Nicole Li

The UNA-USA Conference brought together UN past and present delegates, non-profit organizers, and high achieving individuals from across the world to discuss the most pressing issues of today, and the role youth holds in such pivotal times. With America more polarized than ever, policy, both domestic and international, appears fraught with tensions and disruptive language that seems to hinder any real change. Yet, the UNA proves such notions wrong.

UN activist, feminist, and author Soon-Young Yoon remarks, “We live in a world that thrives on the myth of the individual. No one lives alone, every action has a reaction, and every nonaction has a ripple.”

Yoon exuberates how no groundbreaking movement has consisted of just one person. Although it may stem from a singular idea, to truly take root it needs the work of a team. In the closing speech, she told of her work in Asia to help women, noting one specific experience. In China, women across the country weaved together pieces of fabric, connected into a singular large tapestry and hung off the Great Wall. Through it, Yoon spread her, and the women’ s movement's message, 'each thread contributes to the strength and beauty of the whole.’

The world, as is, is stuck in rigid individualism. It highlights our differences more so than our similarities, focusing on disputes and moral disagreements that only serve to hinder real, quantitative action. Yet, the work done by many UNA attendees exhibits the importance of looking past differences to create stronger connections. As Rachel Bowen Pittman, UNA-USA Executive Director finds, there is keen importance in. “Sitting across from people who didn’t always agree with you–choosing conversations over division.”

 And leading the way for such cooperation? It’s the youth.

 Sophia Kianni, entrepreneur and climate activist, was interviewed to demonstrate the importance of youth. She discussed her nonprofit, Climate Cardinals, an organization she started at 17 focusing on taking down language barriers towards climate activism. As one of the largest youth-run climate nonprofits, and in partnership with notable organizations such as the UN and Google, Climate Cardinals is a testament to how young people can make a change, together.

Shivi Kumar, the Young Leader of the Year Awardee, notes to “never let anyone convince you that your age limits your impact.” As co-founder of the Mind Matters Foundation, Kumar found opportunities in neuroscience that from a young age, allowed her to access her passion in neurology and expand her interests to help individuals.

It seems daunting, and perhaps impossible, that such expansive organizations could stem from teenagers. Both leaders make clear that they didn’t do it all alone. They assert the help they have received, the support and aid from individuals passionate about the same issues and hoping to make a change. Kianni and Kumar are testaments to the youth having immense power, but that such power needs the support of others to truly make a dent in the world.

The UNA Conference, in a weekend of celebrating changemakers, also demonstrated, at its core, finding connection in the fights for justice. The youth are leading the way in bridging gaps in opinion, in addressing diversity and welcoming it: rekindling the seemingly forgotten, in modern times, belief in acting together for change.

As Kumar states, “It doesn’t matter how old you are. How qualified you are. If you care, you belong.”