Guest post by Melissa Richer, 24, Executive Director of the Ayllu Initiative

This blog post first appeared on the Ayllu Initiative website, as a response to my blog post published yesterday on Opportunities to Create Social Change, which focused on my understanding of the process of transformative social change. Melissa is part of a growing number of young people interested and actively involved in social change around the world, that I am 'meeting' online though blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social networking communities.

If not for Twitter, I would not have discovered the amazing work that the Ayllu Initiative is doing in Brazil, together with Ashoka and Artemisia, in supporting young social entrepreneurs to develop sustainable and innovative business models with the potential to move millions out of poverty. The Ayllu Initiative has an ambitious goal of being present in 10 countries in 10 years, having impacted 10 million people by that time.

In the blog post below, Melissa clearly articulates why young people are drawn towards 'world-changing activities' in massive numbers everywhere, not out of 'youthful idealism', but rather, as an imperative need to survive in a world faced with intractable and increasingly complex social problems.

Follow Melissa and the Ayllu Initiative on Twitter: @ayllu

***

Survival of the Fittest: Why Young People want to Change the World

This morning, a buddy from Twitter, @Renjie Butalid, wrote a blog post about young people and their role as world changers. As an example of this trend, he featured my efforts to kickstart Ayllu. Renjie's post is part of a widespread, dynamic conversation, which revolves around the economic crisis, young people's alternative career choices, and their distinctive participation in 'making-a-difference-efforts.' A good place to look for consistent, mainstream reporting on this topic is the New York Times, where Nicholas Kristof has showcased a slew of youth/social change articles over the last few years.

Targeting poor, unemployed young adults (under age 35) to run social enterprises is a major part of Ayllu's strategy. People often ask us why. I'd like to respond to Renjie's post by explaining why I think global problems will never be solved if youth are not part of the equation.

Youth population statistics are astounding. Before I'm even old enough to retire, the global population will grow by the same number (in billions) of people that it has since my great-grandmother was born in 1896. The sheer magnitude of people that are arriving is unfathomable to me. Almost all of this growth will happen in developing countries (as represented in blue). This is everyone's problem because it will affect those of us from industrialized nations in every way: water, climate change, food security, national security, health, energy...

Right now on July 18, 2009:

• Over 50% of humanity is under 25 years old (UNFPA)
• Over 50% of unemployed humanity is under 30 years old and seeking work (UNFPA)
• Of 2+ billion youth, 50% will never be employed in their lifetimes (Andrew Zolli)

Anyone who assumes my generation is gravitating toward 'world changing activities' in droves because of youthful idealism, is out of touch with the consequences of inaction. I think Darwin would agree that my peers and I want to change the world because we want to survive in it, in the most fit way.

Based on my experience over the last 2 years as a 24-year old trying to change the world by employing youth in problem-solving business, I can say that almost everyone I meet of all ages understands why youth are so important to the equation. Most of the naysaying that goes on has to do with investing in a youth-run organization with no track record, not in the inability of youth to change the world.

What I've seen [in Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Qatar, Russia, Tanzania, South Africa... ] is that young people under 35 years of age feel an obligation to act. This isn't rooted in altruism, but in survival. As a result, the lines are blurring: doing good is no longer distinct from what we do in the rest of our lives (a lot of parallels/connections can be drawn here to the role of online social networks in youth culture). In Brazil, almost every social enterprise I've run across is run by young adults. I've been told by Artemisia, the pioneer in social enterprise here, that this is a turf held almost exclusively by young entrepreneurs.

So to answer the question "why are youth important to social enterprise?

• Youth are the most chronically unemployed group in the world and they make up half the population. Social enterprise offers new job opportunities.
• Youth feel an obligation to act, so solving problems through business makes sense to them.
• The 1-2 billion people arriving by 2050 will ALL be young and they will need work. We believe social enterprise will have explosive market share over this time. Based on demographics, if social enterprise reaches it's full potential, young people will be at the helm.

I do not intend to downplay the crucial role of seasoned professionals in enabling young changemakers to succeed. Such people include Bill Drayton, Mary Gordon, John Wood, and Robert Egger. These people have made it possible for my generation to rise to the complex challenges that Renjie says need 'systems-changing solutions'. Bill Drayton, grandfather of social entrepreneurship, believes that in order for systemic solutions to take hold, youth must be empowered. This is why Ashoka's Youth Venture was founded in the first place (Ayllu is collaborating with YV in Brazil).

Yesterday, I attended a Youth Venture Selection Panel in Cubatão, a Brazilian town where ~70 low-income youth presented their social change projects. Cubatão was, until recently, rated the worst place to live in Brazil. The pollution is so terrible that your eyes water and your nose immediately clogs up. Most of the income-generating projects that were presented focused on environmental change through conservation and recycling. When I asked the youth about why they chose the environment over other social problems, one of them actually said, "because in Cubatão we have all the environmental problems, so we're fittest to solve them."

Photos of Cubatão Panel, led by Ashoka's Youth Venture - Brazil.