How do you inspire a new generation into public service? The Evans School and CELE Center are connecting students with seasoned leaders and local opportunities to do just that.
Generation Z, one-fifth of the American electorate, made up 40 million eligible voters and about 20 million confirmed voters this election year. But Gen Z represents far more than a ballot: They鈥檙e tomorrow鈥檚 leaders and change颅makers. And, to put it simply, this generation is frazzled.
Adults under the age of 27 grew up during a global recession and attended school remotely through a historic pandemic and national reckoning with racism and police violence. Today, they face socioeconomic challenges, climate change, controversial foreign policy and declining trust in public institutions. Still, young people are motivated.
鈥淪o much of the discourse about Gen Z is, these are the pandemic kids,鈥� says Kathryn Pursch Cornforth, 鈥�11, director of community engagement at the UW鈥檚 . 鈥淭hey鈥檙e so used to being focused on their screens. They don鈥檛 want to connect with other people.
鈥淢y experience of working with college students is just completely opposite of that. There are all of these examples that we can point to of students seeking out connections, seeking out involvement, seeking out ways to make a difference.鈥�
CELE Center and the UW鈥檚 , both of which boast programs to court young people into civic engagement, offer a program called the to provide those connections and guide students into public service. It鈥檚 a partnership with the Volcker Alliance , a national network of universities aiming to prepare and inspire the next generation of public servants.