Today’s young Generation Z activists didn’t start out as activists; they were first children, open and vulnerable to the changing world. But the 21st century had a way of cutting them open. There is much happening in the world at its current state that can make you feel angry not only for yourself, but for the hard conditions of neighbors and the struggles of friends.
Often, it can feel like today’s politicians and adults don’t care about the needs and worries of younger people. The detrimental effect of removing progress, like abortion rights in Roe v. Wade, which took prior generations years of progress to achieve, is felt harshly by this age group. Climate change agreements, another issue important to younger generations, are often ignored or even sidetracked, despite the warming reality of the world.
This brand new era calls for more of the younger generation to step up into the role of advocacy. Meet Gen Z activist Rachel Aluko, the executive director of Clean Future. When the pandemic struck, and the world went on lockdown, Aluko saw it as an opportunity to get involved in her community online. She realized that “climate was something that I think deserves a lot of attention, and something that I… would like to work on and be an advocate for.” Soon, she started working part-time and half-time jobs in climate change internships. “That’s when I learned how to write testimony. That’s when I learned how to analyze a congressional hearing. And I realized that that work was work I found really fulfilling and meant a lot to me.”
Today, Aluko is a sophomore at Northwestern University, a top ten US university known for its presence in social justice and advocacy issues. Although she is a sophomore, she is on the 2026 junior track to graduate because of the credits she accumulated in high school. Youth involvement in advocacy is a big priority to her, as she seeks to get involved herself in every advocacy opportunity she finds: “I want to be a human rights lawyer, because climate intersects with so much… I also do a lot with children’s rights, especially because someone’s climate circumstances relate to their ability to be educated.”
After working for multiple high-profile, international climate nonprofits, Aluko created her own start-up, Clean Future, a youth-led initiative that she shares, “focuses on passing clean energy from state to state. So through [this] organization, I’ve written a lot of testimony. We just hit 100 pieces of testimony, submitted a bunch of public comments, attended lots of hearings.”
Aluko wants to encourage other Gen Z activists to “Look for places that you can volunteer… as you become an advocate, you realize you really don’t know anything about the topic… but that’s not something that should intimidate you. It’s something that should inspire you and excite you, because the more you’re able to learn from other people’s perspectives, the more you’re able to learn from others and collaborate with others and just grow with others, the better advocate that you will be.”
Activism is a way of using your voice and influence to make a change you want in the world—no matter how big or small. From earning money to donate instruments to an elementary school or volunteering at a food bank, activists can make change in many different ways. If we, as members of Gen Z, all followed Aluko’s example of passion and commitment towards social change, then no one dangerous entity could prevent a future of socially responsible and equal people.
