Friend,
I loathe when people say, “The young people will save us.”
It’s a repudiation of responsibility and fails to recognize that we all have a role to play in making our world healthier, more just, more equitable, and candidly, still here for generations to come. Thankfully, it is true that many young people today are leading to build a better world and inspiring people of all generations to work together to make and protect progress. They turn anger and anguish into activism. Passion into progress, for everyone.
The Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) convened last weekend at Vanderbilt University to bring together student leaders from across the country and around the world to turn ideas into action and drive real change on their campuses and in their communities. Through their work and examples, they are demanding more of each other, of my generation, and of all of us.
We had so many standout new commitments such as Amina Ahmed from Smith College who committed to providing menstrual health, education, and hygiene support for refugees and evacuees in Afghanistan; Jennifer Meggison from Franklin University who committed to build a digital application that provides access to social services for emergency interventions and long-term social support for individuals struggling with a variety of unmet needs in Arizona; and Ellie Armstrong and Gina Yu from Vanderbilt University who committed to develop a text message-based intervention system for cardiovascular health improvement.
