates. We are highlighting their efforts to drive change to inspire and connect you, our reader, with more solutions to the problems around the world that weigh so heavy.?

Kahlil Greene, Yale alumnus and Gen-Z Historian

Kahlil Greene is a New York Times and Forbes Magazine-recognized digital educator. Kahlil graduated from Yale with a degree in history and served as the college’s first-ever Black student body president. Kahlil is now a full-time, self-employed speaker, influencer, and educator.? He produces the popular TikTok series Hidden History, which dives into stories of American injustice, and is widely recognized for his commentary about cultural appropriation. Throughout his nascent career, Kahlil has already worked with impactful efforts from the likes of Meta, Microsoft, and the White House. Kahlil’s main goal is to share knowledge about history, culture, and politics from a new, engaging perspective.

Since high school, Kahlil has been a strong advocate for DEI, which led him to become the first Black student body President at Yale. His mastery of social media has helped to set the agenda for discussions both online and within politics. According to Kahlil, content creation feels like the ideal way to merge the reach of social media with the impact that can be achieved through political advocacy.?

“Social media drives discourse because it democratizes ideas. It allows people to share really brilliant ideas and reach millions of people in an instant, under the right circumstances, of course — people who might not have had a platform otherwise”

Kahlil views his work as furthering the public interest and celebrates how it has grown in impacting the online community. Through creating points of engagement and algorithmic pipelines that bring people into online communities, Kahlil has fostered an eye-opening online experience. Concisely explaining how social media can lead people into harmful "rabbit holes" is a key part of his work.

When discussing the inspiration for his work, Kahlil is quick to acknowledge the importance of inclusive online communities, and specifically platforms such as Twitter on which Black voices are elevated.

“I've sourced a lot of my ideas from those spaces. I like seeing other people make really good arguments and share perspectives that I didn't know about before. I think the community around my work is really an intellectual community above all else.”

To read more about Kahlil and the online community he is fostering, click here.

Kehkashan Basu, Founder and President of Green Hope Foundation

Kehkashan Basu is a 21-year-old trailblazer who has been challenging the status quo and breaking social strictures and taboos that impede future generations' progress and rights. She is a Forbes 30 Under 30, TEDx speaker, and a tireless advocate for the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

She was named the youngest recipient of Canada's Top 25 Women of Influence, one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women and is the Council Lead of the Toronto-St. Paul's Constituency Youth Council. Her internationally acclaimed work on sustainability has resulted in her being named one of the Top 100 SDG Leaders globally and one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. This is just a portion of her work in government, organizations, and pursuits to drive change.

As Gen Z rises to repair our changing climate and the negative impact it has had across the globe, they are taking the future into their own hands. Kahkashan is leading the way as an example in this movement, creating the Green Hope Foundation, which empowers young people to take charge of their destiny through education, sustainable development, and ground-level actions.

Green Hope Foundation is making an environmental impact by teaching these ambassadors, beginning at the elementary age,? how to hold their communities accountable. ?With a simple scroll through the Green Hope Foundation website, you will see the faces of dedicated people passionate about a cause larger than themselves. The vast range of people joining Green Hope as they model active participation by embracing their inner changemaker in their community is inspiring.

“Our actions — or inactions —impact carbonization. We need behavioral change, and it starts with each individual.”

Kehkashan’s ability to unify and empower Gen Z promotes grassroots change where it’s needed most. How can one generation hold tight to an ideal so unified they begin to shift the systems they grew up under? With their fresh perspectives and lack of cynicism, young people are at the forefront of advocating for accountability and transparency.

Read more about Kehkashan’s journey to environmental impact here.

Tiana Day, Activist and Founder of Youth Advocates for Change

Tiana Day is an 19-year old activist and has held the titles of “CNN’s 2020 Heroes, Young Wonder,” and a Golden State Warriors “Impact Warrior.” She is an advocate for many social justice issues, most notably through her work within the Black Lives Matter movement.

Tiana began her activism at age 17, conducting and leading the first ever Black Lives Matter march across the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco, California in June 2020. The rally was said to bring roughly 50,000 individuals from different backgrounds together with her message to “Lead with Love.” She subsequently founded her 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization, Youth Advocates for Change, providing youth a creative outlet through which they can amplify their voices and demand social justice for their communities.

“We bridge student passions and creative talents with social justice to inspire young people to get involved in service in unconventional ways.”

Tiana recounts how during her upbringing, she struggled to understand how the community around her could celebrate the banishment of racism, while it still appeared deeply ingrained to her. When she took her perspective to Twitter to start a larger conversation, she was vehemently criticized, with some going so far as to request that her university scholarship be withdrawn. While this would deter many from speaking out, it only strengthened Tiana’s passion and motivation to keep going.?

Youth Advocates for Change seeks to follow a different path from older, more established organizations. By merging activism and art, they utilize their creativity to generate solutions that are "outside the box." This also allows students to advocate in ways that work best for them while valuing their diverse skills and abilities.

As the modern social justice movement becomes more established, successful organizations are finding out of the box approaches to empower and inspire more young folks to join the effort in public service. To read more about Tiana’s effort in artivism and harnessing the power of social media to make a stronger impact in public service, click here.

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