Group aims to be a voice for Gen Z
Sophomore CEO founded nonprofit at start of pandemic; it now has 200-plus contributors
Sophomore Claire Yang works on her Chromebook at school. Yang runs the nonprofit Gen Z: We are the Future.
April 1, 2022
Here’s a typical message members of Gen Z: We Are The Future sends to new members just joining their non-profit:
“WELCOME TO TEAM GEN Z. EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN CHANGED FOREVER! YOUR SKIN? FLAWLESS. YOUR GRADES? STRAIGHT As. YOUR THIRD EYE? AWAKENED. YOU HAVE ASCENDED TO A NEW PLANE OF INDIVIDUALITY AND AMAZINGNESS. YOU HAVE JOINED THE HIGHEST RANKS OF HUMANITY.”
The tradition is known as the “glitter cowboy initiation,” and was started by freshman Gautam Khajuria, the director of technology at the nonprofit. Positive messages such as these are “aggressively spammed” at new members the moment they join the Gen Z: We Are The Future team Discord.
With more than 200 contributors, the Gen Z: We Are The Future group aims to enlighten and inspire its nearly 5,400 social media followers with stories ranging from Facebook’s rebranding to misconceptions about mental health in movies.
The group is the brainchild of Branham sophomore Claire Yang and her friend Sophie Penttila, a sophomore at Notre Dame High School in Downtown San Jose. It grew out of Yang’s desire to educate and connect with others at the start of the pandemic when schools closed down and teens became more aware of social justice issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I felt as if people had a feeling of disconnection from the outside world,” says Claire Yang, “We created this organization in hopes of connecting and uniting a community of Gen Zers.”
The original mission was to educate Gen Zers how they can take action on the injustices going on, advertising a variety of protests and petitions on their website.
Their mission is built upon three pillars: unite, educate, and inspire. In terms of uniting like-minded teens, the group sees more than 600 Gen Z-ers from over 30 countries communicate daily on their Discord server.
To educate and inspire, the nonprofit has also published more than 500 articles, posted more than 350 social media stories, and have also created a podcast called “Let’s Talk Gen Z.”
They also host virtual educational summits such as their annual Gen Z summit in December. There, a variety of guest speakers– ranging from students to professionals– share speeches and host workshops with topics ranging from climate justice to racial equality to POC representation. Usually spanning an entire weekend, they often partner with other nonprofits to host these events, and the summit last year was attended by nearly 100 Gen Zers.
As CEO, Yang said she spends an average of 20 hours a week overseeing the article production, preparing for and hosting meetings and completing unfinished work from the team. For Yang, a typical week begins on Sunday when she assigns articles to journalists via Google Sheets.
Writers rotate topics and share stories about environmental concerns, mental health, or social issues.
Each story pitch usually stems from a piece of research the writers found, or journalists’ ideas within the given topic. Once finished and edited, graphic designers are assigned to illustrate and design posts of finished articles, and then get Yang’s seal of approval. Social media managers then upload the finished product to Instagram.
Khajuria, the director of technology, said that the team uses the feedback to help improve future stories.
“Every time we upload an article our team uploads an Instagram post,” Khajuria said. “We get a lot of community feedback, a lot of likes and criteria, and I think that’s just really heartwarming because you see a lot of interaction with people.”
Despite the challenge of balancing 20- hour work weeks, school and the difficulties of managing an organization with more than 200 members, Yang is optimistic about the future of Gen Z and plans to lead it through college and beyond.
As the pandemic becomes part of daily life, she hopes to initiate more in-person events and workshops, and is excited for the annual Gen Z summit they’re holding in December.
“I would not give up this organization for the world,” said Yang, “however difficult the obstacles we face are.”
