Former Emerging Leader Maheen Kaleem published an article for Ms. Magazine on the power of young people–particularly young women and LGBTQ+ people–in advancing democracy and the need for philanthropy to support them.
During a gathering of over 100 girl-led and girl-serving organizations in California hosted by Alliance for Girls, a 17-year-old high school journalist described the walkouts at local high schools after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade: “Just because we can’t vote yet doesn’t mean we don’t care!” she exclaimed.
For centuries, girls and gender-expansive youth from around the world have been engaging in democracy in their peer groups, homes, schools and communities. They have developed social contracts, built networks of care to protect one another, organized to improve conditions in their communities and schools and mobilized their families and peers about the importance of civic engagement. And yet, the unique role young people play in protecting, upholding and advancing democracy is consistently undervalued.
