The Generator Blog

Your spot for resources, opinions, and tools that advance the leadership of youth to become civically engaged and informed global citizens.

By Kristy Verdi, PhD, NYLC Board Member After settling into my seat for the flight back to Florida, there was a little “alone” time away from students and a temporary […]

In East Orange, New Jersey, a group of determined young people came together this year to take part in National Youth Leadership Council’s (NYLC) Youth as Solutions 9/11 Day cohort. […]

By Amy Meuers, NYLC CEO Service-learning is a transformative educational approach, engaging students worldwide in solving real-world problems through academic learning connected to community action. What began as a primarily […]

By Bella Sullivan, Marketing and Events Coordinator Julia Vickery, the Program Director and Students in Philanthropy Foundation Coordinator of the Abell-Hanger Foundation in Midland, Texas, achieved a significant milestone in […]

By Amy Meuers, NYLC CEO As we look ahead after the 2024 presidential election, the National Youth Leadership Council is more determined than ever to empower young people in leading […]

By Amy Meuers, NYLC CEO Elections often stir strong emotions, intense debate, and heightened stress, making young people who may be new to engaging in civic matters especially susceptible to […]

By Caryn Scheel, 2024 Youth as Solutions Adult Mentor As we enter the last weeks of the 2024 election campaigns, teens across the United States are preparing for an election […]

By Grace C. Liu, NYLC Youth Advisory Council Mentor “La la la! Weee wooo weee.” My voice echoed in the quiet room as I completed my vocal warm-up, a ritual […]

By Amy Meuers, NYLC CEO Youth leadership is a driving force behind some of the most significant social, environmental, and political movements of our time. As the challenges facing our […]

By Katy Dolan, NYLC Board Chair Let’s face it: society isn’t designed to give young people a lot of agency. Yes, we’ve mostly moved past the days of “children should […]

By Amy Meuers, NYLC CEO Recent studies show a concerning trend: only one in four Americans aged 18 to 39 consistently support democracy. With 75% of this demographic remaining inconsistent […]

This is a reprint of an article that originally appeared in 2005’s Growing to Greatness, an annual report on the state of service-learning from NYLC. The article was originally written […]

By Nadia Kruzel, AmeriCorps Vista In May 2020, the world watched in horror as George Floyd was murdered by four Minneapolis Police Officers. That summer, we saw how those in […]

By Miranda Taylor, Marketing Manager In the heart of New York’s St. Lawrence County, a group of young changemakers embarked on a mission to tackle a pressing issue in their […]

By Nadia Kruzel, AmeriCorps Vista As the Youth as Solutions 2023-2024 program comes to a close, we want to take a moment to honor and celebrate all of the amazing […]